Retirement has not been easy for the Battleship New Jersey. After serving with distinction for 45 years in World War II, the Korean Conflict and the War in Vietnam, the highly decorated battleship became a museum ship in Camden, New Jersey in October 2000. It has been plagued by chronic financial problems, and was almost forced to close in the summer of 2010. Last year, the State of New Jersey cut its operating subsidy from $1.7 million to only $32,000. The ship’s operator, the Home Port Alliance, is now struggling to repay $900,000 remaining on a $1 million bank loan from 2003, while state officials are reviewing its finances.
A rival group, the USS New Jersey Battleship Foundation, is now lobbying to bring the battleship to New York Harbor. The nonprofit is working to raise $15 million from donors to dredge a site at Liberty State Park, between Jersey City and Bayonne, and to move the ship there. Their plan is, however, opposed by the grassroots organization, Friends of Liberty State Park, which argues that the park lacks the infrastructure and access to support the volume of tourists likely to be attracted by the battleship.