War stories
abound about the most decorated ship in America's history …
the USS New Jersey. But John Borek's favorite yarn is set on
the Philadelphia waterfront, not the high seas. Borek praises
the unique contribution of ladies' nylons as he spins a tale
about the battleship's construction during World War II. Borek,
a Winslow resident, was one of 70,000 workers at the Philadelphia
Naval Shipyard during World War II. He helped build many ships,
but the New Jersey and its sister ship, the USS Wisconsin, were
the biggest projects of the wartime facility. As a sheet metal
worker, he remembers sanding the brass-covered, steel shelving
on the ship's magazine elevator, used to carry silk bags of gunpowder
to an upper deck for loading. The shelves had to be smooth to
minimize danger of an explosion from friction. So what does all
this have to do with women's stockings? `We used to pull nylons
over the brass to see if they would catch on anything and get
any runs,' says Borek. `That way we knew there were still some
rough spots. I don't know where the nylons ever came from, but
we went through more than a few pairs.' Borek, now 79, enjoys
recounting his 32-year shipbuilding career. `I think about it
and talk about it all the time. So much so that my wife gives
me hell for repeating myself,' he says. `But it is a big memory,
a big part of my life.' `The New Jersey was a very beautiful
ship inside,' he says. `They will never build another ship like
that again. A lot of great craftsmanship and great safety features
went into her.' Borek recalls many details about the construction
of the `Big J,' including 12-hour shifts worked around the clock.
`When it was first built, they started to install linoleum,'
he recalls. `But when they found out it was a fire hazard, they
stripped it off.' Bulkheads also underwent a last-minute change.
`It was supposed to have all aluminum bulkheads below, but they
ran out of aluminum because they needed it to make airplanes
for the war effort,' says Borek. `So they changed all the bulkheads
to steel, which increased the weight of the ship maybe 6,000
tons. Then they had to reinforce the deck with more steel beams
on account of the extra weight.' Borek also recalls the ship's
launch on Dec. 7, 1942, as a near calamity. `When it hit the
water, it made a tidal wave that went all the way over to National
Park on the Jersey side of the Delaware,' says Borek. `We had
never launched a ship so big (it displaces 45,000 tons of water),
so this was not expected. It got away from the tugs and was headed
straight for the opposite shore, but somehow they were finally
able to turn her. `Otherwise, it would have gone right across
the river and beached itself. That would have been pretty embarrassing.'
Edgar Hill, 78, of Westville, also has an anecdote about that
wave. Hill was aboard as a member of its original crew. Watching
from the National Park riverfront that day was Emily Thomas,
his future wife. `A stern wave from the ship's launching came
right across the river,' says Hill. `When it reached National
Park, it came over her head and she got soaked.'
Copyright 2005 Courier-Post. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service (updated December, 2002). For questions, comments, or problems contact us.
