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Update, March 22:
The cannon has arrived in Red Bank’s west side, where it was photographed at a rail yard on Sunday, March 22.
Original Story:
The famed gun barrel from the USS New Jersey should make its way to Red Bank this weekend and to its final home in Hartshorne Woods Park by the end of the month.
There’s been a flurry of excitement among rail buffs, historians, park-goers, politicians and even the Azzolina family over the past 48 hours as news of the travelogue kept changing. The 65-foot long, 120 ton barrel is similar to the type used at the former World War II army installation in Highlands during the war. The army site, later an Air Force base, is now part of Monmouth County Park System’s Hartshorne Woods Park and will be a permanent history of the area’s role during the War.
Though it was not possible yesterday to get a definitive time for its rail arrival into Red Bank, what is definite is the gun will make its way from the New Jersey Transit railroad yard in Red Bank to Rocky Point at the terminus of Portland Rd., Highlands, on Monday, March 30, between noon and 4 p.m. For that final phase of the gun’s journey, it will go via Pearl St in Red Bank to Route 35 North to New Monmouth Road to Leonardville Road to Route 36 and its final trip along Portland Road, Highlands into the park. And the public is invited to watch those historic moments as the gun barrel begins another phase of its long life history.
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Joseph Azzolina, Jr., vice-president of Food Circus Supermarkets and the eldest son of the late Captain Joseph Azzolina who served aboard the Battleship New Jersey, also awaited the arrival of the gun. “I’m so happy the gun is coming back to New Jersey, especially coming back to Highlands, which is where my father was born. But I feel a bit sad that Capt. Azzolina is no longer with us and able to see all of this history being accomplished and making the way for this nation’s history to be remembered and appreciated.”
The late Capt. Azzolina, who also served as both a State Senator and Assemblyman from Monmouth County, had been instrumental in bringing the battleship back to New Jersey after it was retired from service; it is now a museum docked in Camden. Although Azzolina’s efforts to have the ship be permanently docked in north Jersey were unsuccessful, the younger Azzolina, who also serves on the Board of Trustees for the museum, smiled and said softly, “at least one of its guns is going to be in Highlands where he was born. And the last place it passes before it goes off the state highway is at the entrance to the Captain Joseph Azzolina Bridge. That’s got to be bringing a smile to his face.”
The tractor-trailer trip from Red Bank marks the end of the transport, but the beginning of the next phase of work the Monmouth County Park System, under the direction of historian Gail Hunton, has been planning since 2012.
The historic naval gun will be transported to Battery Lewis in Hartshorne Woods Park and eventually be part of the permanent display of Battery Lewis restoration. The gun barrel is almost identical to the 16-inch guns on Battery Lewis during World War 11. It was donated by the US Navy to the Parks system and then had to be transported by rail from Norfolk, Va. to Red Bank. It arrived in Newark via Conrail, and rail buffs and historians were disappointed when its travel from there to South Amboy took place after dark. One official noted the unique cargo could create crowds and expressed concerns for safety because of enthusiasts’ violation of standard railroad safety and property restriction regulations.
Although it is only one part of what will be an impressive educational lesson on World War II as seen from the site that protected New York Harbor, it has been a formidable undertaking for Hunton and her team whose attention to detail and accuracy has long since been recognized. The historian said the trip has involved not only the railroad, but three cranes, one in Virginia, and two in New Jersey, along with necessary permits for travel along the way, road surveys, police escorts, and numerous other details that have all been accomplished without the fanfare greeting the gun barrel. Total cost for all of that work, including the rail transport, was $180,000, she said, and the Parks System first filed its application for the gun barrel in 2013.
“Our Parks System is the best there is,” Freeholder Lillian Burry said, herself anxiously awaiting the arrival of the gun barrel. “There isn’t another parks system that comes up to the standards of Monmouth County. The addition of the gun barrel from the Battleship New Jersey, so similar to the actual guns that were in Battery Lewis in the 1940s, is an indication of the emphasis our parks system puts on Monmouth County history, the role Monmouth County has played in the history of the nation, and the importance of preserving all this history and presenting it to the public in a way they can learn, remember and appreciate.”
Battery Lewis is one of two batteries built on the former army site as the main defense for New York Harbor. A 600’ long casemated battery, it has two 16” caliber gun emplacements connected by a corridor housing ammunition storage and power rooms. It is the only 16” gun battery in the state, and is constructed of steel and thick reinforced concrete and covered by earth. Designed to withstand battleship and aerial attacks, and housed two 16” Navy Mk11 M1 guns on Army carriages which were mounted in it in May 1943. The army traditionally used Navy guns designed for Navy battleships because of their ability to fire armor-piercing projectiles 16 inches in diameter and more than two ton in weight, with a range stretching from Point Pleasant Beach to Long Beach, NY. When the Army vacated the site after the war and before it became an air force installation, they dismantled the weapons and sold them for scrap metal.
The Park System undertook extensive planning for repairs and improvements to prepare the battery for interpretation and public visitation, and has completed the first phase of restoring the concrete on the two casemate canopies and wing walls. Ultimately, when completed, the site will be part of an educational exhibit highlighting the area’s involvement and importance in World War II. Visitors will be able to walk from one end of the battery to the other, visit the rooms within it and learn from exhibits and guided tours about the coastal defenses of the United States. In addition to interior repairs, utility improvements and the placement of the gun barrel, there will be more exhibits in the rooms as well as a display in the parking lot highlighting not only the military pass of the area, but also the unique geography and landscape of Highlands, the Hartshorne legacy and the creation of Hartshorne Woods Park. There will also be exhibits of an overhead trolley showing the steel ammunition service, artifacts, including 16-inch projectiles donated by the Battleship New Jersey Museum in Camden, historical photographs and reminiscences of veterans who served at the site.
The land was originally purchased by the government in 1942 because of its strategic elevation and location, from the Hartshorne family, which for centuries owned all of the property which is now part of the 787 acre Hartshorne Woods County Park. The government authorized the 224-acre property declared surplus and returned to Monmouth County through two no-cost transfers in 1974 and 1984.
–By Muriel J. Smith
