Exploring Battleship NJ: Where Does This Door Go?

In this episode we're exploring a compartment we've never been in before, accessed through the Officer's Barber Shop.
For our previous video on the ship's barber shops:
• Barbershop
For our video on one of the ship's glory holes:
• Glory Hole: Berthing, ...
To support this channel and Battleship New Jersey, go to: www.battleship...
To volunteer, email:[e-mail]

[@ChrsGuit]

HVAC guy here... Since Ryan was quite surprised by the existence of this obscure room, I wonder how long it's been since that air filter was changed? 😆

[@jamesmcdaniel6500]

most likely never or before she came up the Delaware from a HVAC guy.

[@rodatamx]

Yes

[@MrCantStopTheRobot]

I was wondering the same thing. Guarantee that filter is a cake.

[@llllib]

It did not seem to me he was surprised, he seemed more to be retracing his discoveries rather than doing them. By the way what I noticed initially was azbestos warning, I wonder if that was obsolete or not.

[@ChrsGuit]

@@llllib likely not... Since the ships were active into the 90's, I'd imagine some deal of asbestos might have been dealt with, but on most of those ships, encapsulation is a better option than removal... It's far less of a risk if it's kept in place and just covered over, vs the hazards it creates when removed and stirred up. That was according to a maintenance fella I know and talk to occasionally on USS Alabama in Mobile..

[@deemstyle]

It's amazing to me how many spaces can still exist that you haven't been in. I say more videos like this please!!

[@garyt4800]

Agree

[@roadsweeper1]

Totally agree, amazing there is still unknowns on that ship. Would love to have free rein to go explore the NJ, see what amazing little bits you can find, like the pad and work gloves where some workman 30+ years ago took a little nap and hid from his duties :)

[@SLOCLMBR]

@@roadsweeper1 what a perfect little spot..

[@largol33t1]

@@roadsweeper1 I fully believe Ryan's theory that this doubled as some dude's secret nap spot. On a ship with over a thousand other fools, some will seek a bit of time away from them once in a while! 😁

[@whyjnot420]

I love how this worked. "what door?" "where does this lead?" "ok, where does _this_ lead?" Just simple, pure enthusiasm for exploring the unknown.

[@joeythedime1838]

Awesome watching Ryan exploring "new" doors and spaces where he has never been.

[@ThomasKent1346]

In the 60s, I was assigned to the USS Enterprise. There were a LOT of ventilation spaces aboard to hide in and take a nap! Ask me how I know!😉

[@ThomasKent1346]

And then there was the rumor aboard ship about the poker games going on that the Master At Arms could never "find"! (Most likely because he was in it!)😏

[@thegeneralissimo470]

Sneaky sneaky.

[@thegeneralissimo470]

Would love to hear more stories from you.

[@henrycarlson7514]

when we ovehauled the Ranger there were a lot of spaces that were only opened during the overhaul . When I was catipult crew there were places I only went into every 3,6 or annually. There was 1 case where I had a PMS check , sadly I did it when we were cold iron . when I checked it every thing was good sadly the space was sealed until a couple o months later there was a steam leak . The sad part there was no way to remove the VERY hot water from that space . I never did find out how the water was removed . fortunatly when they got the water out the fix was easy. thank You Happy trails

[@NOrlando952]

Best KZbin comment I’ve seen in a while.

[@uncommon_niagara1581]

Even after years on the job, Ryan still gets the thrill of 'oooh..this is new".

[@matthewnewton8812]

The enthusiasm is infectious. :) I really love this channel.

[@Studio23Media]

It's videos like this that make me realize I SEVERELY underestimated the size of battleships. 😂

[@snegik]

@@Studio23Media agreed. Never actually knew battleships had that many things for stuff like living aside from quarters

[@rockets4kids]

Still a chance to find Narnia!

[@bambambundy6]

Who wouldn't??

[@AsbestosMuffins]

reminds me of when I worked in a mill that had to have been built by an eldrich god. every now and then you'd find a door in a room you've always been in, that leads to somewhere you've never seen before which leads out to another room you've always walked through

[@lxtechmangood9503]

Bit like the hidden doors, walkways and rooms in the houses of Parliament or churches and big country houses or castles etc, maybe even the White House. So much exploring still to be done in so many places and ships. Always exciting. Can't wait for the next hidden compartment or door..

[@Riceball01]

That little crawl space is kind of like a real world equivalent of a Star Trek Jeffries Tube, but a lot smaller and oriented vertically instead of horizontally.

[@wierdalien1]

Hardly a surprise

[@ZGryphon]

Sadly, the pipe visible in a couple of the shots did not say "GNDN->"

[@87Vetteowner]

@@ZGryphon Goes Nowhere Does Nothing . .

[@trailrunnah8886]

This was fascinating. I wish I had my own Iowa class battleship to run around in and explore! I was like a little kid when he hit that alarm button and it actually worked, I was so excited haha.

[@NFSgadzooks]

I wonder if he caused a little moment of panic for anyone else aboard the ship

[@trailrunnah8886]

@@NFSgadzooks haha probably!

[@daniel_poore]

The sheer scale of the refits done in the 1980s never ceases to amaze me. I cant imagine seeing how much work was done, like if you could tour the same ship in 2 different versions pre refit and post. Even if some of the stuff is small, I mean every room in the ship has changes!

[@wayneparris3439]

I love seeing new discoveries and seldom visited spaces. Thanks for taking us along from the barbershop to the hiddie hole used likely by a yardbird. I would be willing to bet that the space likely was used by crew to get away and hide too!

[@Superuser009]

Excellent video. Really love these "off the beaten path" explorations and discoveries.

[@josephstevens9888]

It would have been cool if that door lead to a time portal to New Jersey's WW2 service days. It would make an interesting "Twilight Zone" episode! 😉

[@karlkindel3971]

Please consider doing more of these exploratory videos. They are frickin' awesome!

[@tomasthomas8563]

If you really want to get lost, try finding spaces on the U.S.S. Midway CV 41. I was installing radiation monitoring equipment and it took me 4hours to find 1 particular space. It took my foreman over 2 days to find the space and equipment that I installed. No new numbering system on midway, just the old A B C Numbers. Dc evolutions on Midway were like watching Laurel and Hardy.

[@Studio23Media]

That could be a fun game for the museums. They give you a card with a random location and you have 24hr to find it. 😂

[@SSN515]

I was on the Flying Squad on Midway. Fun times finding all the spaces in a hurry. But as you get used to it, the ship gets "smaller".

[@llllib]

@@Studio23Media And a bonus for those that find skeletons of previous search candidates :-D

[@flatworm00]

It is amazing that there are that many areas on this ship...never realized how many out of the way spots there are.

[@whatever8282828]

I guess not the most claustrophobic video, but one of them! You guys are daring.

[@ramiroreyesm]

Absolutely loved exploring unexplored parts of the ship with you! Keep ‘‘em coming!!!

[@spennykcn]

More unexplored spaces please. This may be my favorite video so far.

[@paramounttechnicalconsulti5219]

This is, to me, your best video and I envy you! Ships and buildings - "where does that door go?". Was blest to know a man in the constructiuon trade, walked on the iconic roof of Madison Square Garden and saw all of the machinery that made magic. I never did it, but he "knew a guy" and they climbed the ladder up the dirigible mast on the Empire State Building and popped the hatch (Original King Kong, the hatch Denham climbed through to save Fay Wraye); it exists and he climbed through it to a two-plank wide walkway 1,000 feet over Manhattan. Absolutely LOVE crawling through doors, seeing what is on the other side, and saying "Oh! THAT'S how they did it!".

[@364pgr]

Boiler tech jobs on the New Jersey would be great to see. Thanks Ryan for the great videos.

[@stephenstarling2578]

Yes I agree machinist mate and bt jobs

[@BillSteinhauser]

There was a video with a former Navy boiler tech who served on New Jersey. His work schedule kept him below deck for weeks at a time, and so busy that all he got to do was work, eat, and sleep for much of his tour. There is another video where Ryan goes inside of a NJ boiler, where you can see the tubes & back side of burners.

[@TooManyHobbiesJeremy]

Great exploration video. I was glued to the screen.

[@curtvote1099]

I so happy that Ryan is truly passionate about this ship. I like how he thinks his way through the puzzle.

[@asn413]

my Dad knew a few fellows on his ship that were supposed to paint the floor of a compartment with red anti-fouling paint. their officer in charge saw them walking away way too early to have finished the job. he went there and looked. It was properly and completely painted. He later found out they used mops. they had to chip it up and do it again.

[@GeraldMMonroe]

Is there something wrong with using mops?

[@travistucker1033]

@@GeraldMMonroe it ruins the mop.

[@stevecooper2873]

That ain't right. Done properly, done better.... but not tradition.

[@gwventura1]

Very cool to see that you can still find stuff that hasn't been touched in years.

[@maxcaysey2844]

Such a cool ship! Every time I see something new about it, and that's basically every video, I'm reminded and flabbergasted at what level of detail and effort went in to building those magnificent ships!

[@phillipbouchard4197]

I thank you. I had requested some time ago a video of the Helicopter Control Station and lo and behold we got to see inside the station tonight. Great to see that the emergency alarm still works !

[@BrianHoff04]

I like how Ryan bends & contorts while making grunts, ughs, and ahh noises. Libby (I am assuming Libby has the camera) seems to make no noises as she follows & films him into the same spaces.

[@owenkegg5608]

And you'll notice whoever is holding the camera climbs down that ladder to follow Ryan without any noise of footsteps whatsoever. It's like they just floated down.

[@arnoldgrubbs2005]

@@owenkegg5608 I assume that's due to Ryan having the wireless microphone on him, and the camera person does not have one that is turned on at the time.

[@Lando_P1]

Santa brought me an Iowa class battleship for Christmas. I’m so thankful for the video owners manual.

[@frankcherry3810]

Actually, design of ships like this are amazing. No computers, done by hand by draftsmen!

[@justaskin8523]

My drafting classes in high school still used pencil on vellum. And we still printed from vellum to blueprint paper, with; you guessed it...BLUE INK! I began to lose interest when the advanced classes just had us copying from a book to our vellum...with no real thinking, planning, or calculating involved. In college, I went into "Data Processing", which is what we call "IT" today. Anyway, I became an IT developer, so I fell out of practice drawing. Oh and lettering. A lot of my classmates got ding'd on their grades because they never learned how to clearly write single-stroke letters. And you just can't find those old drafting tables anymore, with the built-in parallel bar. I love IT, and it has been a wonderful career for me. But It's a crying shame the things we lost.

[@Srinathji_Das]

I love that you keep things like that alarm, in good working order! 👍

[@sigmasquadleader]

I'm so happy to hear you! I hope the microphone and audio issues are a thing of the past.

[@henrycarlson7514]

Thank You for exploring the ship so completly . after all there could be a leak a short , a fire in ANY space ANY time . Thank You for you're passion

[@wildntheyoung7814]

Ryan is freaking awesome With all that work he’s got to do plus make videos for us this guy is a real MVP plus he has a Battleship

[@joshuametzger10951]

As soon as you got into the "mystery spot", my first thought was that it would make a great hiding and chilling out area. Seems I wasn't the only one.

[@BanjoNoob2]

I actually know the guy who used to take naps in that space! His name is Jeffery, and that void was always referred to as "Jeffery's Tube".

[@72polara]

Thanks for taking us exploring. It's a lot of fun to see these oddball spaces.

[@thegeneralissimo470]

Lol, that face you made after testing the flight crash alarm.

[@ghost307]

If you liked that face you need to see the face that he made when he pushed a button on a winch and it started turning. I think it was on the video about getting ammunition and shells down to the bottom of the turrets for restocking the ship.

[@gonnagetya1433]

At 10:43 interesting that they painted "Sealed Do Not Open" on the inside of the hatch that you had to go outside and through that hatch in order to get into that area. I assume this is because they were dehumidifying the space, but why doesn't it say so on the outside?

[@trevorgray4697]

It probably did while the ship was in the mothball fleet. She was held in reserve for almost 9 years before the navy restored and donated her. Presumably they painted over it during the restoration.

[@darrengladstone3159]

Let's see the anchor chain locker!! That big glorious pile of steel.

[@Blockio1999]

I love this a lot, I never tire of exploring niches in large spaces, so this kind of stuff is right up my alley

[@PeopleCallMeCraig]

I love the exploration videos! Even though the "tour route" videos are fantastic I always want to know what's behind the door I can't go through! Great job as always.

[@jj3449]

I love when he says judging by the age of the chair. Those are the same chairs my barber has just different upholstery.

[@welcomestranger]

Perfect exploration video. One interesting location leads to another and another and another and another.

[@garywagner2466]

Great fun. Thanks, Ryan and Libby.

[@formula73]

All the stuff I’ve watched here…THIS is my favorite video. I feel like a kid watching Ryan find stuff! Sleepy shipyard bubbas!!

[@mosheberkovits3586]

It must be so much fun being able to explore the ship as you please

[@randyogburn2498]

I love it. The alarm still works. It would be a blast if I could retire today & move & start volunteering tomorrow. But I fear I would want to spend all my time exploring instead of working.

[@MJTAUTOMOTIVE]

Hi Ryan and Libby, Could you do another tour of the fire control rooms and then to the engine room out to the propeller shafts. Basically a tour of where the oil starts and gets heated then water turned to steam that turns the turbines and then the propeller shafts. I know you have done separate videos on each of these. But one video showing the complete system. It would not have to be a long video, a couple of minutes in each space. Thanks for the Great videos. Cheers.

[@Vile-Flesh]

I love these little spaces. I would like to see the catacombs again from different entry point maybe, just more catacombs would be great and the wiring trunks of the 16 inch guns.

[@MoparNewport]

Ryan - *Triggers Alarm* Half the museum staff - *Comes running* Ooops.

[@kevincrosby1760]

A distinction should be made between "Air conditioning" and "ventilation". If a space is designed for human entry on even an occasional basis, it will have ventilation supply and exhaust. Whether that supply is from the weather decks, another compartment, or runs through heating and/or cooling coils depends on the actual use of the space. Fan Rooms such as these are actually quite common. They provide access to heating coils, cooling coils, fan motors/belts, dampers, etc. If you have items which you just cannot afford to be caught with in your personal locker, you will locate spaces such as these with easy access away from prying eyes. They are also popular with sailors who wish to engage in activities frowned upon by the US Navy. Other than the obvious "couples" activities, these activities could include a little cocktail party and/or a card game where there is money on the table. FWIW, you can find similar spaces in large buildings as part of the HVAC system. Caught a couple once engaging in what appeared to be a lab project for their Human Biology class while looking for a duct smoke detector in a college library HVAC system...

[@moconnell663]

Just casually ask them if they've seen any red cabling about anywhere ;)

[@yes_head]

LOL. You could have a whole video sub-series called "BB-62 Backroads". I'm surprised there weren't any old Betty Grable pinups on some of those bulkheads!

[@rdbjrseattle]

I see all that metal and space up on the exterior spaces and realize it’s Hell on Earth for the Deck Apes to maintain scraping and painting. Interior spaces were usually maintained by their respective ratings - just to keep the deck apes out if nothing else.

[@alwaysbearded1]

Yeah new spaces and a Libby sighting. I think that was you in the mirror. Great work. You are like Ginger Rodgers doing everything Ryan does in heels, er, with a camera. Thanks to both of you for bringing us this content.

[@manaboutit1594]

So many cultural references packaged up in your comment. GRATS!

[@loosh5101]

This is definitely one of those videos where it's fun to go through the sequence "pause, check the PDF of the plans, play, new space, repeat."

[@MrShanegoldman]

I liked the alarm part, I'm sure somebody was surprised.

[@NomadShadow1]

Cool. More of this please 🙂

[@31dknight]

Great video from the battleship.

[@36736fps]

2 questions: 1 - What safety protocols do you have to check the atmosphere in all these confined spaces for oxygen content and toxic gases? 2 - Is there a door/hatch schedule that lists all the doors and hatches that shows how many there are in the whole ship?

[@objuan6]

doors, hatches, closures would have been carefully monitored when ship was operational, large block X Y Z symbols on every closure is a key part of that, but, I don’t remember any more of that. Need a BlueJacket’sManual.

[@richtidd]

The inner room is just big enough for one curator!

[@marksayers3721]

Ryan you have the greatest job in the world to have full access to a battleship to explore every single inch every crawlspace will be totally awesome

[@Rob-rn4ce]

Mystery solved, we’ll done. Making plans to visit soon.

[@maytagmark2171]

Just because Ryan did not know of these areas does not mean maintenance does not know of them. The filters would be on the maintenance check list.

[@matthewblaszyk4405]

My favorite type of videos!! Keep it up!

[@ronsmith5441]

Back in the early 80's when this ship was towed into long beach shipyard, the USS Tarawa was in for refitting,,I stood roving watch on the New Jersey before she had a crew I was a Hull Tech from the Eagle of the sea

[@ZGryphon]

I love the partially painted room. It's like someone was assigned to paint in there, got started on it, then realized, _No one is ever going to come in here again for any reason, what am I doing with my life?_ :)

[@scrappydude1]

The sheer complexity of these ships never ceases to amaze me. Up here to waaay down in the “catacombs”, at some point every single piece of equipment you see had to be known, installed, used, maintained, etc. Beyond that, just remember that, at least as built, every single thing you see, from a hatch to a nut/bolt, everything, was known, it was needed, it was planned for, it was dimensioned and drawn out, etc. every single individual piece on that ship was intended to be exactly where it is.

[@badlandskid]

And it makes me wonder how much any one man knew, and did he pass on that knowledge to the man that replaced him? I wonder how many little rooms and hatches had to be rediscovered by new sailors when they were assigned to the ship.

[@AregPone]

I would love doing this. You could only do so much of this as a Marine on float. Even so, I would wander as much as I could, exploring.

[@larrydavis3645]

I was stationed on 2 WWII destroyers and explored a good deal. As GM I had to record magazine temperatures every day. So I would do some additional exploring. I also had duty in after steering when were out to sea.

[@SSN515]

When ships are in drydock overhauls was a great time to explore . They were unmanned for the most part on duty nights and with all the numerous access openings cut, you can really see a lot of stuff.

[@856Dropout]

Love to see the whole ship documented. This video was super interesting.

[@Jimorian]

Now we know what to get Ryan for his Birthday: a door he hasn't seen before!

[@VitaminK69]

That was really neat to watch!

[@Therealguymins]

I love weird little spaces like these, I'd have so much fun exploring a ship like this lol

[@NotTheCIA1961]

This was a really fun video to watch.

[@Raptorrat]

Seeing those panels in far-off spaces makes me wonder if, and how many, "mystery" switches there are. It does work, it does something somewhere in the ship, but no one figured out what and where. Like an old bit in "friends" where a switch in one appartment, turned the TV in the other appartment on and off.

[@psycocavr]

I love the exploration! I followed Admiral Olson all the way down into the double bottom of the USS Ranger during her 93 Survey. He was explaining everything he saw to young the sailors who were following us. Good times.

[@PsRohrbaugh]

This content is why I subscribe. Great video!

[@TurboHappyCar]

Videos like this is why Ryan and Libby are the best! 👍

[@sierraone9181]

Where does this door go? Like we are not going to click on this. Lol. Thats like saying let's see what this key opens. Love the channel. Great stuff Ryan!

[@sigstackfault]

Ryan is my favourite Urban Explorer

[@isaacschmitt4803]

Me, a former sailor: That's not why it was called a glory hole. . . Joking aside, I love seeing things on old ships that look like they came out of my ship, which was finished in 2010 (The USS Gravely DDG 107). Especially my equipment, the interior communications stuff like the 1MC, the crash alarm, sound powered phones, and other things that haven't changed much since . . . probably before WW2. Also love seeing these forgotten spaces. I got to explore a lot of those on my ship since I owned all the sensors and detectors, so I was intimately familiar with the best nap spots.

[@cameronmccreary4758]

I see a jail type toilet right behind Ryan in the corner of the barbershop to his right. No privacy. Nice area and use of space. Send a drone up the ladder. Thanks Ryan for this look into a rare area.

[@nilo70]

Thank you for making this !

[@feynthefallen]

You, sir, are a serious burrowing animal. I like tight spaces a lot better than heights, but I'm not sure I'd be comfy in as tight a space as you are

[@normadamous]

i was feeling claustrophobic anxiety just watching! very interesting, though. thanks

[@divarachelenvy]

Have you ever been totally surprised by a discovery in any of the spaces on the ship?

[@jbellos1]

That was great, thanks!!

[@DJRonnieG]

I really enjoyed this one and was also oddly amused by the sound of airflow I'm those spaces.

[@heatherbrown2761]

I would love to know what if any evidence or equipment remains from the elevator that was installed for FDR at one point. =)

[@toddthompson3043]

Keep up these kind of videos. This was awesome

[@francisconrad9922]

Show the Stern Tubes. Area of the Main Shafts that Leave the Ship and go into the Water.

[@alastairjones0]

Loved this explore - it’s like the ultimate urbex!

[@earlyriser8998]

wow ..what a great video to show 'hidden' spaces

[@greeb666]

This was really cool, I hope you do more videos like this.

[@Jonas-sg8su]

What else to see? Literally all of it. Walk in random directions, if there's several doors, entrances or whatever, do a coin toss unless it brings you somewhere that has been featured already, and bring us along. :)

[@beefgoat80]

7:50 everyone in the Camden area simultaneously thought "what the hell was that?" Or, "Szimanski is at it again" 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@speed150mph]

Some of that equipment I suspect might actually be original. The room directly off the barber shop is listed in the booklet of general plans as a fan room. On the website I go on, they have USS Missouri’s 1950 and WisKY’s 1956 plans. They all still show it as fan room. Directly aft of that is the access to the aft secondary director, and it shows that ladder going all the way up to the battery switching room directly below the director. On either side of the compartment are vent trunks. My guess is that was always a ventilation space, they tied into it for the HVAC.

[@ВасяПупкин-з3ж2е]

Make MORE videos about exploration spaces Youve never seen before!!!!)))))

[@HM2SGT]

An entry log would be a useful addition, edifying curiosity by elucidating when the last time entry was made & perhaps even for what purpose.

[@fire304]

Very cool!