USS New Jersey (BB-62)

History

USS New Jersey (BB-62) is an Iowa-class battleship and the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the U.S. state of New Jersey. She was often referred to fondly as "Big J". New Jersey earned more battle stars for combat actions than the other three completed Iowa-class battleships, and was the only US battleship used to provide gunfire support during the Vietnam War.

During World War II, New Jersey shelled targets on Guam and Okinawa, and screened aircraft carriers conducting raids in the Marshall Islands. During the Korean War, she was involved in raids along the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "mothball fleet". She was briefly reactivated in 1968 and sent to Vietnam to support US troops before returning to the mothball fleet in 1969. Reactivated once more in the 1980s as part of the 600-ship Navy program, New Jersey was modernized to carry missiles and recommissioned for service. In 1983, she participated in US operations during the Lebanese Civil War.

New Jersey was decommissioned for the last time in 1991 after having served a total of 21 years in the active fleet. During her career she earned a Navy Unit Commendation for service in Vietnam, and 19 battle and campaign stars for combat operations during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Lebanese Civil War, and service in the Persian Gulf. After a brief retention in the mothball fleet, she was donated to the Home Port Alliance in Camden, New Jersey, and has served as a museum ship there since 15 October 2001.

Text from Wikipedia: USS New Jersey (BB-62), CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Wars and campaigns

From Wikidata (CC0).

Key dates

1. 1938
   New Jersey was one of the Iowa-class "fast battleship" designs planned in 1938 by the Preliminary Design Branch at the Bureau of Construction and Repair.
2. 1944
   New Jersey took station in the protective screen around the carriers on 19 June 1944 as American and Japanese pilots dueled in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
3. 1945
   On 24 March 1945 she again carried out the role of heavy bombardment, preparing the invasion beaches for the assault a week later.
4. 1951
   On 1 October 1951, General Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General Matthew B. Ridgeway, Commander in Chief Far East, came on board to confer with Admiral Martin.
5. 1955
   New Jersey stood out of Norfolk 7 September 1955 for her first tour of duty with the United States Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean.
6. 1969
   On 17 December 1969 New Jersey's colors were hauled down and she entered the inactive fleet, following the words of her last commanding officer: "Rest well, yet sleep lightly; and hear the call, if again sounded, to provide fire power for freedom."
7. 1983
   On 16 September 1983 Druze forces massed on the threshold of Suk El Gharb, a village defended by the Lebanese Army.
8. 1986
   According to a declassified command history for the nuclear-armed battleship New Jersey, during her transit through the Sea of Okhotsk on 27–28 September 1986, "close passes" were made by Soviet Bear and Badger bombers, a Hormone helicopter, and a May maritime patrol airplane.
9. 2000
   Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig made the announcement on 20 January 2000, and on 15 October of that year New Jersey arrived at her final resting place on the Camden Waterfront.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Records that place someone aboard this ship

A ship history doesn't name everyone who served. These records do:

• Navy muster rolls, 1939–1949 (National Archives guide)
• Deck logs: how to get them (Naval History and Heritage Command)
• Crew lists research guide (NHHC)
• Search the National Archives Catalog for “USS New Jersey (BB-62)”

More history

• Naval History and Heritage Command (DANFS)
• National Park Service
• Wikipedia: USS New Jersey (BB-62)