Chalk one up in the win column for South Jersey. Hudson County, in the battle for the most decorated battleship in Naval history, was sunk last week when the U.S. Navy decided on the Camden waterfront as the final resting spot of the USS New Jersey. The Navy decided unanimously to dock the historic ship on the Camden waterfront rather than what is considered to be the most valuable corridor of tourist real estate in the world: Bayonne's Military Ocean Terminal, which has sight lines to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the New York skyline. Instead, the ship will float opposite Philadelphia in the murky waters off the shores of Camden, where efforts to revitalize that city's economy have not met the expectations set forth upon the creation of the state aquarium there. Camden's waterfront attendance has not boomed as planned, but because of a more solid plan to host the ship, the city won out. The decision came despite the USS New Jersey Battleship Commission's high regard for the proposed site in Bayonne. Hudson loses "While I'm happy to see the USS New Jersey make our state her final resting place, it is indeed very disappointing to see the Navy reverse the Commission's vote that would have brought the battleship to a region known as the 'Gateway to America,'" Congressman Bob Menendez (D-Union City) said upon learning of the decision. In a September vote taken by the USS New Jersey Battleship Commission, appointed to decide on the New Jersey's final resting place, Bayonne received eight votes, as compared to one for Camden. Also in that vote, there were four votes to dock the ship in Jersey City's Liberty State Park. "The USS New Jersey Battleship Commission voted last year unequivocally to bring the famed battleship to Bayonne," Menendez said. "Regrettably, [the] decision by the Secretary of the Navy did not take this vote into account and amounts to nothing more than election year politics." The Navy's decision has the New Jersey forever resting as a memorial and museum. Constructed 60 years ago in the Philadelphia Naval Yards, the New Jersey has come full circle and will be docked just downriver from where she was born. Bayonne also has a historical connection with the Big J, as the ship is affectionately called, as she was moored at the Military Ocean terminal in May 1947 right after the conclusion of World War II. The ship later returned to Bayonne after serving in the Korean War. Since it was announced that the New Jersey would be coming home to be used as a combination memorial and museum, the rivalry between North and South Jersey heated up in the last six months. Many thought that with Bayonne's close proximity to New York, the ship's coming to Hudson County was a no-brainer. According to Menedez, the affiliation of South Jersey Congressmen with the Navy skewed the votes in Camden's favor. Rep. Jim Saxon (R-Mount Holly) holds a seat on the Armed Services Committee, which controls the Navy's annual spending power. "Apparently, the Navy cares more for the votes of the Armed Services Committee than for the best berthing place of the USS New Jersey," Menendez said. Since that vote, the Navy has taken advice from the New Jersey Department of Tourism and its own Ship Donation Department. The 45,000-ton, 887-foot Iowa Class battleship is currently docked in Philadelphia as preparations are made to move it to Camden.