Journal Entry  -  September 17, 1999  -  Day 6

Friday Evening Position Report
8:00 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time
Latitude: 38 Degrees, 13 Minutes North
Longitude: 123 Degrees, 51 Minutes West
Days Run: 70.8 Nautical Miles
Speed: 5.9 Knots (Average)

Total Run:  769 Nautical Miles
Total Speed:  5.92 Knots
Hours From Departure:  130 Hours from Puget Sound's Blake Island
Distance To Go This Leg:  412 Nautical Miles to Long Beach for re-fueling
Estimated Time Of Arrival:  8:00 a.m., Tuesday, September 21
Present Course:  147 Degrees to the Santa Barbara Channel
Winds:  North-Northwest at 25 Knots
Seas & Swells:  Combined at 10 Feet
Barometric Pressure:  1017 Millibars
Air Temperature:  54 Degrees
Visibility:  10 Miles
Skies:  Overcast with Light Drizzle
Sea Floor:  The depth of Waters here range between 1,825 - 1,522 Fathoms, or between 10,950 - 9,132 feet.

Position:  USS New Jersey is 37 miles west of California's Bodega Head, and East-Southeast of Point Reyes and San Francisco.  To the Southeast is the Gulf of Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.  International shipping traffic bound for San Francisco, with lights visible around the compass, can be seen more regularly now.

Visitor Questions:   Occasionally, we will attempt to answer questions that come to our attention from viewers registering their inquiries on the state of New Jersey's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs USS New Jersey homepage.  Our thanks to questioners for your input.

Question:  Frank Battito, from New Jersey, asks if during night watch, a light can be shined on the ship to see how the USS New Jersey is running?  Secondly, he wonders if the speed is cut down at night.

Answer:  Captain Ogaard says the battleship has "running lights" on her port and starboard sides, red to port, green to starboard, brilliant enough to see for a distance of at least 3 miles, and a clear stern light also visible from that distance in clear visibility.  A search light can be used to see the ship at night, but she is a very stable platform, with no roll or pitch.   The Captain says that his towing speed depends upon sea conditions.  The sea performs in its own way regardless of daylight or darkness.  Nightfall imposes no necessary speed adjustment; the 45,000-ton battleship tows just as steadily at night.   At the slow speed he is towing her, speed reductions are not feasible.

Question:  I was just wondering why the New Jersey is so far off the coast.  I noticed that it is about 51 NM West of Oregon.   Is there any advantage to being that far out?  D. Shields.

Answer:  The Captain says at that distance, the tow can avoid the normal coastal shipping and fishing traffic; it provides ample sea room to maneuver during inclimate weather; ample room to recover a tow due to an accidental or inadvertent tow gear disconnect; and, because of the length and depth of the tow gear, sufficient water depth can be maintained along this trackline.

Viewer Observation:  In the BB-62 website daily journal for 9/16, a reference was made to the tuna fleet catching mostly "schoolies."  It further indicated that you had no definition for "schoolies," and therefore thought it to mean juvenile fish.  Let me assist here.  The term "schoolies" actually refers to large groups of tuna travelling in "schools" (as in herds).  "School" tuna are a great find for the commercial fisherman, since they can be netted in large numbers in a single trawl of the net.  Edwin A. Liden.

Response:  Thank you, Mr. Liden.

Submitted by Bob Wernet onboard the Sea Victory.

 

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