“Boats. Vessels of freedom. Harbors of heeling.”
Kenny Chesney
What
an amazing day we had with our friend, Anthony aka Ant. He picked us
up and drove to Ziggy’s boat ramp, a small, steep ramp in Paulsboro,
New Jersey to launch his boat. We had been to this ramp before and
knew the currents were strong but with Ant’s expertise, we pulled
out without any problem.
Ant
was a great tour guide, pointing out various sites in Paulsboro and
along the coast including the refineries that were now defunct. We
drove past the Port of Paulsboro where he pointed out the huge
foundations called jackets or manopiles that were being assembled
that would become the off shore windmills.
It
was a perfect day with not much wind, clear skies, and in the 80’s.
We got great views of river front homes along the Delaware River in
Paulsboro and Ant told us who lived in many of the homes. We had
never seen the smaller homes that had beach front lots. These homes
could only be reached by stairs. We also passed the Sportsman Club,
a private sports club.
We
drove up near the small three mile island of Little Tinicum Island.
It is a part of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry now and was
settled by colonial Swedes in 1643 and was once the capital of New
Sweden. The governor, Johan Printz arrived in 1643 and built a
large home named Printzhoff. The home is no longer there as over the
years, the weather and floods destroyed the home. We also got to
see the Tinicum Rear Range Lighthouse off the river in the town of
Paulsboro as well as the Front Range Light on the banks of the
Delaware River. He showed us how the lights line up so the ships
captains know it is time for them to turn to stay in the channel.
Then
we cruised past the Philadelphia Airport and viewed many planes
flying right over our heads as they were coming in for a landing.
For sure it was a different view not seen by many. It is amazing
how close the airport is to Paulsboro and how low the planes flew
over us. This area of the river is very industrial with oil tankers
and other ships coming in to drop off their loads or fill up at the
tanks along the river, but yet there were quite a few pleasure crafts
out there as well.
Ant
asked if we wanted to head up the Schuylkill River. Absolutely, was
our response. Right next to the Schuykill River was a nice path
where loads of people were walking, running, and riding bikes.
Further up, we saw an area where you could rent kayaks by the hour.
It was very busy as we were heading towards the city but by the time
we came back, everyone was out of the river. We were able to get
right into the city and had fantastic views of the city.
We
managed to get all the way up near the damn and waterfall and had
great views of the Art Museum. We could see the boat houses just
past the damn where they have crew races. When my brother was in the
Coast Guard, I had been to see him race there. It is a beautiful
area. We loved being on the water and not being in the traffic that
we saw backing up on the Schuykill River. We so enjoyed looking at
all the buildings, parks, and unique old bridges. This was such a
lovely way to see the city.
After
leaving the Schuykill River, we headed towards the Philadelphia Navy
Base where my father was stationed many years ago. It was very
interesting passing destroyers and the JFK aircraft carrier which
looked to be a skeleton of the ship. There were two ships tied up
side by side. One was the USS Monterey CG – 61 which was a
Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser that is listed as inactive
and in reserve. This was the fourth vessel by that name and was
built in the Bath Iron Works in Maine. She was commissioned on June
16, 1990 and is 567 feet long. She served for 32 years and was
decommissioned on September 16, 2022. She assisted in the evacuation
of more than 124,000 civilians from Afghanistan. It’s motto was
Rough in Battle and Ready in Peace.
The
other ship is the USS Vella Gulf CG-72 and was also a
Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser. This ship was commissioned
on September 18, 1993 and is 567 feet long. She is the second ship
to go by that name and was built in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was
decommissioned on August 4, 2022 and was considered to be a
temperamental ship. I guess it gave her crew some problems. This
ship supported a crew in 1999 in NATO strikes against Serbia to help
stop their government from human right abuses against Albanians in
the Kosovo region. She also served in the Persian Gulf. Her motto
was, Move swiftly, Strike Vigorously.
Then
there was the John F. Kennedy CV-67, aka “Big John” which
appeared to be in the state of being dismantled. This ship was built
by Newport News Shipbuilding. She was commissioned on Sept 7, 1968
and served our country for 40 years. JFK served in the Mediterranean
to help with the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, as well
as serving in Dessert Storm, and the Persian Gulf. This air craft
carrier is 1,052 feet long.
This
ship seemed cursed by all the events that occurred onboard. In 1975,
there were eight fires onboard thought to be arson. Then later that
year she collided with a cruiser named BelKnap and did serious damage
to that ship causing fires on both ships. Seven crew members on
Belknap were killed and one soul lost on JFK. Then in 1976, the
destroyer Bordelon lost control and collided with JFK causing severe
damage. Earlier that day on F-14 Tomcat fell off the deck after
having issues with the catapult. In 1979, five fires occurred
killing one and injuring 34. Another time in Dublin, high winds
caused a pontoon to tear a hole into the hull of JFK. Lastly in
2004, the ship collided in the Persian Gulf with a dhow leaving no
survivors and damaging two jet fighters.
The
JFK is now being dismantled. They tried to donate it to be used as a
museum but it would take too much work. On October, 2021 the ship
was sold for 1 cent to International Shipbreaking Limited for scrap.
What a sad site to see. The birds were loving resting on her chains.
What a sad ending for such a ship.
Then
we headed back passing Soupy Island. Funny name isn’t it. The picture above is where you would go to get the ferry to Philadelphia. This
area got its name as in the early 1900’s, the Sanitarium
Association bought this property and built a hospital and playground
for children with tuberculosis. A group of women worked here and got
up to make soup every day at 5. Local farmers donated most of the
ingredients making soup a cheap way to feed all the children. During
the Depression Era, this park was used for city kids who were ferried
over from Philadelphia to play and get fed soup. During WWII, this
park was taken over by the Army for a short while. There is a
carousel there brought from New York and has 48 wooden horses all
different designs. Campbell's soup gave large donations to soupy
island including soup, goldfish, V8 Splash, and planted trees. They
also funded a baseball diamond, volleyball court, and basketball
court. This park is over 130 years old and now the pier where the
ferries came in is a skeleton of what is once was. Kids still line
up for free meals in the old soup kitchen. Soupy Island is open six
weeks starting after July 4th on Tuesday 9:30 – 3:00,
Wednesday, and Thursday from 9:30 – 4:00 pm.
Then
we could see the beach at Red Bank Battlefield Park aka National Park
which is a 44 acre park open during daylight hours. This is a
beautiful park with nice trails to walk as well as monuments and a
museum that was once a hospital that is open for tours. There was
once a fort built here called Fort Mercer. This was the site of the
Battle of Red Bank where 100 American soldiers fought against 2000
British and Hessian soldiers. This battle was fought on October 22,
1777 during the American Revolutionary War. The far inferior
colonial forces defeated the British which boosted the moral of the
Americans. The British later took Fort Mercer a month later. This
battle helped George Washington further up North by delaying the
British. This is an interesting park to visit if you are in the
area.
It
was a lovely day with Captain Ant at the wheel. He was a wealth of
information about the area and gave us a great ride. He weaved in
and out around lots of floating drift wood in the river and he did it
with style. Thanks Ant for a great tour.
Till
next time. Bye for now.
