Battleship New Jersey by the numbers. Here are some interesting facts

CAMDEN – The Battleship New Jersey, the country’s most decorated battleship, will take her ride down the Delaware River where she will end up in dry dock at a Philadelphia shipyard.

The ship will leave Camden on March 21 and head to the Paulsboro Marine Terminal for an approximately six-day stay in preparation for dry dock.

The battleship's expected to cross the river to Philadelphia on March 27. That ride should take about an hour.

“One of the many missions of the Battleship New Jersey Museum & Memorial is to pay tribute to the over 45,000 sailors who served aboard and the thousands from our region who built her in the late 1930s and early 1940s,” said Marshall Spevak, interim CEO of the Battleship New Jersey Museum & Memorial.

“However, that number doesn’t tell the whole story. Not included in that total are the hundreds of thousands of family members of those brave sailors who stayed stateside, keeping our nation going during both wartime and peacetime. We are also here to pay tribute to them and the next generation of those 45,000 who can come aboard and see just how their loved ones lived, worked, and sacrificed in defense of our great nation.”

It’s time to take a look at some fascinating numbers related to the ship, which has been a museum at the Camden Waterfront since October 2001.

The numbers were provided by Libby Jones, the director of education for the Battleship New Jersey Museum & Memorial.

How many people served on the battleship?

The Battleship New Jersey has had about 45,000 crewmembers during its years of service, with somewhere between 1,500 and 2,800 on board at one time.

Did the New Jersey serve in battle?

• She was reactivated three times for four total periods of service (WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the 1980s).

• The ship travelled more than 200,000 miles during World War II alone. There is not a known total for her entire career.

• The ship's crew shot down 20 planes during WWII and sunk two ships.

Did the New Jersey lose any crew?

The ship had only one onboard combat fatality. Seaman Robert Oesterwind died and several others were injured in May 1951 when the ship took a hit from shore during a Korean deployment. Oesterwind was awarded multiple decorations, including the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Ribbon, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission.

How big is the battleship?

• Her engines have 220,000 combined horsepower.

• The ship, which topped out at 57,000 tons full loaded, is 887 feet and 7 inches, making her the longest battleship in any nation’s history, Jones said.

• The battleship has two 17 feet tall propellers and two 18 feet tall propellers each weighing about 18 tons each and two rudders.

• The ship's evaporators can produce up to 60,000 gallons of fresh water daily.

• She can carry up to 2.5 million gallons of fuel in about 300 tanks. At top speed, the ship will burn through that fuel in a week.

Tickets to ride You can ride on the Battleship New Jersey as it enters its dry dock

Why are there 19 stars on the battleship?

• She has 19 battle stars, making her the country's most decorated battleship. She had 19 commanding officers.

• One shell for the big guns weighs between 1,900 and 2,700 pounds.

How much food was on board?

• In 1987 alone, they served 743,805 meals onboard and consumed nearly 700,000 cans of soda and 240,000 candy bars. Those numbers were with a crew of about 1,500.

How fast is the battleship?

• In 1968, she hit her highest recorded speed of 35.2 knots, the fastest for any battleship. That's about 40 miles per hour.

“With 19 battle stars – making the New Jersey the most decorated Battleship in the 248-year history of the United States Navy – and over 200,000 miles traveled in just World War II alone, we’re proud that this ship remains open on the Camden Waterfront to retell the stories of the sailors who served aboard,” Spevak added. “With the work completed during the dry docking – the ship will remain one of the region’s most visited tourist destinations and events center.”

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: How many crew members has the Battleship carried? We'll tell you