The Battleship New Jersey was quietly pushed into a 180-degree turn on the Delaware River just after noon on Thursday as it began a journey south to spend a couple of months for bow maintenance in dry dock at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
“Is it moving? Is it moving?” one spectator, leaning against the rail along the river, asked as he peered at the ship. The movement was slow, difficult to discern at first and seemingly effortless as tugboats pushed the 887-foot, 7-inch veteran of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars away from its dock. Another tug nosed up to the bow, turning the 45,000-ton ship around in the river.
Marshall Spevak, the Battleship New Jersey CEO, said he asked the chaplain to order sun for the day but forgot to mention the wind.