The refit added a pair of SLQ-32 electronic countermeasure units to detect, classify, and scramble the radars of incoming missiles. Xxx. She shelled coastal artillery on Hon Matt Island, blasting part of the island into the sea, prompting the newspaper headline: The New Jersey Sinks an Island. North Vietnamese artillery fired back but fell short, and the New Jersey ranged freely along the North Vietnamese coast. After over two months at sea, the New Jersey finally headed to Eniwetok and then to Pearl Harbor, arriving August 9, 1944. The armor was designed to give a zone of immunity against fire from 16-inch/45-caliber guns at ranges of between 18,000 and 30,000 yards and is impenetrable by smaller guns. The USS New Jersey continued to blast targets until April 1969. Individuals have had success in locating former and retired military personnel by placing advertisements or reunion notices in military-oriented periodicals or websites. For best viewing use Modern battleships are directly descended from the USS Monitor and its armored successors steel-hulled, coal-burning, steam-powered, screw-propelled warships carrying multiple cannons in revolving turrets. Constructing the New Jersey in Pennsylvania also bolstered support for Roosevelt in the November 1940 election, when he won his historic third term and Charles Edison became Governor of New Jersey. She became the flagship of the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean fleet commanded by Admiral Richard Close-In Conolly, who had supported amphibious invasions in the Atlantic and Pacific. USS New Jerseys armor protection is extensive and layered, using both Class A and Class B armor. During the next two hours, Kinkaid sent repeated urgent messages to the New Jersey that his escort carriers were being attacked by four battleships, eight cruisers, and destroyers, and asking Halsey to launch airstrikes immediately and send Admiral Lee at top speed with his battleships, including the New Jersey, to prevent the Japanese from destroying the escort carriers and entering Leyte Gulf. Judging As a final layer of defense against anti-ship missiles, she received four Mark 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapons System 20-millimeter Gatling guns located on each corner of the superstructure. For information about joining, or getting membership information, contact them at: Battleship New Jersey Historical Museum Society P.O. at: All but Kearsarge (BB-5) were named after states. She has been designated as the State Ship of New Jersey, and is a member of the international Historic Naval Ship Association. It did not disappoint. Admiral Spruance flew to Pearl Harbor to confer with the Commander-in-Chief Pacific Area (CINPAC), Admiral Chester Nimitz. These ironclads helped win the American Civil War and led to seagoing warships, such as the cruiser Olympia, now berthed near the New Jersey on the Delaware. However, American search planes did not locate it until mid-afternoon, at the extreme range of the Americans carrier aircraft. In the typhoons two-day ordeal, Spence and two other destroyers capsized and sank. Shes more than the best means of quickly adding real firepower to our Navy; shes a shining example of how [we] will rebuild Americas Armed Forces on budget and on schedule and with the maximum cost-effective application of high technology to existing assets. Admiral Halsey knew the location of Japans two surface-ship pincers Admiral Kuritas large force and Admiral Nishimuras smaller force but his staff repeatedly pounded the New Jerseys chart table exclaiming: Where the hell are, they, those goddam carriers? Unbeknownst to Halsey, Admiral Ozawa was to the north sailing his decoy carrier fleet to the Philippines Cape Engao Cape Deception in English trying to be discovered. The second NEW JERSEY (BB-62) was launched 7 December 1942 by the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard; sponsored by Mrs. Charles Edison, wife of Governor Edison of New Jersey, former Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned at Philadelphia 23 May 1943, Captain Carl F. Holden in command. Truk was Japans main fleet base outside of the Home Islands, had been fortified against naval and air attack, and was known as the Gibraltar of the Pacific. Spruance hoped to catch Japanese ships fleeing the attack, and he knew the New Jersey with her 33-knot speed and 16-inch guns would be at the center of the action. Add yours! USS New Jersey promptly supported the next offensive, the assault on the Marshall Islands. As a new and powerful battleship, USS New Jersey was placed in reserve. The New Jerseys armament evolved continuously over her career. Fifty such shells were produced, but it is unknown whether they were deployed on the New Jersey or his sister ships. USS New Jersey returned to the Delaware on November 11, greeted by more than 25,000 people and by a tugboat that had helped at her launching in 1942. They captured its capital Seoul and drove the beleaguered South Korean units and reinforcing U.S. forces into the Pusan Perimeter. No Iowa-class battleship gave more distinguished service than USS New Jersey. The crew of the New Jersey, flagship of the largest battle at sea in history, visited HMS Victory, flagship of the largest naval battle in the age of sail. Tickets are still available for the @battleshipnj 's Evening Engine Room Guided Tour, Friday, Descend to Broadway and walk inside fire and boiler rooms of our nation's largest battleship. In August, the New Jersey became Admiral Charles Wellborns flagship for the Second Fleet and NATOs Striking Fleet Atlantic. USS New Jersey (BB-62) is the most decorated battleship in Navy history, earning distinction in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and conflicts in the Middle East. On June 7, 1947, the New Jersey set off on the training cruise carrying over 500 Naval Academy midshipmen. The American cruisers were towed safely home. In the throes of a brutal civil war after the 1982 Israeli invasion, a multinational peacekeeping force including U.S. Marines had been sent to supervise the evacuation of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The New Jersey still has all eight armored box launchers for the Tomahawks and two launchers for the Harpoons. Sixteen of them, with white-painted hulls, comprised President Theodore Roosevelts Great White Fleet that circumnavigated the world in 1907-09, announcing Americas arrival as a global naval power. New Jersey BB-62 Veterans, Inc. Their website features an online Member Roster, By 1906, the United States had built, or was building, enough battleships to give her the third-largest battleship fleet in the world. Visiting the @acboatshow this weekend? The Official Hollandia Operations, 3. Images may be browsed by ship or shore, then ship, station or activity, then by roll description. These rifled guns could fire a 2,700 lb. Together they spearheaded the American counteroffensives in the Pacific that won the largest naval war in history. U.S. Navy Photo, National Archives number 80-G . She was carrying 206 maintenance and supply men of the 248th Air Regiment. Reagan opened by saying: I find myself developing a great respect for the leading lady in these ceremonies. She fired eleven 16-inch shells 16-18 miles into Lebanon. With orders flying from her towering radio mast, she brought Halsey to the Admiralty Islands near New Guinea. 1 Jul 1945 Propulsion was where the Iowa-class ships were most improved; their power plant was designed to be 60% more powerful to propel the larger vessels 6 knots faster than the South Dakota class, making the Iowa class the first battleships fast enough to keep up with the fast carriers. [3] The new AEGIS system allowed Ticonderoga to track and engage many aerial targets more effectively than any previous U. Ticonderoga entered service in 1983 and deployed later . Spruance was an admirals admiral, Halsey a sailors admiral. Just as the majestic power of the New Jersey inspired Spruance to take the risk of personally commanding a surface action, Halseys desire to lead the speedy and powerful New Jersey into battle led him to his most controversial decisions. President Reagan closed: After valiant service in Vietnam and after saving the lives of countless Marines, the New Jersey was decommissioned in 1969. The escort carriers planes relentlessly attacked Japans armored behemoths with whatever weapons they had, including depth charges, small bombs, rockets, and machine gun bullets. Through the use of shore artillery fire, Captain Mustafa Erturul Aker sank the Paris II in 1917 with a short, 25-minute barrage off the shore of Kemer, then rescued the majority of the ship's crew and treated them with hospitality. The main speech was by James Forrestal, Under-Secretary of the Navy, later the last cabinet-level Secretary of the Navy and the first Secretary of Defense. It witnessed the last battle in which battleships fought other ships, the last naval gunfight between battle lines, and the first use of suicide planes. At her launch 29 October, she was sponsored by Mrs. Marguerite Chevalier, wife of LCdr. The Big J is being reactivated with the latest in missile, electronic warfare, and communications technology. Wives and children of Navy personnel, as well as civilians, can be found among passengers as well. She returned to Long Beach in February 1990. Retired in 2001. The State of New Jersey agreed to back whichever group could win approval from the Navy. Japan surrendered only after the destruction of Japans fleet in battles in which the New Jersey participated, and from Marianas bases the New Jersey helped seize the final submarine campaign that annihilated Japans merchant marine and the conventional and atomic bombing attacks that devastated Japans cities and industry. 1989 now. Now, he shifted his flag to USS New Jersey because he was leading Operation Hailstone, a bold attack on the Japanese Combined Fleet base at Truk atoll in the Caroline Islands. Navy World Wide Locator Halsey later related: I was sorry not to have the New Jersey again, but she was in overhaul.. On January 7, they squeezed through the Panama Canal, with less than a foot to spare on each side. During the battle, USS New Jersey was the principal American flagship where Admiral Halsey made some of the most difficult, dramatic, and debated naval command decisions in World War II. National Archive 80-G-469922 ; USS New Jersey (BB-62) silhouetted against the sea and clouds , as seen from a . On June 6, 1944, the New Jersey, Iowa, and the 642 smaller ships of Admiral Spruances Fifth Fleet sailed from Majuro for the Marianas. That fleet had started the Central Pacific offensive in November 1943 with liberation of Tarawa and Makin in the Gilbert Islands. At her decommissioning, the New Jerseys captain noted: She has no potential foe worthy of her steel.. This pointedly illustrated the new roles of carriers and battleships. Admiral Arleigh Burke, a future CNO, also visited by highline to confer with Admiral Martin. It was an honor and a privilege to serve on-board the USS New Jersey with my fellow shipmates, and to be part of the final decommissioning crew. Ultimately, the rear 16-inch turret was retained, and was put to good use. Spruance used the New Jersey as his flagship until April 10. The New Jersey was awarded the prestigious Spokane Trophy for the best overall excellence in combat systems and warfare readiness. Thus, Spruance kept Fifth Fleet within supporting range of Saipan, and placed Lees battleline including the New Jersey fifteen miles in front of Admiral Marc Mitschers carriers to protect them. Speeding north in USS New Jersey, Admiral Halsey did not receive Kinkaids 0707 message until 0822. Most had left by February 26, when the New Jersey fired thirteen 16-inch shells after U.S. reconnaissance planes were fired upon. Franklin Ship's Company 6 Men Lost via Accidents 1944-1945 55 Men Lost October 13, 15, 30, 1944 631 Men Lost March 19, 1945 Marine Detachment She bombarded Communist supply dumps and gun positions in the so-called Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Vietnam. She was also the first battleship to enter the Persian Gulf, and the first battleship in thirty years to lead her own battle group a role in which Tom Clancy featured her in his best-selling novel The Hunt for Red October. this site are former crewman, and often they are looking for old As a result, the two Japanese surface-ship pincers met very different fates as they sailed into the straits leading to Leyte Gulf in the wee hours of October 25, 1944. As the Navys official historian Samuel Eliot Morison related, Operation Hailstone was one of the most successful raids of the war. The ships eight electric generators each produced 450-volt, 3-phase alternating current totaling 1,250 kW. At 1710, Halsey sent a clarifying message that IF THE ENEMY SORTIES [through the strait], TF 34 WILL BE FORMED WHEN DIRECTED BY ME. Unfortunately, Halsey sent this message only through the New Jerseys short-range Talk-Between-Ships (TBS) voice radio, so Nimitz and Kinkaid were unaware that Task Force 34 had not yet been formed to guard the strait. Iowa and Wisconsin were decommissioned in early 1958 and laid up in Philadelphia. Admiral Halsey said this typhoon tossed our enormous ship as if it was a canoe. Halsey added: The 70-foot seas smash you from all sides. 35,169 views Premiered Apr 19, 2022 1.9K Dislike Share Save Battleship New Jersey 115K subscribers In this episode we're looking at some research done by one of our volunteers. On March 5, 1953, the New Jersey left Norfolk for her second tour off Korea. After a refit, USS New Jersey was once again the flagship of a midshipmens summer cruise, this time to San Francisco, Tacoma, San Diego, and Hawaii, where her crew listened as man first walked on the moon. Okinawa Operations. USS New Jersey (BB 62) Crew List The table below contains the names of sailors who served aboard the USS New Jersey (BB 62). Volume VII, Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944, @ 1951 Samuel Eliot Morison. To supplement her strong armor and the anti-air protection provided by her twelve remaining 5-inch guns, the New Jersey was equipped with a final level of defense against anti-ship missiles four Phalanx Close-In Weapons Systems. She headed through the Panama Canal to Cuba and Norfolk. The New Jersey was the only American warship to fire in anger in four wars. USS New Jersey steamed 200,000 miles during the war. After triumphantly circling Truk in USS New Jersey, Admiral Spruance ordered his ships to hoist their large Victory Flags, and a victory it was. With an airstrike scheduled for December 19, Halsey ordered the fleet to refuel at sea on December 17. The need for speed was demonstrated on December 7, 1941, when Japans surprise attack on Pearl Harbor sank or damaged eight battleships, enabled a string of Japanese invasions across the Pacific, and launched a full-scale naval war in which new, fast battleships were desperately needed. The New Jersey was the only ship to serve as a flagship for both of Americas greatest fighting admirals in World War II: Raymond Spruance and William F. Bull Halsey, Jr. She is the only surviving flagship of Admiral Spruance, who commanded the Navys main fleet from the New Jersey twice, from February to April 1944 for the first attack on Truk, and from August to November 1945 to enforce Japans surrender as his last seagoing assignment. Fear of another expensive naval arms race led to the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty. A flight of aircraft is a momentary and vulnerable show of force; post-war ships have insufficient armor to operate close to land; but a battleship anchored off a hotspot sends a clear message. In the refit, USS New Jersey received electronic countermeasures and four Zuni rocket launchers modified to shoot shredded aluminum foil chaff to fool the radar of enemy missiles. The battleline fulfilled the role assigned by Admiral Spruance of protecting the carriers by downing most of the attackers with virtually impenetrable antiaircraft fire, while sustaining minimal injury. However, Lee and Spruance declined suggestions that they send the battleline west to engage the Japanese fleet in a night action. Volunteers swarmed over the ship in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard where she was built. On April 10, Spruance shifted his flag to the ill-fated cruiser Indianapolis and sailed to Pearl Harbor to plan the invasion of the Mariana Islands. U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); There are 465 crew members registered for the USS New Jersey (BB 62). She was towed to Bremerton, where she served as a part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Fortunately, barrels were a long lead-time item, so barrels had been procured for Illinois, Kentucky, and some of the Montana-class battleships even though the ships never were completed. The Army was able to land at Lingayen Gulf on January 9, 1945, and eventually liberate Manila and the rest of Luzon. They were alphabetical listings of enlisted personnel who were subject to significant status changes during the month. The poem related how, because Someone had blundered, a small force was sent Charging an army, while All the world wondered an apt analogy for Taffy 3s desperate charging of the main Japanese fleet. The conning tower armor is 17.3 inches with a roof at 7.25 inches, deck at 4 inches, and the tube at 16 inches. Her part in the battle was finished, and her guns were cold.. In fourteen months during World War II, she bombarded Japanese bases and landing beaches in Saipan, Tinian, Okinawa, Wake, and other Japanese-held islands in the Marshalls and the Carolines to pave the way for the American advance across the Pacific. USS New Jersey is the most intact of any American battleship. Clancy also included USS New Jersey in his second book in 1986. USS New Jersey fired three times more 16-inch ammunition in her first tour in Korea than she had in World War II. On May 16, 1968, USS New Jersey, the worlds only active battleship, left Philadelphia and the mothballed Iowa and Wisconsin. Once again Wonson shore batteries fired and were silenced by the New Jersey. Halseys parting message from the New Jersey to the fleet accurately stated: We have driven the enemy off the sea and back to his inner defenses. USS New Jerseys float plane spotted the fleeing destroyer Nowaki over the horizon. USS New Jersey next bombarded Wonson, a major port and transportation center behind Communist lines. | Additionally, her interior spaces were air-conditioned and reconfigured for greater crew comfort as befitting a ship serving in the new era of an all-volunteer military. The radio telegram led both Nimitz and Kinkaid to assume Halsey was forming Task Force 34 and leaving it to cover San Bernardino Strait. In reality, USS New Jersey became the leader of the first battleship battle group in January 1986. After conferring on USS New Jersey with carrier commander Admiral Marc Pete Mitscher, Pacific battleship commander Admiral Willis Ching Lee, and amphibious commander Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner on February 11, 1944, Spruance in the New Jersey directed five fleet carriers and four light carriers the largest carrier concentration of the war so far 1,000 miles west to attack Truk on February 17 and 18. American dreadnought battleships (BB-26 through BB-44), built just before and during the First World War, grew in armament from eight 12-inch guns to twelve 14-inch guns, in displacement from 16,000 to 32,000 tons, in speed from 18 to 21 knots, and in propulsion from coal-fired expansion engines to oil-fired turbines. A battleship could have knocked out the Thanh Hoa bridge that I was bombing at the time I was shot down [in 1965]. By 1010, his force sank two destroyers, a destroyer escort, and the escort carrier Gambier Bay the first carrier to be sunk in the Pacific by enemy gunfire. She made port calls in Italy and France, crossed the Panama Canal, and arrived at Long Beach on May 5. 06/20/2012 michael.missel@us.army.mil Michael Missel M Div./#2 Engine Room - 1988-1991 16234 Placid Dr. Whittier, CA 90604 Despite massive air and naval support, Iwo Jima became the most savage and the most costly battle in the history of the Marine Corps. As Admiral Nimitz stated, uncommon valor was a common virtue, illustrated by the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi. It's currently a museum ship in, fittingly, New Jersey. In that final total, from 2 September 1945, 93,064 were women. high-explosive round, to a maximum range of 41,622 yards (23.6 miles). The inboard are two five-bladed 17-feet diameter units mounted in the ships twin-skeg hull while the outboard are two four-bladed 18.25-feet diameter units. Meanwhile, in the fall U.N. forces had recaptured Seoul and surged towards North Koreas border with China. The New Jersey sailed on to Eniwetok and then Guam some of the many islands the New Jersey helped recapture. Franks was severely damaged, and her captain killed by collision with the battleships anchor. Last updated on April 03, 2012. The generated steam supplied four sets of Westinghouse geared, double reduction turbines to provide an output shaft horsepower to the four propeller shafts totaling 212,000 horsepower, with the shafts turning up to 202 RPM. The next two ships Missouri (BB-63) and Wisconsin (BB-64) were to be built in the New York and Philadelphia Navy Yards respectively alongside the Iowa and the New Jersey. During World War II, due to her increasing anti-aircraft armament, her complement eventually peaked at over 2,700. decom crew. Chevalier. Great job, tough work but was proud of that ship more than any other command I was on. Tickets are still available for the @battleshipnj 's Evening Engine Room Guided Tour, Friday, March 3 at 6pm. Starting around 1890, the United States built its own battleships (designated BB). Please keep in mind that this list does only include records of people who submitted their information for publication on this website. USS New Jersey is an Iowa-class battleship the ultimate battleships, and the epitome of the gun-armed ships of the line that ruled the sea for almost three centuries. The Navy ordered the first two battleships in July 1939. Report an offensive or inappropriate entry. Two emergency diesel generators each produced an additional 250 kW. She was deployed to Maine until mid-December in case the German battleship Tirpitz, which had attacked Spitzbergen in September, attempted to leave Norway to raid the critical North Atlantic convoys. New Jersey's (BB-62)No. Perry Levine USS New Jersey is also the museum battleship most open to the public. For the full story about our tour, and this incredible. Over 33 million records are contained in this database. On USS New Jersey, Admiral Halsey credited his pilots post-strike reports and concluded Admiral Kuritas force had suffered so much topside damagethat it could not win a decision and could be left to Kinkaid. Halsey later stated that it seemed childish to me to guard statically San Bernardino Strait. He believed Kuritas fleet had been so heavily damaged in the Sibuyan Sea that it could no longer be considered a serious menace to the Seventh Fleet. Moreover, Halsey was determined not to allow any ships in the Japanese carrier force to escape so he would not be accused of being super-cautious like Admiral Spruance in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Moreover, the destruction of all major hostile surface navies, the coming of peace, and the advent of nuclear weapons reduced the need to maintain the largest fleet in history. To browse this image set, select from the options below. The New Jersey helped shoot down three attacking aircraft. The seizure of Kwajalein, the worlds largest coral atoll and the heart of Japans bases in the Marshalls, was the beginning of the successful island-hopping campaign that seized key island airfields and anchorages while bypassing other Japanese-held islands, leaving them isolated and unsupplied. The New Jersey relieved Missouri, which had relieved Iowa. After World War I, America completed her first battleships with eight 16-inch/45-caliber guns (BB-45, -46 and -48). By the time Pearl Harbor was attacked on 4 December 1941, this had more than doubled to 325,095. The battleline and carriers pursued the fleeing Japanese fleet, but it escaped. These South Carolina-class dreadnoughts mounted their forward turrets so one could fire over the other, setting the pattern for all future battleships. The damaged Iowa was decommissioned in October 1990, and it was decided the New Jersey would be next. REPEAT: STRIKE! The vessel is the only battleship on active duty in the U.S. Navy. The flat steel wall of the battleships side confronted them. USS New Jerseys other anti-aircraft armament evolved with experience with air attacks during World War II, and with reduced air threat and higher jet speeds after the war. The New Jersey was the first ship to operate the Tomahawk, and carried more than any warship then afloat. In 2004, USS New Jersey was added to the National Register of Historic Places and the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. On May 23, 1947, the New Jersey had a 4th birthday bash in Bayonne, New Jersey, attended by New Jersey Governor Alfred Driscoll and former Governor Walter Edge. In World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, and the Persian Gulf, the New Jersey earned a total of 19 Battle and Campaign stars, making her the most decorated battleship in American history, the most of any surviving U.S. Navy ship, and the second-most decorated ship in American history. The New Jersey was Spruances last seagoing assignment. But the New Jersey and Iowa were faster, handier, more stable, better constructed, and could fire faster and more accurately. Marianas Operations, 4. Back to the USS New Jersey (BB 62) page|Crew List main page| HullNumber.com takes your privacy seriously. USS New Jerseys main battery consisted of three turrets, each with three Mark 7 16-inch/50-caliber gun barrels. On September 16, 1940, with the war in Europe already a year old, the New Jersey was laid down at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. In 2006, President George W. Bush signed legislation permitting Iowa and Wisconsin to be turned into museums so long as they could be returned to the Navy in the event of a national emergency. They first came aboard at Pusan on April 14, 1953. Free shipping for many products! Admiral Halsey in the New Jersey led preparatory airstrikes against the Philippines. Third Korean Winter Offensive. The Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, the Berlin Wall was torn down, and democracies replaced the Communist governments in Eastern Europe. President Ronald Reagan asserted a stronger response was necessary, including building a 600-ship Navy. Meanwhile, the State of New Jersey paid to tow USS New Jersey from Washington State to the Delaware River, and tow Iowa from Rhode Island to California to take her place, before the Panama Canal came under Panamanian control. SERVER UPGRADE IN PROGRESS. She had a maximum waterline beam of 108 feet, 2 inches, able to fit through the Panama Canal with barely a foot to spare on either side.