Instead, she fielded sixteen and then twenty quadruple mounts for Bofors 40-millimeter guns for a total of 80 barrels distributed along the main deck and the superstructure, with a firing rate of up to 160 round per minute and a range of 11,000 yards. In 1982, USS New Jersey was retrofitted with new batteries of state-of-the-art missiles. Worked as Weapons Dept YN and then in the Captain's Office during the damned Decomm. As the Fifth Fleet flagship, USS New Jersey was a frontrunner to be the site for the Japanese surrender. During June, while U.N. forces penetrated the Iron Triangle, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Forrest Sherman, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet Admiral Arthur Radford, and Far East Naval Commander Admiral Turner Joy boarded the New Jersey and watched her bombard Wonson. The Rhees and Eighth Army commander General Maxwell Taylor attended USS New Jerseys 10th anniversary celebration at Incheon on May 23. | On August 14, 1945, USS New Jersey again became the flagship of Admiral Spruance and the Fifth Fleet for the November invasion of Kyushu. USS Refuge (AH-11), was a hospital ship of the United States Navy during World War II. Many former crew members belong to the USS New Jersey Historical Museum Society. The cycle began again, the teenage seamen performing the same tasks their grandfathers had done forty years before. The Soviet commander hears the sound of ripping linen that announces the passage of the monstrous projectiles, and sees the curtain of dust and rock as the battleships shells obliterate his artillery. From September 1955 to January 1956, she joined the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, stopping in Gibraltar, Spain, and France. From October 23, 1968, to April 1, 1969, USS New Jersey provided fire support to American troops from Quang Ngai to the DMZ, including Danang, Hue, Phan Theit, Tuy Hoa, Con Thein, and Cam Ranh Bay. Back to the USS New Jersey (BB 62) page|Crew List main page| They captured its capital Seoul and drove the beleaguered South Korean units and reinforcing U.S. forces into the Pusan Perimeter. To protect her from torpedoes, the New Jersey also had an extension of the armor belt to the triple bottom, an internal bulge, and torpedo bulkheads. Great job, tough work but was proud of that ship more than any other command I was on. their website at: USS He described her as still in the prime of life, a Gallant Lady, the New Jersey. Recommissioning the New Jersey was the centerpiece of his 600-ship Navy program that helped convince the Soviet Union to end the Cold War. Halsey did not think Kinkaid needed help from his fleet, which in any case was hundreds of miles away. Iraq and Iran had been in a vicious war since 1980, and both had attacked tankers carrying oil through the vital waterway. After returning home from the western Pacific in late 1953, New Jersey operated in the Atlantic. Commissioned in May 1943, she spent the rest of that year in the western Atlantic and Caribbean area. I volunteer 2 days a week with a great group of guys (mostly vets). She carried three Tomahawk versions: land attack with nuclear warheads, land attack with conventional warheads, and anti-ship with conventional warheads. Meanwhile, at 1600 in the Sibuyan Sea, Admiral Kurita had turned away from San Bernardino Strait to retire temporarily from the zone of enemy air attacks. However, at 1714 Kurita resumed his course towards the strait. These cruises involved removing some of the ships own crew and bringing on board Naval Academy midshipmen to rotate through various departments of the ship and learn various jobs. USS New Jerseys 16-inch shells could not be shot down and had no pilot who could be taken prisoner. I think he told me he was on this ship. Even before Dreadnought was built, the United States had started building all-big-gun battleships, with the first one commissioned in Camden in 1908. In 2004, USS New Jersey was added to the National Register of Historic Places and the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. Her bulkheads are 11.2 inches thick and form the forward and aft ends of the citadel. The task force was subjected to a flurry of attacking bombers and kamikazes, including the first use of rocket-powered piloted flying bombs. What had been the Fifth Fleet while Admiral Spruance commanded was called the Third Fleet while Halsey commanded. It rapidly revamped its Kongo-class battlecruisers as 30-knot fast battleships, and reputedly began designing new battleships to have unprecedented tonnage and armament. These rifled guns could fire a 2,700 lb. Okinawa Operations. In June and July, the New Jersey provided sustained fire support for a U.N. offensive near Kansong. These line of battle ships or battleships were the mainstays of their fleets and decided the fate of empires. On November 25, the New Jersey shot down six kamikazes and damaged several others, but some still struck four carriers. Cruising off El Salvador, she was visited by its President as well as Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Second Fleet Commander Joseph Metcalf III. Moreover, as the Japanese Navy minister stated, our defeat at Leyte was tantamount to the loss of the Philippines. The New Jersey also received a Naval Unit Commendation for her service in Vietnam, and Presidential Unit Citations from the Republic of the Philippines and the Republic of Korea. Spruance, raised in New Jersey, had led American forces to victory in the Battle of Midway in 1942 and was the commander who retook Tarawa and Makin. The land-attack Tomahawk missiles had ranges exceeding 1,000 miles and employed terrain-following systems to fly below surface radar and deliver their warheads with unprecedented accuracy. This March, the American Red Cross New Jersey Region is honoring those who make its mission possible during the 80th annual American Red Cross Month celebration a national tradition that began in 1943 when , The Battleship New Jersey and the Independence Seaport Museum next Lecture as part of their yearlong Fleet Talk series will take place at the Independence Seaport Museum on Saturday, March 25 at 7pm. The New Jersey headed back to her homeport of Norfolk via Long Beach and the Panama Canal. After joining the Third Fleet for wargames, USS New Jersey departed Long Beach on June 9, 1983, for what was scheduled to be a three-and-a-half-month deployment to the Far East. Several light and escort carriers were badly damaged, with stowed planes breaking loose and staring fires. Read more Price: US $449.99 No Interest if paid in full in 6 mo on $99+* Buy It Now Add to cart Best Offer: Make offer Add to Watchlist She was reactivated to fight in the Korean War, and again to fight in the Vietnam War, when she was the worlds only operating battleship. 1969 1981 During that solemn ceremony, her last commanding officer . Almost the entire ship is open for tours, including her main turrets, bridge, flag bridge, some of her engineering spaces, main deck and helipad, bunks, and her central corridor so long it was called Broadway. What was scheduled to be a three-and-a-half-month deployment had turned out to be an eleven-month deployment, the longest deployment of any Navy ship since World War II. That same day, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin died. On a diplomatic mission after the formation of the Warsaw Pact, the New Jersey visited feuding NATO allies Greece and Turkey, and was the first U.S. warship to visit Trieste after its restoration to Italy from nonaligned Yugoslavia. However, the Missouri, named after President Trumans home state and christened by his daughter, was chosen instead. Meanwhile, on May 27, 1945, Admiral Spruance yielded command of the main Pacific Fleet to Admiral Halsey, who was told his flagship would be Missouri. This database contains an index to U.S. Marine Corps muster rolls from 1798-1958. Her unique round bridge was replaced by the same squared off bridge that had been installed on Missouri and Wisconsin during their construction and on Iowa during a refit. The Navy carrier planes sank another carrier and two oilers, and damaged three carriers and a battleship. In December 1985, she became the first battleship to fire the anti-ship version of the Tomahawk missile. Victory at Sea, World War II in the Pacific, by James F. Dunnigan & Albert A. Nofi, @ 1995 James F. Dunnigan & Albert A. Nofi, Published by William Morrow & Co., Inc., New York, NY. Together they spearheaded the American counteroffensives in the Pacific that won the largest naval war in history. The first three Iowa-class battleships were built under this authorization. The holes in the plates is where the Class A armor sides will be attached with armor bolts. However, kamikazes hit several carriers, including Franklin, the most heavily damaged carrier to be saved in the war. 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. The New Jersey and the other fast battleships bombarded Saipan and Tinian on June 13, the older battleships did so June 14, and the troops landed on mountainous Saipan on June 15. If Admiral Halsey had left Task Force 34 behind to guard San Bernardino Strait, or perhaps immediately sent it south at Kinkaids first call for help, its battleships would have encountered Kuritas battleships on October 25. Vietnamese Counter-Offensive, Phase V, 2. The ceremonies were limited by security concerns after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Her helicopters worked to rescue downed aviators. Much of the ship is still in its original 1943 condition, with other areas showcasing the upgraded weaponry and electronics installed in 1982. Admiral Nimitz said the typhoons damage represented a more crippling blow to the Third Fleet than it might be expected to suffer in anything less than a major action. The New Jersey lost its float planes but escaped serious damage. The Communist forces had just driven the outnumbered U.N. forces back across the 38th Parallel to the gates of Seoul in the biggest battle of the war. On December 24, 1944, the newly-promoted Nimitz flew in from Pearl Harbor and came aboard the New Jersey the first time the five-star flag of a Fleet Admiral was raised over a Navy warship. Red Storm Rising, by Tom Clancy, @ 1986 Tom Clancy, Published by G.P. Miss the Big J. These records are not available online. At 0100 on October 26, Nowaki was exploded by Task Force 34.5s cruisers and destroyers. Through Ancestry's Immigration Collection, select the database New York Passenger Lists. Nonetheless, befitting a ship that survived so many crises, the New Jersey opened as a museum and memorial on October 14. That day, however, the Japanese agreed to capitulate. She ranged into the Gulf of Tonkin almost to the 19th Parallel, bombarding heavily fortified caves at Vinh. If you haven't been to the Museum in Camden, NJ, it's a must do. Add to Mailing List. Visiting the @acboatshow this weekend? However, the Navy and Marines quickly absorbed the lessons of Tarawa and were able to make future offensives far less costly. By that time, Task Force 34 was so far from San Bernardino Strait that it could not get there for more than thirteen hours given the slower speed of its older battleships. On May 31, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara authorized a study on whether to reactivate a battleship. We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941 - 1983 in the Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel (Record Group 24) that include the deck logs of the USS Henrico (AP-45) for 1945. This required a greater displacement of over 45,000 tons, the adoption of a lighter turret design, and the use of special treatment steel (STS), a high tensile steel with armor properties comparable to heavier Class B armor, to replace armor and structural steel in some areas. A decoder on the New Jersey properly determined the first phrase Turkey Trots to Water was padding, but believed the second phrase The World Wonders was part of the message. While the aircraft carrier remains the foundation of American naval power, the battleship will today be the sovereign of the seas. While USS New Jersey was away, the Korean truce talks had broken down, and new President Dwight D. Eisenhower had go[ne] to Korea to find a way to peace. Two Korean combat tours in 1951 and 1953 were punctuated by a European cruise in the Summer of 1952. Battleship commander Admiral Lee used a blinker light to signal the New Jersey he believed that Ozawas carrier force was a decoy and that Kuritas fleet would come out through the strait. The New Jersey carried three different types: the BGM-109A Tomahawk Land Attack Missile Nuclear (TLAM-N) with a W80 nuclear warhead; the RGM/UGM-109B Tomahawk Anti-Ship Missile (TASM) with a 1,000-pound warhead; and the BGM-109C Tomahawk Land Attack Missile Conventional (TLAM-C) with a 1,000-pound warhead. Volume VII, Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944, @ 1951 Samuel Eliot Morison. Best time of my life, we did a west-pac and it was great!!! Two days later, Spruance took command and the Third Fleet again became the Fifth Fleet. Her internal piping system can handle up to 125,000 gallons of fresh water per minute, while the salt-water distilling plan can produce 100,000 gallons of fresh water daily. Halseys carrier strikes surprised Okinawa and the Ryukyus Islands. Nimitzs orders to Halsey required the New Jersey and the Third Fleet to cover and support MacArthurs invasion of Leyte and to destroy enemy naval and air forces in or threatening the Philippines area. But Halsey got the orders amended to add: In case opportunity for destruction of major portions of the enemy fleet is offered or can be created, such destruction becomes the primary task. Halsey invoked that loophole at the Battle for Leyte Gulf. It authorized adding 135,000 tons worth of capital ships and permitted capital ships in excess of 35,000 tons to be laid down, if the President determined that the interests of national defense so require. Roosevelt believed it did, as Imperial Japanese troops advanced in China and Nazi Germany annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia. 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. On March 24, 1945, USS New Jersey bombarded Okinawa in preparation for the April 1 invasion by four Army and three Marine divisions. 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. As USS New Jersey led the entire Third Fleet north that night, some of Admiral Halseys subordinates were concerned that San Bernardino Strait was totally unguarded. The weather was unsettled, but on the New Jersey the barometer was normal and Halseys aerologist, a weather expert, did not think it would worsen. It restricted battleships to 35,000 tons and 16-inch main guns and limited the total tonnage of the major fleets. In addition to strengthening USS New Jerseys offense, the refit revamped her defense a need highlighted when Argentinas planes used Exocet missiles to sink a British destroyer in the 1982 Falklands War. The Iowa-class ships were the last class of American battleships built, and the last battleships in service in the world. In some cases, deployment of the New Jersey will free up our overstressed aircraft carriers for other uses. SAAF, Courtland P, SEA2, 6000770, USNR, from New York, USS Juneau, location Solomon Islands, missing, date of loss November 13, 1942 (pm) + SAAF, Courtland P, Seaman . The planes then had to make the long trek back to the Fifth Fleet in darkness. In the fall, she trained reservists. That fleet had started the Central Pacific offensive in November 1943 with liberation of Tarawa and Makin in the Gilbert Islands. The only thing between Admiral Kuritas fleet and the American amphibious ships were the Seventh Fleets three groups of escort carriers. However, President Johnson declared a halt to all bombing of North Vietnam as of November 1, just before the 1968 election. Descend to Broadway and walk inside fire and boiler rooms of our nation's largest battleship. Stop by the @battleshipnj booth to win a free family membership, a coupon for a free tour with the purchase of a tour and information on upcoming events and programs. West Caroline Operations, 5. However, the reduced American force could not prevent the escape of two damaged Japanese battleships Ise and Hyuga, a cruiser, and four destroyers. He was told Yes, yes, we have that information by a staff officer on the New Jersey. She thus helped apply pressure on the Communist negotiators at Panmunjom. The Official 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. Aft and amidships, the ship was fitted with eight quadruple Mark 143 Armored Box Launchers to fire thirty-two Tomahawk missiles. They destroyed shipping and over 500 hundred aircraft around Tokyo in what Admiral Mitscher called the greatest air victory of the war for carrier aviation. The New Jersey then covered the carriers as their planes bombed Iwo Jima during and after the Marines landing on February 19. The Japanese returned fire but missed. Lee was concerned that the fast battleships had spent their time escorting carriers rather than training for night surface combat, and Spruance was worried that some Japanese naval forces might try an end run to attack the amphibious forces. had led the successful Southwest Pacific campaign from Guadalcanal up the Solomon Islands. The fledgling United States Navy relied on smaller sailing vessels (such as the frigate USS Constitution) that had too few cannons to serve in the line of battle, and instead were used as scouts, escorts, and raiders. On February 10, 1945, Admiral Spruance led USS New Jersey and the rest of the Fifth Fleet to the Bonin Islands in support of the invasion of Iwo Jima. 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. It involved about 200,000 sailors and airmen, almost a thousand aircraft, nearly three hundred major warships, and hundreds of other ships. The New Jersey returned to Ulithi on March 5, but even that remote atoll was the target of a night kamikaze attack on March 12. They sank a heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, several destroyers, and many transports bearing reinforcements. 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. These were later replaced by three Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk floatplanes in the spring of 1945. Register and add yourself to the Crew List of the USS New Jersey (BB 62), Report an offensive or inappropriate entry, I was part of the the decmission crew. All four Iowa-class battleships served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War, and some fought in the Gulf War. Admiral Spruance ordered the New Jersey and six other fast battleships, with cruisers and destroyers, to form a battle line under Admiral Lee. This pointedly illustrated the new roles of carriers and battleships. Meanwhile, USS New Jersey led Iowa, two cruisers, and four destroyers in a sweep around Truk to engage Japanese vessels attempting to escape. USS New Jerseys four propeller shafts attach to four driving propellers. USS South Dakota was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at the Camden, NJ dock works and launched on June 7, 1941 - the very site of the modern day museum dock for the battleship USS New Jersey. 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. Admiral Spruance flew to Pearl Harbor to confer with the Commander-in-Chief Pacific Area (CINPAC), Admiral Chester Nimitz. The New Jersey was the only American warship to fire in anger in four wars. Commissioned in May 1943, she spent the rest of that year in the western Atlantic. Through emergency rudder and engine maneuvers, the New Jersey avoided cutting the destroyer in two but still sideswiped her in a shower of sparks. To save money, only a minimum amount of work was performed. The gunnery department also prepared to receive W-23 nuclear 16-inch shells. With the fighting ended in Korea, the New Jersey visited Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, where Wisconsin relieved her as Seventh Fleet flagship on October 14, 1953. She has a mean draught of 28 feet, 11 inches at a hull load of 45,000 tons, and a full load draught of 37 feet, 9 inches when at a full displacement of 57,540 tons. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Takom Model 1:700 USS Southernland DD743 Gearing Class Destroyer 1945 w/F New at the best online prices at eBay! Status changes included reporting to or transferring from the activity, promotions or demotions, change in rate, departing for or returning from leave, temporary attached duty, and formal inpatient status for treatment in a medical facility. Volume XIV, Victory in the Pacific, 1945, @ 1960 Samuel Eliot Morison. The next day, the New Jersey headed for Ulithi, Pearl Harbor, and Seattle. Millington, TN 38055-3120. On 12 June 1944, a new Gearing -class destroyer, USS Chevalier (DD 805) was laid downlike the 451, the third ship of her class from Bath Iron Works. It was estimated she saved 100 lives every day she was on station. President Bill Clinton had all the battleships struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 1995, but Congress in 1996 required that two battleships be reinstated to the reserve fleet so they could be reactivated if needed for amphibious operations. The design was recommended by the Battleship Design Advisory Board, which included Americas premier naval architect William Francis Gibbs, who designed ocean liners such as SS United States, and William Hovgaard, MITs professor of naval design, who investigated the sinkings of Titanic and Lusitania. After a high-speed meeting with the worlds fastest ocean liner United States (now berthed in sight of the New Jersey), the New Jersey visited France, Portugal, and the Caribbean. Halsey knew Admiral Kinkaid was preparing to confront Admiral Nishimuras southern force at Surigao Strait. The New Jerseys unmatched service in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the conflicts in Lebanon and the Persian Gulf put her in harms way in more battles, campaigns, and wars than any almost any other vessel. Third Korean Winter Offensive. The Japanese plan resulted in the Battle for Leyte Gulf, the largest battle ever fought at sea. The New Jersey was Spruances last seagoing assignment. There he and Carney remained for an hour of undisclosed drama, while the New Jersey and the rest of Halseys force continued to speed north toward Admiral Ozawa, and away from Taffy 3. Speeding north in USS New Jersey, Admiral Halsey did not receive Kinkaids 0707 message until 0822. Launched on the first anniversary of Pearl Harbor, she fought in World War II, was the first battleship reactivated for the Korean War, the only battleship to serve in the Vietnam War, and the first battleship reactivated to end the Cold War. On December 30, 1944, Admiral Halsey in USS New Jersey led the Third Fleet to sea to aid General MacArthurs liberation on Luzon. Thus, the Leyte landing occurred before Imperial Japan could train enough naval pilots and reunite its fleet. A simple web search for your ship/unit name (e.g., USS Enterprise reunion) will bring up relevant websites. This shaft horsepower is sufficient to produce a speed of 33 knots at normal displacement. USS New Jersey is also the museum battleship most open to the public. 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. On December 11, 1944, Admiral Halsey in USS New Jersey led the Third Fleet whose planes blanketed Luzon on December 14-16 to support Army landings on Mindoro Island in the Philippines. About. To counter the Soviet military and naval expansion, the New Jersey led her three sisters into the Missile Age, adding cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, and anti-missile weapons to their massive 16-inch guns and numerous 5-inch guns, making them the most formidable surface warships ever put to sea by the Navy. members belong to the USS New Jersey Historical Museum Society. scuff ". The New Jersey charged forward at over 30 knots and fired her 16-inch guns straight ahead, the speeding ship recoiling with each blast. The Japanese decoy plan had succeeded. She fired continuously for hours when Marine outposts were surrounded and attacked by Communist troops, including on February 22-23 and March 31, 1969. Halsey and the New Jersey led a surface fleet to engage battleships Ise and Hyuga at their reported position in Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam, but they once again were able to flee from Halsey. Decom sucked, we should have drove her right into Iraq. The Japanese formations were decimated by superior American pilots and fighters in what one pilot said was just like an old-time turkey shoot down home! Japanese planes which got through the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot mainly attacked the heavily armored battleline. USS New Jersey was the only battleship recalled to duty during the Vietnam War. Volunteers swarmed over the ship in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard where she was built. The Battle of Leyte Gulf, 23-26 October 1944, by Thomas J. Cutler, @ 1994 Thomas J. Cutler, Published by HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. New York, NY. * Click PARTS of HulNumber are UNDER REVISION. Putnams Sons, New York, NY. 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. Add yours! This was the first time Iowa-class battleships performed their primary function of engaging enemy warships, and proved to be the last, although other opportunities arose in later battles. Work on USS New Jersey proceeded around the clock. The Marianas were over 1,000 miles from the nearest American airbase on newly captured Eniwetok, so the carriers escorted by the New Jersey would have to supply all the air support. Here to read entries in the Ships Log * *. The Soviet Union was pressured by President Reagans foreign policy initiatives and expansion of the Navy (which peaked at 594 ships), and challenged by East European discontent, Afghan resistance, and economic deterioration at home. Moreover, the museum has exhibits telling the story of the ship from design and construction through final deactivation.
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