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Battleship MASSACHUSETTS, BB-59
Located at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts,
this is my favorite museum ship, because it has so much
functional WWII gear and is within my normal travels.
Battleship Cove encompasses the world's largest collection of
historic naval vessels, including destroyer Joseph P.
Kennedy Jr., submarine LIONFISH, two PT Boats, and the
Soviet-built Corvette Hiddensee.
MASSACHUSETTS can be heard on the air as N1EPL,
reflecting the original callsign NEPL.
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| TAJ-10 in Radio II on
BB-59 |
The TAJ-10 is a
medium frequency transmitter made by Westinghouse, running an
861 in the final amplifier. The link below is a
recording of the TAJ-10 made January 2007 on 500kc by Lloyd
W3NF in Pennsylvania. Photo courtesy of Battleship
Cove.
Click here to hear TAJ-10
Click here to visit
Battleship Cove, home of USS Massachusetts.
Battleship NEW
JERSEY BB-62
Located in Camden, NJ, coincidentally the place where
many of the WWII Navy radios were built by RCA, the "Big J"
cannot be beat when it comes to pure awesome firepower.
At almost 900 feet in length, the Big J makes the
MASSACHUSETTS look like a cruiser. During WWII her main
battery of 9, 16-inch, 50-caliber guns made her a force to be
reckoned with. As a museum, she is being shown in her
1980s condition with Tomahawk cruise missles, Phalanx
antimissle defense system, and high-tech R-1051 radio
receivers, teletype systems, YK-20 computer, and URT-23
transmitters.
The Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station puts the
ship on the air as NJ2BB with modern amateur and ship's
equipment. The club is really active, with work parties
every weekend, restoring and repairing radio and other
electronic gear on the ship. BNJARS has assumed the
management of the Museum Ships Radio Weekend, during which
ships around the world can be worked via amateur radio.
USS New Jersey signed NEPP during WWII, but at some time
the call was changed to NJBB.
Click here to visit the
Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station
USS LST-325
The story of this ship becoming a museum started out with
its recovery from Greece, where it had served in the Greek
Navy. A brave crew sailed it back to the U. S. under its
own power, and it is now based in Evansville, IN. It is
one of a small group of World War II ships that are still
seaworthy and taken out for cruises from time to time.
It can be heard on the air as WW2LST, often with its WWII TDE,
TCS, RBB,RBC, and RAL equipment.
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| Perry Ballinger W8AU on watch on
LST-325 |
Click here to visit
LST-325
HMAS Diamantina
The Royal Australian Navy Frigate HMAS
Diamantina is displayed at the Queensland Maritime Museum in
Brisbane, Australia. I have contacted her from home and
from the Massachusetts. She uses WWII equipment made by
Amalgamated Wireless of Australia and Marconi.
Click here to visit the
radio room on USS Pampanito Submarine.
Click here to see WWII
pictures of Radiomen at work on USS Slater and USS
Hilbert.
Battleship NORTH
CAROLINA BB-55
Located in Wilmington, North Carolina, the
NORTH CAROLINA offers a living history program twice a
year. Called "Battleship Alive", the program
demonstrates life and work on a WWII battleship. Click
below to visit the NORTH CAROLINA.
SS Jeremiah O'Brien Liberty Ship
Docked in San Francisco, CA, this WWII
transport is still sea-worthy and offers cruises. It is
the only of the thousands of this type of ship that remains in
its original WWII condition.
COMING SOON
SS John W. Brown
and More
To learn about other Museum Ships, check out the
Historical Naval Ships Association page:
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