The most decorated battleship in the history of the United States is done with war.
The engines of the vessel, the Battleship New Jersey, are no longer permitted to operate, by order of the U.S. Navy.
But on a windy afternoon in March, tugboats pushed and pulled the ship away from land for the first time in more than 20 years.
“You’ll get me crying,” Ms. Smith, 87, said, describing the emotions she felt as a mammoth American flag was hoisted aloft during the shifting of colors before the Battleship New Jersey left the dock on March 21.
Ms. Smith, a writer who lives in New Jersey, was on hand in 1999, too, when the ship made its way through the Panama Canal, headed toward its new career as a museum and memorial.
Persons:
Muriel Smith, “ You’ll, ” Ms, Smith
Organizations:
Battleship, U.S . Navy
Locations:
United States, Jersey, Camden , N.J, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Panama