| The Jerseyman | |
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Signal Flag Fundraising Campaign Success Rich Thrash, Brass Team Volunteer
In the last issue of The Jerseyman, which came out June 1st, we featured an article about a fundraising effort to try and raise the money to purchase two complete sets of new signal flags (68 flags per set). That fundraising effort was a huge success, raising enough money to purchase the two sets of flags and still have money left over (more about this in another article later in this issue). I want to personally thank everyone who made a donation towards this effort, it was much appreciated. The flags we bought are made in the USA by a women-owned small business in Florida called US Flag. They gave us a great deal on the flags and they delivered them on schedule.
The fund raising effort to Dress the Ship for Freedom Week (the week leading up to July 4th) was led by a group of our Saturday volunteers. The same group who worked on raising the funds was also going to be the group to actually raise the flags, and that was something none of us had done on the ship before. Our goal was to get all of the flags up on Saturday June 21st, and have them stay up for three weeks, coming down on Saturday, July 12th. Luckily the flags came early enough to give us an opportunity to do a test hoist on the forward wire on Saturday, June 14th. That day we encountered numerous problems, and learned a few very valuable lessons, that made the actual hoist on June 21st go much smoother. Thanks to everyone who came out to help us hoist the flags too, I was quite pleased that we were able to get all 130 flags hoisted in one day.
Once we got them up on the 21st they stayed up the entire time and there were no problems. When we took them down on July 12th we noticed that a number of the pointy pennants had frayed at the ends. I took photos of some of the damaged pennants and sent them to our representative at US Flag and they were very apologetic and offered to repair and reinforce those flags. So we boxed them up and sent them back where they were repaired and returned to us in about a week, great customer service! I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for flags of any kind.
The flag sets are now stored in separate compartments one forward and one aft, close to the hoisting points, to facilitate easy handling. Each set is clipped together and hanging up in their proper hoisting order, which by the way is not random, but is in fact prescribed in the Naval Telecommunications Procedures for Flags Pennants & Customs, NTP 13 (B). The manual calls this flag arrangement "Rainbow Colors", so the flags are arranged for a colorful presentation but don't "say" anything. All flags and pennants in the allied flag bag are used to dress ship except Screen, Subdivision, and Group.
The new sets of signal flags are a great addition to the ship and they will allow us to dress ship throughout the year for special occasions like Armed Forces Day, Commissioning Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Birthdays of the Navy and Marine Corps, Veterans Day, and other occasions as appropriate. Thanks again for your support in making our dream to dress the ship a reality, we couldn't have done it without you!
Below is a series of photos taken on June 21st and 28th showing the hoisting of the signal flags and the installation of yards and yards of Red, White and Blue Bunting for Freedom Week. |
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Saturday morning, June 21st, preparing to hoist the first flag. |
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We learned
some important lessons last Saturday (June 14th) |
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That's the
last flag in the hoisting order, Flag 3. |
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What a sight, the flags look great! |
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The breeze coming off the river keeps them waving nicely. |
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The shot visitors see as they prepare to cross the forward brow. |
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One more shot looking down from the O8 level late in the day. |
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With the
forward line done it was time to |
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This set
went up just as easily as the forward |
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| Okay, now we have another 65 flags flying on the aft wire. | |
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| Mission accomplished, our two new sets of signal flags are all flying. | |
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| The view from the pier as I departed late Saturday afternoon. | |
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| Another shot from the promenade, quite pleased with the results. | |
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The mission
for Saturday June 28th was to finish the dressing of the ship by adding yards and yards of Red, White and Blue bunting. |
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| Here some of the Brass Team work on getting bunting up on the bow. | |
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Putting the grommet machine to work on the bunting. |
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Here is a
shot from July 4th with our new Holiday Ensign flying from the newly repaired gaff on the Radar Platform. The aft line of signal flags are also visible as is a message hoisted on the starboard side halyards. Any signalmen out there that can decipher what those flags say? |
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Battleship New Jersey Camden Resident Student Scholarship Awards Dinner Rich Thrash, Brass Team Volunteer
The Battleship New Jersey Camden Resident Student Scholarship Awards Dinner was held onboard the ship on Friday, June 20, 2014. The Battleship is proud to award each of the following students with a $1,000 scholarship.
Kelly Pham, Camden Catholic High School ● Jasmine Burg, Leap Academy ● Shania Dunlap, Brimm Medical Arts ● Katherine Hernandez, Camden Academy Charter ● Melvin Coe Jr., Camden County College ● Jasmine Jones, Met East High School ● Tyree Lewis, Creative Arts Morgan Village Academy ● Nambaramey Dy, Rutgers Camden ● Angeliz Valcarel, Woodrow Wilson High School ● Briana Dean, Camden High School |
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The awardees on the forecastle for a photo op. |
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