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A national and state historic landmark in Hackensack, NJ is in crisis.
The USS Ling, a Balao class submarine that served our nation in WWII is stuck in the mud in the Hackensack River in Hackensack, NJ.
The submarine has been at its present location since 1973 when the title was transferred to the Submarine Memorial Association who operated a museum at the site.
Continue reading A National and State Historic Landmark in Hackensack, is in Crisis
USS Ling for Veterans Day with Dave Campbell RHS Grad 1970 photos by ArtChick
June 18,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Hackensack NJ, USS Ling (SS-297) is the last of the fleet boats that patrolled American shores during World War II in response to U-Boat attacks off the coast of the United States. Ling made one Atlantic patrol before the war ended. Decommissioned in 1946, Ling became part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until reactivation as a submarine training vessel in 1960.
Ling was donated to the Submarine Memorial Association in 1971, and arrived at her present home in New Jersey in January 1973. The boat is now displayed in the Hackensack River, and is the official state naval museum for New Jersey.
Until a just a few years ago the Ling was the centerpiece exhibit of the New Jersey Naval Museum, which was located on the property adjacent to the ship’s berth. The submarine was closed to the public after the walkway leading to it from shore was swept away by superstorm Sandy in 2012, leaving no access to the foundered ship. The museum subsequently closed in 2015.
In 2016, the museum’s lease was terminated by the former publisher of The Record, Stephen Borg, whose grandfather negotiated the original deal to lease land to the museum for $1 a year. Last year, the Hackensack Planning Board voted to subdivide the 20-acre parcel of land into four lots for a redevelopment project, which would include a hotel and 700 residences.
The fate of the Ling is ultimately connected to the ability for it to be moved from its location .The LIng sits stranded in muck and mire ,perhaps even silted in, imprisoned by steel barriers, and rusting away; a sorry fate for the the once swift and proud naval warship.
