← WETSU: a BattleshipNJ Podcast
WETSU: a BattleshipNJ Podcast
Captain Joe Benton III: Navigating Giants as a Veteran Docking Pilot & Strategic Sealift Officer
00:43:21
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- [00:00]
Joe Benton
Foreign your battle stations.
- [00:12]
Marshall Spivak
Welcome to wetsu, a Battleship New Jersey podcast. I'm your host, Marshall Spivak, and it's my privilege to serve as CEO and executive director of the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial. Today, we're joined by a special friend of the battleship, Joe Benton. Joe is the general manager and vice president of Macalester Towing in Philadelphia. He piloted the battleship New Jersey on four separate movements on our trip to the dry dock. Joe and his tugboats like The Robert E. McAllister, Suzanne McAllister, Beverly R. McAllister, and many more flawlessly moved the battleship from Camden to Paulsboro, Ballsboro to Philadelphia, Philadelphia to Paulsboro, and finally from Paulsboro back home to our home port in Camden City waterfront. But Joe is more than just a pilot. He helped the battleship and our team navigate the dangerous waters of dry docking planning. And as a trustee of the Battleship New Jersey's board of trustees and as chair of the battleship's maintenance committee, he was an integral part of the project team. Joe also proudly serves our country as a commander in the U.S. navy Reserve. He's a strategic Sealift officer and has the US Navy craftmaster badge. He's also the assistant officer in charge of, of the SSO harbor pilots. Joe is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. And I just learned he also has his FAA airplane pilot license. So he's got to take me up. Joe, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for being here.
- [01:38]
Joe Benton
Thank you.
- [01:39]
Marshall Spivak
Let's, let's start at the beginning. You ended up going to the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point. How did you end up at Kings Point? What was brought you there when you were growing up? Did you know that this was something that you wanted to be doing growing up?
- [01:53]
Joe Benton
As a kid, I knew I, I wanted to be a airplane pilot and possibly fly for the Navy. So I was, you know, applied for, you know, applied to Annapolis and all the colleges with Navy rotc. And I was at a college fair one night at Camden Catholic High School where, where I attended in Cherry Hill, and my dad said to me, it's like, why don't you check out the Merchant Marine kit? The heck's that? So I went and talked to him and, you know, it turned out to be a really, really good fit for me.
- [02:21]
Marshall Spivak
How does a service academy like Kings Point differ from the Naval Academy?
- [02:26]
Joe Benton
Well, the unique thing about Kings Point is you can go active duty in any branch of the armed forces when you come out. Or like, in my case, I just took a Navy Reserve. A lot of flexibility and did you.
- [02:38]
Marshall Spivak
End up on any merchant mariner vessels after Kings Point?
- [02:43]
Joe Benton
Yeah, during. During Kings Point, part of our curriculum as you spend a year at sea putting into practice, which you learned in the classroom. So I spent about 390 days on commercial merchant ships, from container ships going to Puerto Rico to coastwise chemical tankers. And then I, immediately after graduation, I actually, four days after I graduated, I got on a chemical tanker in Texas and worked on that for about four months.
- [03:11]
Marshall Spivak
You previously captained one of the tugboats that brought the battleship New Jersey up the river when she returned home in 2001 and culminating to 2024, where you not only captained the and piloted the battleship itself, but were in control of all tugboats. What was it like in 2001? And then fast forward to 2024 and tell us a little bit about that experience and that planning.
- [03:40]
Joe Benton
In 2001, I was captain on the harbor tug Theresa McAllister. Been so for probably about four months at the time. And I remember the night before the move, we got a call from our dispatcher saying to go to 1 Pier 1 Broadway in Camden around 7 o'clock in the morning. But they wouldn't give me any other details. Very suspicious. And I said, are we moving something big and gray and like, oh, I can't tell you about. So. So I immediately called my dad and said, hey, guess what? We're moving the battle crap. So he came down like 5 o'clock in the morning, got on the boat, brought donuts for everybody, and we got underway and met the ship and got her off the dock. And we got some great pictures because my boat was what we call the tailboat. We had a line up in the. In the transom of the ship, would help. Help steer it. And I got a lot of great pictures of my dad basically shooting over my shoulder of me driving with the words New Jersey all filling up the wheelhouse windows on the tugboat. So it's pretty cool. I remember we got the ship alongside and, you know, it just took forever to tie up because most deadships do. And we were picking up one of the docking pilots, Phil O'Neill, and he was a very athletic individual. And they didn't have a pilot over the side, so. So I said, okay, Billy needs to go midship and put a ladder up. He's like, no, just swing alongside on the foil. Like, I did that. And he, he jumped off the Fox'l onto the wheelhouse of the tugboat. I could hear him flying through the air and then boom, right on the top of the wheelhouse, and he came down. I, you know, gave him a hard time. I said, bill, you know, if that didn't go right, you would have had a VHF antenna not in a good place. So we had a good laugh about that. But it was, it was pretty neat, you know, And I remember as the sun came up, both banks of the river were filled with people. Yeah, I mean, it was pretty neat. Never, never seen that before. And that was such a. Such a short move. And then some 20 years later, we're taking the ship to the dry dock and, you know, I go from being the tug captain on the first move, being the pilot in charge of the whole thing. So it's an incredible experience to still kind of get chills about it now. And, you know, I remember it being extremely windy and cold the day that we moved in Mars, but it was a beautiful clear sky. And, you know, in all our planning meetings, you know, we had, you know, we're talking, we got the soundings and all the stuff, and we got mast off so she fit under the bridge and, you know, and everybody I talked to that wasn't associated with the ship, it's like, oh, she's been sitting in the mud for 20 years. She's not going to move. And like, the map looked right, we played the tides right. But there was always that little.
- [06:14]
Marshall Spivak
Yeah.
- [06:14]
Joe Benton
Doubt in the back of my mind, you know, helicopters flying overhead and had the governor and admirals and all this stuff, like, great. This to be a career ender for me if this didn't go go well. But I remember we had trouble getting the forward breast lines aboard, so we had to pinch the bow of the ship in to help them. Help get them free. And I remember when we did that, the stern came off the dock, and that was what I was most worried about because I was, you know, in the mud. Came right off. I'm like, all right, we're good. Got the lines in and got her off the dock and drove her like we stole it.
- [06:47]
Marshall Spivak
Let's take a step back for a moment, and you're a member of the Battleships Board of Trustees, chair of the Maintenance Committee. As I said before, how did you end up on the Battleships Board? What's it been like prior to dry docking? What was, you know, a lot of your experience on board? The trustees?
- [07:08]
Joe Benton
Sure. I, I forget exactly what year I joined the board. It kind of blends together now. But I know, you know, I've been. Been trying to get on. On the board and get involved in the ship ever since, you Know that day in 2001 when I helped move it and it was like, you know, a lot of management changes and things like that. And I think I finally, through my father got connected with, you know, the world famous Pat Jones, who I think got. Got my toe in the door and mine too. And I remember, you know, once I first or second board meeting, you know, everybody's going to making the reports and everything. And I put my hand up, I'm like, not for nothing, but this is a ship and you can't tell me that, you know, we don't have water leaking in somewhere and all this stuff like that. And I remember Pat tell me, she's like, how about I make you in charge of the maintenance committee so you can find your own answer. Okay, good enough.
- [07:57]
Marshall Spivak
So that sounds like Pat.
- [07:58]
Joe Benton
Yeah, it's been, it's been a. Interesting ride, you know, with all the different things that have changed, changes for the good, for the ship over the years and, you know, it's just more or less a vacant part. We pulled the ship alongside everything we have going here. It's been neat. A lot of, a lot of neat people, a lot of neat projects.
- [08:16]
Marshall Spivak
We talked about dry docking here for years before it actually happened, before it was even funded. Summer 2023 budget. The state FY24 budget appropriation act passes. It includes $5 million for the battleship for dry docking. Do you remember what your reaction was when you first heard we were getting funded? Dry docking was going to happen, was it? Normally you hear good news and it's a weight off your shoulders, but this is probably weight on your shoulders, right?
- [08:56]
Joe Benton
Yeah, I think a lot of emotions like, holy crap, we got the money. And then I'm thinking, crap, we got.
- [09:01]
Marshall Spivak
To move the ship.
- [09:03]
Joe Benton
She's been here for 20 years. It's not. You can't just pull one plug and take the lines in and go. So I know it's a lot of, a lot of planning.
- [09:11]
Marshall Spivak
So talk about the planning process like, you know, I came on board as CEO in the end of November. Planning really wasn't happening in the way we probably should have been at that time. But we were making, we were moving the ball forward on your end of things. You know, I think, you know, you, you certainly took on more than just a random person would have done as the, the harbor pilot of the ship. What was the planning process like for you and what were some of the, the things that you enjoyed about it?
- [09:46]
Joe Benton
Obviously it was a very compressed time schedule by the time we finally pulled the trigger and then Got, got you on board and actually made things start to happen. And I, I remember, you know, I've been working on tugboats and for the past 20 years and then managing my company since 2008. So I've been a lot involved with a lot of dry dock planning for our tugboats. But obviously this is on a much larger scale. But the, the general concepts are the same, you know, so we just got together, got a plan of different things we had to, you know, take care of to get the ship underway. And I know my, my biggest concern is, you know, look at this ship and she's massive and like, you know, looking at the top of the mast, I'm like, trying to eyeball that with the bridge. I'm like, we need a number for that, because I don't think that's gonna. And turns out that the ship was 175ft tall for her airdraft. And the clearance under the Walt Whitmer is only 150 somewhere. Okay. You know, I wasn't greatest student in math, but I know those numbers. It's not going to work. So we engaged, you know, Hudson Engineering to get that, get that planning and made plans to remove the mass so that, you know, we couldn't do that. Then there's no sense even trying to move the ship because it wouldn't work. Yeah, Once we conquered that hurdle, then just working with all the different contractors to try to set up services. But a lot of meetings with the shipyard because draft was an issue.
- [11:10]
Marshall Spivak
Y.
- [11:11]
Joe Benton
And you know, the way she sits here is fine for, you know, lining up with the brows and everything, but when you put a ship on dry, do you have to have. It goes to even kill as possible? We had about a, a 10 foot difference between the, the bow and the stern. So we had to figure out how to, how to get the bow down and put ballast in tanks that hadn't had water in them since, I don't know, probably the 80s.
- [11:33]
Marshall Spivak
We normally try to keep the water outside of the ship. Exactly. In this instance, we put the water inside the ship. But it all worked out, thankfully. So let's talk for a second about how we ended up. March 20, 2024 was the date that we left here in Camden. What exactly had to happen in terms of the tides, the currents, the weather in order to make that a go?
- [12:05]
Joe Benton
Sure. Well, the biggest concern here is because of the, the shing was the tide. So we had to sail exactly at the top of the high tide.
- [12:13]
Marshall Spivak
12:10Pm thank you.
- [12:14]
Joe Benton
All right. I don't Know why I have brain fog? I don't know if it's pts, but blocking out certain, certain things. I'm just kidding. But yeah. So we had play the tide. Exactly. So we had the boats and everybody here several hours early because you can't really make up time. Yeah, you can always kill time. And the fact that the ship hadn't moved in 20 years and it's been a while since the lines were adjusted model and removed from the bollards on the ship. So. And had time with that and get the browse off ahead of time, get everybody on by high reach, which took a while, you know, and had that, had that there and then all the, the line handling crews standing by and made up the tugs and you know, we kind of got it down. Once we got, got things rolling and started getting the line to move, we got down about one or two spring lines just to hold us there. And then when the time was right, we popped those off and away we went. So the tide was a concern and, and the wind, if it was say, you know, 20 knots of wind or above the, you know, we were getting.
- [13:17]
Marshall Spivak
Close at some point.
- [13:18]
Joe Benton
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So we were right, right on the edge. But you know, the, the Coast Guard has requirements and restrictions for approving their tow plan. So we wanted to make sure that, you know, we weren't planning on trying to get underway. If it's sustained 30 knots of wind, that's like, you know, that's, that's a no go. So the, the, the speed was okay, but the direction was a little bit of a challenge because it was square on the beam holding us to the dock.
- [13:42]
Marshall Spivak
Right.
- [13:43]
Joe Benton
So we really had to use a lot of, a lot of tug power to get her off and get the bow up into the wind and then clear the dock. It was fine. There was plenty of water. Once, once we got her about 100ft off the dock.
- [13:56]
Marshall Spivak
So we push off the pier for the first time in almost 25 years, removing probably right before we start to execute the 180 degree turn. What was it you actually real. What was it that it actually sort of hit you like fully? Shit, this is happening.
- [14:15]
Joe Benton
Yeah, yeah.
- [14:15]
Marshall Spivak
What was that moment for you?
- [14:19]
Joe Benton
It was pretty awesome. I remember seeing you up there on the flying bridge and give each other a big hug and it's like, holy crap. You know, some of the people said we're not going to be able to do and got the funding and put everything together in a very short amount of time.
- [14:31]
Marshall Spivak
Very short amount of time.
- [14:33]
Joe Benton
And then we're out there.
- [14:34]
Marshall Spivak
And I remember when I, I think I was probably the last person to be on, to get on board through on the high reach after the ceremony ended and I'm wearing my suit and tie and I had my bag inside the wardroom and I go inside to change as quickly as I can and come back out and we're off the dock and we're moving. And that was like an oh my God moment to me. Like we're finally doing this. This is finally happening. I think that's when I ran up to the flybridge to talk to you and, and especially on the turn when, when we. The ship turned 180 degrees to head, to head south down river. It was hard to appreciate that in the moment being on board. But then going back and watching the drones, the news helicopter footage, I mean, it was a sight to see. And for the almost 3,000 people who were on the dock watching us depart and the thousands who probably saw us on both banks of the river on, in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, it was certainly a sight to see. So we had, we, we originally talked about that this could be like a six to ten hour trip downriver. We ended up doing it in like three. What was the calculation that we thought maybe might be that long versus what actually happened in reality?
- [15:58]
Joe Benton
I think a lot of it is I, you know, I like to had things just in case for if there's, you know, took a little bit more effort to get her, get her underway. And if we had, you know, because they weren't shutting down the river for us. Right. They were, they had a safety zone around, keep small boats, but they weren't, you know, so commercial traffic was still coming and going.
- [16:18]
Marshall Spivak
Yeah.
- [16:18]
Joe Benton
And I knew what we had to sail at a certain time to make the tide. But if they were bringing in, say a 900 foot container ship into Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.
- [16:27]
Marshall Spivak
Right.
- [16:27]
Joe Benton
We were going to have to wait somewhere, you know, in the upper river above the bridge till the, till the ship got out of the way. Because I'm.
- [16:33]
Marshall Spivak
We had to do that from Paulsboro to Philadelphia.
- [16:36]
Joe Benton
That's right. Yeah. We had to, had to pull over and let some traffic by. We had a little bit more, more room down there. But the, you know, the day that we sailed in March, you know, just wanted to make sure because that's, that's a big choke point in the river underneath Walt Whitman Bridge between Gloucester thermal impact. Because when the big ships turn around there blocks the channel. Nobody's, nobody's getting by except for in a small boat.
- [16:59]
Marshall Spivak
Yeah. It was in March 2024. We were getting underway. We had the big event, which you, of course, did not see, probably any of that was going on in the pier. As you mentioned, Governor Murphy, Admiral Anderson came from Washington. Rear Admiral Tom Anderson, the XO of team ships, the shipbuilding command, as well as a bunch of other dignitaries from the state were here. Almost 3,000 people, news helicopters flying. I think I did, like, 10 different interviews that morning. We were everywhere in the news. It was an incredible. An incredible time for the ship. But at the end of the day, friends of mine joked around, well, what's going to happen? You know, God forbid something happens. You know, you're like the captain. You got to go down with the ship. Right. I. I said. And I pulled one of your lines out, and I said, well, we. Even if we did take on water, we could throw a big party first, move all everyone up to, like, the 0304 level, and we would have. We would have been above the water still. But just knowing that, you know, the world was watching, really, it was the world, because it was more than just we see, you know, how much the dry docking went over internationally. Did you sort of. Did you feel that weight at all? Or did you. Was it like any other job initially.
- [18:21]
Joe Benton
Leading up to it? But once we got underway, I didn't, you know, really have the time, thankfully, to have to worry about just, you know, towing the ship and getting her from point A to point B. And I figured, you know, the rest will be whatever that's beyond my control. My. My main priority was to look after the, you know, the ship and everybody on board tugboats and everything. So it's just, you know, it didn't matter to me if the. The president was there wanting to talk to me. I'm like, sorry, sir, I'm driving the ship.
- [18:48]
Marshall Spivak
You can, you know, spoken like a true docking pilot. We went from Camden to Paulsboro and then Paulsboro to Philadelphia. We had a little bit of an obstacle on the way to Philadelphia, and that was the USNS Gilliland that was parked right outside at the pier outside of dry dock number three at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. So we had to make a turn and then essentially back into the dry dock, which is unusual. Normally you would just go and bow first. We obviously did not do that. So talk about that maneuver and. And, you know, what was associated with getting the ship past the Gilliland, but then also hopping the sill into the dry dock and what that sort of took.
- [19:40]
Joe Benton
Sure. I mean, for us, I mean, at least McAllister and our company, that's something we've done routinely because, you know, brought a lot of commercial ships like the Gilliland into that same berth and there was always something on the outside, so we had to go around it. But obviously, you know, this is a little bit more of a high profile asset here. But you know, the, the concepts were the same. You know, we, we sailed from Colesboro with the flood current, so it took a little wiggling to get her over into the channel. And then getting underway, we had to slow down and let a container ship come by that was diverted from Baltimore after the, the issue there. And then, you know, the flood current pushing us and we had to turn 180 degrees to get the valve into the current and then just kind of, you know, sweep it back at, back it right around the corner of the Pier 6 and the Gilly Land and then just kind of get her set up and wiggle it in there. And they got the, the hauling in line on the ship and then the dry dock kind of winched the ship in, work their way nice and easy. But. And she, she's pretty heavy, so it took a little bit of oomph to get her around the corner there.
- [20:45]
Marshall Spivak
We. I remember, I can't remember what you talked about. It was, I think maybe it was the Robert McAllister. I remember I was standing on top of turret three watching us go in stern. First night, she was just pushing us, pushing us, pushing us like she had no room left. But she was tugging us in there and it was, you know, and then watching all the, our friends at Philly Ship Repair and the line handlers landside, getting us tied up and moving the lines as we, we started to pull in. You've, you worked a lot in the past with our friends at Philly Ship Repair and Phil Giles, our, the docking master. What were some of the things that you had to work with them on and making sure that this ran smoothly?
- [21:35]
Joe Benton
Well, we had a lot of planning meetings ahead of time. Normally for any other ship coming in, we'd have one meeting, discuss it. There was a lot of calls and texts and emails and conversations with Phil and I to make sure that we were all on the same page. And you know, because the ship is relatively large and the visibility is restricted from where I was flying bridge, we had, we had two other pilots, one managing things up forward and then one guy back aft and he had the best view setting it up for the dry dock. So, you know, we once, once we got underway from Coltro and I Turned the ship around. I handed it off to Bill Huff and then, you know, he coordinated with the dogs to get, get her back then because he had a better view of everything. So that's routinely how, how we do it for the larger ships anyway because, you know, one guy camping in two places at once and each person has a different perspective. And with this ship is interesting because the, the bridge wings don't go anywhere near the sides of the ship. Right. Commercial ship. So there's or get at least another 20ft or so from the bridge to the side of the ship. So I can't.
- [22:44]
Marshall Spivak
You're moving around?
- [22:45]
Joe Benton
Yeah, I can't see. So I'm running up and down different decks and trying to, trying to get a good angle on everything. But, you know, Bill got her lined up and put her in there.
- [22:54]
Marshall Spivak
So then let's talk for a second about the dry docking itself. And what were your impressions about how our project went? You know, we don't need to go into all the particulars of everything. We did, all the five major projects we did. But you were there quite often at the dry dock. You got to see the work being done firsthand. What was your impression of how it all went and you know, and your, your role in it?
- [23:22]
Joe Benton
Yeah, it went really smooth, I thought, you know, I mean, because we're dealing with, you know, professionals go and ship repair and Donna and everybody there. I mean that's what they do.
- [23:33]
Marshall Spivak
Yeah.
- [23:33]
Joe Benton
And this, they, they knew how special the project was, so they took extra care. It wasn't just some, what, frost bucket ship they had in there. They were, they were taking care of this national treasure for us. And I mean they, you know, kept things on time and on target with budget and timeline and everything. And it was, it was pretty impressive to see.
- [23:52]
Marshall Spivak
We spent the battleship, spent 78 days in the box. We're now looking to finalize the date to get out of dry dock. Any difference between your planning process between the first two legs versus the last two legs.
- [24:13]
Joe Benton
70 something days in the dry day. So the weather got significantly better.
- [24:18]
Marshall Spivak
Yes, it did, thankfully.
- [24:19]
Joe Benton
I mean the wind is always a factor, but especially that time of year. But yeah, really, we just kind of did, did everything in reverse but you know, wanted to make sure that we took extra good care of her because she was, you know, fresh paint everything from the water line down and all that, you know, significant effort just to get it a dry dock. So, you know, took our time and had, you know, managed some vessel traffic on the way out because that's same thing they didn't shut the river down for us, so we had to. Didn't want to pull out in front of a big tanker, container ship coming by. So we had to work, work around that. But it was relatively straightforward and the temperature was much nicer.
- [25:02]
Marshall Spivak
Yes, it was. It was about 30 degrees and 30 mile an hour winds when we left, and about, oh, God, it was what, almost 100 degrees out that day, I think. And zero mile an hour winds, it's almost the complete opposite. And then on this, the second, fourth and final leg, I should say second leg of the trip home, we had Commander Steve Halley, the captain of the, what was then the PCU New Jersey, which is now the USS New Jersey, SSN 796, our newest sister ship, the Submarine New Jersey, and some of the crew from the submarine on board. They spent a lot of time with you on the bridge. What was, what was that experience?
- [25:42]
Joe Benton
That was pretty great. I mean, was an experienced ship handler and I found it, you know, fascinating and a lot of fun having him up there on the flying bridge because he was, you know, I was talking through the maneuvers with him and he, he understood, he wasn't some spectator, so just happened to, you know, just a regular guy in dress whites up there, just, you know, talking, talking shop with him all the time. It was, it was pretty neat, you know, and he, you know, we had a lot of media on board that day especially too. And him and the rest of my team, my, and my, my handlers were kind of keeping the, the press away so I could focus. And it was, it was pretty neat. And, you know, without even thinking, he would just kind of like people and just kind of direct him to the other side of the ship and then, you know, my team.
- [26:30]
Marshall Spivak
So we also learned of a familiar connection with McAllister when the sub crew was on board.
- [26:38]
Joe Benton
That's right. Skipper Steve Halley, his wife Alyssa is related to the McAllister family and her tugboat company. So it was, it was pretty, pretty neat to have them aboard. And it's been kind of a close connection and friendship with myself and Steve and the rest of my team. So it's been pretty neat.
- [26:56]
Marshall Spivak
And McAllister tugs were the ones who handled the submarine leaving Earl coming into. Earl was there on station with them all week. During commissioning week at Naval Weapons Station Earl and Leonardo. We were there. You and I were there together on the Wednesday following commissioning when the boat pulled out of port and headed back to Norfolk. We also went to travel down Norfolk together with a couple of our team Here at the battleship to visit on the submarine. We had. You and I had lunch in, in the wardroom. We toured. We really. We just hung out. I mean, for. We were there for like five hours. Right? I mean, it was, it was an awesome day. What, what. I mean, I know what it was like to me, but for you, what, what was it like?
- [27:41]
Joe Benton
You're.
- [27:41]
Marshall Spivak
You're a commander in the Navy. I'm just a civilian. What, what was that experience spending some time on, on the boat?
- [27:49]
Joe Benton
It was pretty neat.
- [27:49]
Marshall Spivak
I mean, I piloted.
- [27:53]
Joe Benton
Throughout my civilian and Navy career and. But usually it's just been, you know, I get on board and I'm stuffed down a hatch and immediately up the sale and then piloting. Piloting the boat. I've never actually had time to walk around and on the other subs I've been on, they had people to make sure that I went the right way, didn't get lost and didn't see things of it, you know, weren't supposed to. But it was pretty neat. It was fascinating. But the fact that, you know, how, how small it is is, you know, I'm. I'm 6:1 and there was a duck in my head everywhere I went. And the fact that two people couldn't pass each other in the passageway, you know, it was a special type of person. I'm glad I was on board and got. Got to experience that, but nothing I'd be interested in doing long term. Yeah, for sure.
- [28:38]
Marshall Spivak
Some. The submarine life is certainly not the tall man's game, that's for sure. We commissioned the submarine New Jersey, first time since February 1991. There's a new USS New Jersey, inactive fleet. We spent a lot of time and really meaningful connections made with the boat to make sure that we were passing on the legacy of this great warship to the next great warship. Whereas Captain Halleck calls the boat the apex predator of the submarine fleet. You know what, what's it like to have a new USS New Jersey in the fleet?
- [29:21]
Joe Benton
Well, it's like we're carrying on the legacy of this, this great battleship. There were certain artifacts from this ship that were presented to them so that, you know, the New Jersey legacy lives on. I mean, the battleship is going to be her quite a while after us sending the money to the dry dock, you know, life extension stuff. But it's nice to have, you know, another, you know, albeit smaller version out there. Company country, rather. So it's, it's pretty neat to see that legacy move forward.
- [29:53]
Marshall Spivak
So we mentioned you're, you know, you're A commander in the U.S. navy Reserve. You talked about your Strategic Sealift Officer. What exactly does that mean? What is your job in the Navy? How did you become one? Tell us a little bit about that.
- [30:07]
Joe Benton
Well, I got my commission in the Navy Reserve as an Ensign, June of 2000 when I graduated and steeped program used to be called the Merchant Marine Reserve. And Basically there's about 2,500 officers in the country that are reservists, that are merchant mariners by trade. And in the event of a national emergency, if they need to throw up MARAD ships or military SEAL command ships, they would pull us onto active duty to do that. And my special subset is we have a group, there's about 25 of us right now. There are harbor pilots. That's what we do for our day job. They're, they're docking pilots or river pilots in different, different ports around the country. And then for our two weeks of active duty we go and pilot, you know, ships for the Navy and different ports. And I've been all around the world doing stuff like that. I'm a qualified harbor pilot and go to Spain and I'm working on my qualifications, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. And I done a lot of stuff in and around the state. So this is pretty cool.
- [31:11]
Marshall Spivak
Yeah. So tell, tell us, you mentioned some of the places that you've been. Can you tell us about some of the cool experiences you, you've had, you know, in your time in the Navy?
- [31:21]
Joe Benton
Sure. I mean it's, you know, traveling all around doing basically what I do for my day job, but handling Navy ships and it's, it's funny. I mean I'll bring in 900 foot tankers or container ships are big and heavy and the tugboats with high horsepower. And then I'll get on a destroyer that weighs nothing in comparison and, but you have to be real careful because you push on, break them and bend them, things like that. So it's a, it's pretty neat, but they handle awesome. You have a destroyer with like an obscene amount of horsepower. I forget what it is. In excess of 30 knots, things like that. But I had the unique opportunity to bring pilot USS Washington submarine into Road to Spain for the first time. That was the first submarine I've ever been on and able to convert that to. When USS Delaware came here, I'd already.
- [32:12]
Marshall Spivak
Had experience that I would, I was commissioned. Yeah. Yeah.
- [32:15]
Joe Benton
So it was pretty neat. Got to do a lot of that and did a lot of teaching up at the Navy Service officers Tool and Ship Simulator, teaching junior officers and senior officers, the, the art of ship handling, you know, junior officers as they're getting their qualifications before they go to their first ship and then senior officers like, you know, commanders and captains that have been ashore for a while and then before they go back to sea they have the required. Done that for a few years up there. So long. Neat stuff.
- [32:45]
Marshall Spivak
So you mentioned earlier you were just doing some drawing and working on your qualifications for Pearl Harbor. So what exactly does that mean? What does that entail or what are the types of things that you need to do in order to become qualified to work in these certain boards or certain countries?
- [33:05]
Joe Benton
The interesting quality, like for Rota Spain, there's no federal regulatory agency that handles, you know, pilotage and chart drawings. So that was actually, you know, pretty easy to be qualified out there. I just demonstrated proficiency in all classes and ships and went out there a couple times and you know, the CO debate, the magic wand and I got a nice little letter from my file. But in the, in the commercial world, especially on, on the Delaware, any, any U.S. ports, you have to have the trips on round trips on ships, day and night, 12 round trips, qualified pilotage, and then you have to draw the Nautilus art from memory. So that's kind of what I've been working on. So I've been up for harbor a couple times to achieve the amount of trips I need. So studying my limited spare time to try to get that, get that done so I can qualify to help out there should be. Niming.
- [33:59]
Marshall Spivak
You've been involved with the battleship, obviously, as we discussed, for one way or another for nearly 20 years. You've seen our ups and our downs these last couple years especially, and we've certainly had both of them. The work that we did at dry dock, as we are saying, is going to keep us floating literally and figuratively for the next 30 years, we hope at least. And what do you see as the next 10, 15 years, the battleship? What would you like to see us continue to do? Do better or do something new? You sort of come into this as a different perspective. Being on the river every day, being in the Navy, but having a chance to work with ships and vessels of all different kinds. So what do you, what do you think the future or what do you hope at least for in your perspective? The future for Battleship New Jersey is.
- [34:56]
Joe Benton
Know over the years we've been, you know, updating all the spaces. Project Dino looks magnificent. You know, the guys in here grinding and doing stuff now for other parts of the ship and the fan tail structure to make it, you know, have more events on here. And I mean, you know, your team, that I gotta hand it to them, are always coming up with new ideas from the. The Footsall tournament on the pier that I've been involved with, you know, shagging soccer balls out of the river. It's, you know, Harlem Globetrotters and things like that. Guys are always looking for new ways to attract people to the ship and, you know, trying to open up more and more spaces of the ship. I mean, there's. Out of the. Before, I was obviously a little partial, but this is obviously the best, best one out of all them where you can see pretty much everything. Just, you know, updating the bridge. You know, we'll clean up up there. But there's a lot of. A lot of. Not a little thing, nothing huge. You know, I mean, she's in great shape. I mean, I. You know, the turrets move. That would be kind of. Kind of neat too. So it's on the list, you know, so kind of bringing her almost back to, you know, life as when she was a live ship. We have a lot of activity, Navy folks over here for different, you know, promotion ceremonies. I had my commander ceremony on board here in 2016, I think. So it's.
- [36:12]
Marshall Spivak
Hopefully soon we'll have your captain's promotion ceremony.
- [36:15]
Joe Benton
Fingers crossed. That'd be great. But, you know, it's. It's moving forward. I mean, the ship's in magnificent shape, and that's the biggest thing. And everything else is just kind of craving, having time and money to make these little, little improvements, making it that much better every time and every time on the. A lot. And it's just. It's better every time. You get a great staff and great volunteers and everybody's, you know, moving, moving in the right direction under your relationship. So, I mean, this is pretty. Pretty impressive. I mean, just, you know, walking down the pier and seeing this massive thing. It just.
- [36:49]
Marshall Spivak
Just. We at the time of recording this, we just finished up painting the freeboard. 65,000 square feet of freeboard. So everything above the. The Black Wind water line. And we waited to do that until we got back to Camden and did not do that at the dry dock because of the tugboats and the. And the sides and marking up the sides, but well worth it now, I think. Yes, I think you're absolutely right. I think you could ask anyone who works here or who served here. We just. After we got back, we had a crew reunion. I think we're really probably in the best shape the ship has been since not even when she was decommissioned, but probably since the early 80s when she came out of the dry dock again when she was recommissioned in 82. So that's really, I think, where we're at. But we, right before the commissioning of the submarine, we sat right here at this table in the captain's import cabin with Rear Admiral retired Ronald Tucker, who is the last commanding officer of the ship. And we ended up taking the name for this podcast off of his motto that he brought to the crew. Wetsu. We eat this stuff up or something slightly they're more vulgar. But the idea is that, you know, this crew does really intense hard work and does it with a smile on their face. Any instance, any sort of WETSU moments stand out for you, either as a part of dry docking or just in your career in the Navy.
- [38:26]
Joe Benton
Well, you know, I mean specifically with the, with the WETSU flag, being able to break that out and we got underway, it was pretty awesome. And then being able to meet Admiral Tucker, the guy that came up with it, that was just like an incredible, incredible moment for me. You know, as, yeah, as a, an American and a naval officer, I mean, and just, and he's such a really neat guy and I could have sat here all day long listening to stories and then being able to see him again in his uniform at the, at the commissioning ceremony. Just such a, such a classy guy and his wife's wonderful, wonderful woman. You know, it's just another come obviously great friends of the ship and we stay in touch with them, so it's pretty amazing. And I know, you know, I geeked out when, when he was here, I ran down to the gift shop and bought a plug and got to sign it for me. So it was pretty awesome. That's it probably displayed my man cave at home, my I love me wall.
- [39:24]
Marshall Spivak
So yeah, I mean it's. We. One of the things I like to, to tell people who come visit us here at the battleship is that one of the great things that I really love about working here is we can either find something new or we learn something new about the ship almost every day. And the WETSU battle flag, the last battle flag of the, of the BB62 just happened to be found in a black trash bag in one of the forward up chute compartments. And you know, we just assume that somebody walked off with it in decom, but here we are. It's. It's found things like that, things like the nuclear PTF key and just other historical records that DoD declassifies year over Year we found out earlier this year about some sailors you happen to wearing purple hearts for, for shrapnel that they got hit with over, over the armor on the main deck and just things like that. You just find something new every day and find something cool out every day and try to use that to further the goal here. And so for us it's the launching of this podcast. It's selling some of the replica wetsuit flags that if you're watching this on video, you can see right behind me and you know, continue to, to use the historical nature to further what we're doing here at the museum. So Joe, that's, that's, I think all I've got for us today. Anything you want to close with, anything you want to make sure our listeners know from the dry docking period or just, you know, generally from what you do every day out on the river, people are seeing your tugboats down on the Delaware or crossing over the bridge and seeing, you know, big container ships move, things like that. What, what is it that you think people might not know just from you know, being a Joe bystander going over the bridge or going down 295 or somewhere else where you might happen to see some ships being, being moved.
- [41:29]
Joe Benton
Tugboats are the, the workhorses of the harbor. 100,000 foot container ship that works its way up here and people might see them as they're driving across the wall. I'm prepared to see this massive ship but just to know that the skill of the tug crews and the folks involved to get that large ship turned around dock is no small feat. I mean we do it day in and day out, day and night and make it, make it look easy but just, you know, they, they may not, may not know all the, all the hard workers involved in everybody to make and make that happen. And we're lucking up early that those skills to move in this, this great battleship here. And you know, we've got a, got a great team in the office and shoreside and on all the boats and you know, none of this would have happened without the support of our families. And make sure I thank my family for all their love and support. And I was actually lucky enough to have my, my kids. I took them out of school. They got approval from the principal in March to come out on our launch to see, see what dad does every day. You know, they're, you know, I'm usually out, you know, piling ships in the wee hours of the morning and they're not as interested in getting out to see that, be able to spend the day out there and watch a battleship, wife and kids. And it's pretty cool. Got a lot of, a lot of great pictures, a lot of awesome family memories. And then they were all, all there when we came back in in June. You know, my wife got stuck in the traffic of us having to close the Walt Whitman Bridge. Made it, made it on time. I apologize. Said, sorry, hon. That was me. You know, one of the few times.
- [43:03]
Marshall Spivak
You could say that.
- [43:03]
Joe Benton
Exactly, exactly, exactly.
- [43:05]
Marshall Spivak
Responsible for closing one of the nation's largest bridges.
- [43:09]
Joe Benton
Yeah, those guys on the bridge, Commissioner, we're also made it, made it easy. So a lot of love and support from family and everybody over the years. Thank you again for that.
- [43:19]
Marshall Spivak
Commander Joe Benton, thank you for joining us.
- [43:21]
Joe Benton
Pleasure.