WWII Destroyer Joins Hollywood, Still More Action Than Netflix Originals

KEY POINTS

•The USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., named for JFK's brother Joe who died in 1944, was commissioned in 1945 after eight months of construction.
•It served in the Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Cold War, playing a key role in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis by boarding the freighter Marcula to halt missile parts shipment.
•The ship was decommissioned in 1973 and became a museum at Battleship Cove, Massachusetts, where volunteers maintain her and she also participates in historical reenactments like the 2000 film Thirteen Days.

Commissioned in 1945 after an eight-month build—faster than most IKEA furniture deliveries—the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., affectionately 'Joey P.' to her 288-man crew, sailed through Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War carrying her 3,460-ton legacy about 390 feet long (just slightly longer than your average football fantasy roster). Named for JFK's eldest brother, who tragically died in a 1944 pilot explosion during Operation Aphrodite, the warship nabbed a stunt double gig in the 2000 film 'Thirteen Days' to relive her 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis fame, stopping the freighter Marcula like a naval bouncer checking IDs at an exclusive party. Now docked at Battleship Cove, Fall River, Massachusetts, volunteers struggle heroically to keep her looking fresh enough for public tours and walk-ups, selling tickets at $25 a pop—an entrance fee just steep enough to make you wonder if those 5-inch guns or mini-torpedo drones might solve museum funding.