Journal Entry  -  September 13, 1999  -  Day 2

Total Run:  198 Nautical Miles from Blake Island, Puget Sound
Total Average Speed:  5.83 Knots
Hours From Departure:  34 Hours
Distance To Go This Leg:  984.3 Nautical Miles to Long Beach Sea Buoy
Estimated Time Of Arrival:  8:00 a.m., Tuesday, September 21
Present Course:  180 Degrees due South
Seas:  Rippled Surface
Swells:  4 Feet West Northwest
Air Temperature:  60 Degrees
Visibility:  10 Miles or Unrestricted

Position:  39 nautical miles off-shore of Washington state's Quinault River, which is south of Cape Elizabeth.  The shoreline cliffs, rising in places to 140 feet, were visible throughout the afternoon. Snow-capped peaks were seen beyond them.  Between the USS New Jersey and the coastline is the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary extending from well south of us northward to Cape Flattery where we passed this morning.  Ships carrying dangerous cargo, petroleum, chemicals or various other hydrocarbon products are banned from transiting this sanctuary to protect the waters and marine life from vessel and cargo mishaps.

Captain's Remarks:  Captain Kaare L. Ogaard, Jr., smiled broadly when he described the state of current conditions:   "This is as good as it ever gets," he said.

Sometimes it's fun and games

Through the years of the battleship's lengthy and decorated service to the nation, her crew regularly published an onboard weekly newspaper called "The Jerseyman."

Many of the preserved editions, reviewed recently at the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton, contained stories of battle actions, blood donation drives, intra-ship sports results, book reviews, messages from the chaplains, and assorted entertainment features. (The archival copies were donated by the Battleship New Jersey Historical Museum Society.)

A typical edition was "The Jerseyman" published May 8, 1953. On the top of page 2 was listed the names of Captain C.L. Melson, USN, Commanding Officer, and Cdr. P.I. Joachim, USN, Executive Officer. Chaplain B.A. Bonner was editor in chief; John Dickey, managing editor; James Hankers, news editor; George Ethier, feature editor; and Gerald Thompson, feature editor.

The headline on page 6 reads:  "Sunday Marks 45th Celebration of Mother's Day; Day First Celebrated in Philadelphia in 1908."

The story begins by quoting a short poem by Joaquim Miller:

"The greatest battle that was ever fought:
Shall I tell you where or when?
On the maps of the world you will find it not;
For it was fought by the mothers of men."

A small story at the bottom of that page lists a "Mileage Chart" for the battleship's recent engagements:

Sasebo to Wonsan          537                                               
Wonsan to Task Force 77          466                                               
Task Force 77 to Hungnam          262                                               
Hungnam to Task Force 77          374                                               
Task Force 77 to Wonsan          261                                               

This Week's Total           1,890                                               
Last Week's Total        17, 956                                               
Grand Total        19, 846                                               

Also, on the front page of this May, 1953 Korean War edition, was the headline and story reading:

"Analysis Shows 90 Percent Jerseymen Are Easterners"

"An analysis of a large cross section of the ship's roster was recently completed by this paper to determine how many Jerseymen came from each state.

"The accompanying map shows percentages of the ship's company coming from six general areas.  The map brings out that 90 percent of the crew comes from east of the Mississippi river, with close to half living in the northeast.

"The survey is based on approximately 1500 of the Public Information Office's biographical data cards that were recently filled out by the crew."

The story's data indicates that 6% of the crew came from New Jersey; 15.8% from New York; 7.25% from Pennsylvania; and 5.8% from Massachusetts.   Other states ranked lower in the numbers comprising the USS New Jersey's May, 1953 crew.

"Rest Hotel Quotas Arrive" reads another headline.

The New Jersey, it said, has obtained 269 billets at seven rest and recreation hotels in the Yokosuka, Japan area for May 16-19 and May 17-19.

Crew are informed that the hotel costs, per person, per day, for double rooms with a bath, are $3.00.  Single or double rooms without a bath, $2.00. Also, "dormitory style (two or more) in the room without a bath," $1.50.

Submitted by Bob Wernet onboard the Sea Victory.

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