The Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial docked at the Camden Waterfront will reopen for tours on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., beginning Saturday, Oct. 3.
The battleship closed after Labor Day due to the loss of revenue related to the coronavirus shutdown. The new state budget includes funding for the site to return to tourist action.
“We are grateful to both the Legislature and Governor Murphy for seeing the importance of the Battleship New Jersey to both our region and state, and including our nation’s most decorated battleship in the budget,” said Battleship NJ board of trustees chairman Marshall Spevak. “The Battleship is one of New Jersey’s biggest tourist attractions, and we can now have students and families back aboard to experience first-hand a national icon located right here on the Camden Waterfront.”
The ship will offer its “Fire Power” self-guided tour, which includes access to the forecastle (forward deck), 16-inch gun turrets, navigation bridge, officers’ wardroom, interior exhibit areas, the 52-foot Seahawk helicopter and fantail. Guests can also add on extended free guided tours of the engine room and turret II.
Adding more bang to the visitors’ bucks, the ship randomly will select guests on Saturday, Oct. 3, to pull the trigger and fire the portside saluting gun. Gun shoots will take place on the hour from noon to 3 p.m. Guests also can fire the gun anytime for a $50 donation on Saturday.
The battleship will continue health screening of all guests, staff and volunteers in the ship’s visitors center. Everyone must wear a face covering and practice social distancing of one fathom (6 feet) while aboard the ship, on the pier and in the visitors center.
“We still want to offer safe and exciting tours to our guests,” state battleship executive director Phil Rowan. “Our cleaning crew will continue to maintain a clean tour route, and we’ll still offer hand-washing and sanitizing stations along the tour route and in the visitors center.”
The battleship will continue to support the troops overseas by collecting items that can be dropped off in the visitors center. The nonprofit Military Support Group of NJ Inc. will package and ship the donations to the troops. Items needed can be found on the battleship’s website.
Tours will be limited to 10 people every 15 minutes. Tickets are $24 for adults, $19.95 for veterans, seniors and children ages 12 and older. They can be purchased online at battleshipnewjersey.org.
Parking will be available along Clinton Street; for $10 preferred parking closer to the ship for $15 per vehicle.
For more information, call 609-868-5664.
The Battleship New Jersey, docked at Camden, will reopen for weekend tours starting Saturday, Oct. 3.battleshipnewjersey.org