The New Jersey was the first U.S. battleship to enter the Persian Gulf, and she remained there until December 14, 1989. U.S. involvement was at its height, with over half a million American troops deployed in South Vietnam. However, kamikazes hit several carriers, including Franklin, the most heavily damaged carrier to be saved in the war. USS New Jersey next bombarded Wonson, a major port and transportation center behind Communist lines. The Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial is a living museum with veterans and other volunteers and staff educating thousands of guests every year. Two were stored on the catapults located aft near the stern and one was stored on the aft deck. Today the New Jersey continues her service as a living museum and memorial in Camden, New Jersey, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia where she was built. HullNumber.com does not retain your payment information if you make a purchase. The Fourth Registration, often referred to as the "old man's registration", was conducted on 27 April 1942. For that reason, she did not join the recently reactivated Missouri and Wisconsin when President George H.W. One-third of the ships workforce was comprised of women, now known collectively as Rosie the Riveters.. These rifled guns could fire a 2,700 lb. 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. Would you like to have such a crew list on your website? She was the second of the Iowa class to be commissioned by the U.S. Navy. From only 60 miles off the Japanese coast, Fifth Fleets planes blasted airfields and aircraft plants. Porcelain Overview of the USS New Jersey (BB-62) Nation: United States Type: Battleship Shipyard: Philadelphia Naval Shipyard Laid Down: September 16, 1940 Launched: December 7, 1942 Please keep in mind that this list does only include records of people who submitted their information for publication on this website. She made port calls in Italy and France, crossed the Panama Canal, and arrived at Long Beach on May 5. In December 1985, she became the first battleship to fire the anti-ship version of the Tomahawk missile. Tet Counter-Offensive, 1969. Clancy also included USS New Jersey in his second book in 1986. Had a lot of good times and met a lot of great people. As the Fifth Fleets fast carrier task force had seven fleet carriers, eight light carriers, and 956 carrier aircraft, the resulting Battle of the Philippine Sea was the largest carrier battle in history. When you took the Philippines, that was the end of our resources. The battle paved the way for liberation of the Philippines and Allied victory in the Pacific. This site's Ships Log nearly Franklin CV-13 in 1944 and 1945 and the dates they lost their lives. He then received voluminous shellfire from a battleline the last in history formed by Admiral Oldendorfs cruisers and six old battleships, five of which had been sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor. Select the period (starting by the reporting year): precomm 1956 More Buying Choices $19.95 (3 new offers) Ages: 18 years and up ZLOOG Uss Sulaco Presents-11 Oz Ceramic Coffee Mugs For Mom, Dad, Husband, Wife, Birthday Or Christmas Gifts And Valentine'S Gifts. On April 13, 1944, USS New Jersey and Admiral Spruances Central Pacific Force now renamed the Fifth Fleet steamed 2,000 miles west to support the amphibious offensive by General Douglas MacArthur and the Seventh Fleet against the Japanese in New Guinea. USS New Jersey was commissioned into the Navy on May 23, 1943. The New Jersey shot down more Japanese planes. USS Ticonderoga (DDG/CG-47), nicknamed "Tico", was a guided-missile cruiser built for the United States Navy. The designers thus achieved a well-balanced fast battleship, with a higher 33-knot speed, heavier armament, and the same armor protection as the South Dakota class. The Japanese decoy plan had succeeded. The New Jersey was Spruances last seagoing assignment. The following websites post reunion notices and provide resources for locating veterans: Hullnumber.com (Navy ships and air squadrons), United States Naval Academy Alumni Association. Ww2 Uss Attu Cve-102 Us Navy Cruise Book History Hardcover 'Little A' $536.67 Buy It Now , Click to see shipping cost , 3-Day Returns, eBay Money Back Guarantee Seller: braywash (2,020) 100% , Location: Newton, New Jersey, US , Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 120358993584 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. Unsinkable Sailors: The Fall and Rise of the Last Crew of USS Frank E. Evans: Th 9780979164231 | eBay This shaft horsepower is sufficient to produce a speed of 33 knots at normal displacement. The vessel is the only battleship on active duty in the U.S. Navy. After further exercises in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, on August 9 the new battleship started a one-month shakedown cruise in the Caribbean, and then returned to Philadelphia Navy Yard for improvements, including an enclosed curved bridge, the only battleship with that feature. With the battlelines stabilizing and negotiations beginning, USS New Jersey still alternated between escorting carriers and bombarding the North Korean coast. USS New Jersey received the Vietnam Service Medal with three battle stars 1. What had been the Fifth Fleet while Admiral Spruance commanded was called the Third Fleet while Halsey commanded. high-explosive round, to a maximum range of 41,622 yards (23.6 miles). In 2004, USS New Jersey was added to the National Register of Historic Places and the New Jersey Register of Historic Places. Wives and children of Navy personnel, as well as civilians, can be found among passengers as well. The flat steel wall of the battleships side confronted them. As Admiral Halseys flagship, she led the Third Fleet as it supported General MacArthurs difficult, two-month struggle to take Leyte from the reinforced Japanese Army. With several destroyers dangerously low on fuel and high in the water, Admiral Halsey ordered refueling to continue. 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. On August 21, the New Jersey was notified that she would be decommissioned again as a cost-cutting measure. scuff ". The Battle for Leyte Gulf, The Incredible Story of World War IIs Largest Naval Battle, by C. Vann Woodward, @ 2007, 2013, 2017 Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., Published by Skyhorse Publishing, Inc, New York, NY. The Navy decommissioned her in June 1948. Back at Majuro, USS New Jersey again became a flagship during May 1944 for the Pacific Battleship Commander, Admiral Willis Lee. In the winter, they had reeled back as huge numbers of Chinese troops crossed the Yalu River and retook Seoul. Visiting the @acboatshow this weekend? New Jersey ranged far and wide from 30 December 1944 to 25 January 1945 on her last cruise as Admiral Halsey's flagship. At Guam, Admirals Nimitz and Spruance conferred about the planned invasion of Japans Home Islands. For the first time, a major enemy base was beaten down without the aid of land-based air power or amphibious invasion. The assault led by the New Jersey prevented Japan from ever again using Truk as a fleet base, stopped it from interfering with the assault by Marines and Army troops on Eniwetok on February 17, and kicked open the door to further American advances in the Central Pacific. Commandant Leonard Chapman of the Marine Corps later stated that [t]housands of American lives were saved in Vietnam by the New Jersey; Unlike B-52 bombers, tactical aircraft and Marine artillery, New Jersey was always there, day or night, in good weather or bad, and her guns were always ready for every target. Commandant Robert H. Barrow stressed the battleships tremendous psychological effect: North Vietnamese foot soldiers stood their ground and fired their rifles at supersonic jet airplanes, but nobody ever stood up to the New Jersey.. The battleships with their large crews were seen as uneconomical. Uniquely, USS New Jersey was considered for more radical changes: replacing her rear 16-inch turret with a vertical-launching missile system carrying 48 more Tomahawk or Harpoon missiles, or with a ski-jump ramp able to launch and land vertical- or short-takeoff aircraft like the Marines Harrier jump jet. Typhoon Cobra and USS New Jersey were immortalized in Herman Wouks Pulitzer-prize-winning novel The Caine Mutiny, which was made into a movie. USS New Jersey (BB-62) was initially painted in dark single-color Camouflage Measure 21 and remained in this scheme for about two years. The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk, @ 1951 Herman Wouk, Published by Back Bay Books, New York, NY. I recall Captain Tucker being one of the best Commanding Officers I've had. The New Jersey was awesome. Keefer gets scared, telling Maryk: Cant you feel the real difference between the New Jersey and the Caine? 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. With orders flying from her towering radio mast, she brought Halsey to the Admiralty Islands near New Guinea. Worked as Weapons Dept YN and then in the Captain's Office during the damned Decomm. The 55,000-square-foot teak deck will soon be completely restored. Other ports/arrival records Once again Wonson shore batteries fired and were silenced by the New Jersey. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, U.S., Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958, Provided in association with National Archives and Records Administration. The New Jersey protected carriers striking Japans new Combined Fleet base in the Palau Islands on March 30-April 1. Aft and amidships, the ship was fitted with eight quadruple Mark 143 Armored Box Launchers to fire thirty-two Tomahawk missiles. [TF 34] IS WITH OUR CARRIERS NOW ENGAGING ENEMY CARRIERS, but that coded message took two hours to reach Kinkaid and was not sent to Admiral Nimitz. With an airstrike scheduled for December 19, Halsey ordered the fleet to refuel at sea on December 17. Off the Southern California coast on May 10, she became the first surface warship to conduct a successful firing of the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, landing a direct hit on a target over 500 miles away in central Nevada. 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 New Jerseys remaining single mount 20mm anti-aircraft guns had been removed and were replaced by eight more dual 20mm mounts by the time she sailed for Korea. I think he told me he was on this ship. For the rest of June and July 1944, USS New Jersey escorted carriers supporting the troops fighting on Saipan, invading Tinian, and liberating Guam, which Imperial Japan had seized from America in 1941. The New Jersey relieved Missouri, which had relieved Iowa. World War II proved the value of the truly fast battleship, but it also showed that the aircraft carrier was now the queen of the seas. was the best year of my life. Organization for Veterans is The USS New Jersey BB-62 Veterans, Inc. The propulsion system on USS New Jersey incorporated eight Babcock and Wilcox three-drum double-furnace express-type boilers with an operating pressure of 565 PSI at a temperature of 850 degrees Fahrenheit. 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. This database contains U.S. Navy muster rolls and associated reports of changes for U.S. Navy enlisted personnel who served on U.S. Navy ships or in other naval activities between 31 January 1938 and 31 December 1949. Her remaining sixteen twin 20mm mounts were removed, and a Navy librarian removed any books from her library that might be deemed subversive in the McCarthy era. She returned to service in November. With Tirpitz neutralized, the New Jersey was the last U.S. battleship deployed to the North Atlantic during the war. The main radar antenna has been restored to rotate, and systems in the Combat Information Center have been reactivated. Even before Dreadnought was built, the United States had started building all-big-gun battleships, with the first one commissioned in Camden in 1908. This database is an indexed collection of the draft cards from the Fourth Registration. To use this service, please write to the following address and include the service member's full name, Social Security number, grade or rank, and, if possible, last known duty station. Meanwhile, waves of Admiral Halseys carrier planes were striking Admiral Ozawas carriers. The New Jersey was the first ship to operate the Tomahawk, and carried more than any warship then afloat. The escort carriers planes relentlessly attacked Japans armored behemoths with whatever weapons they had, including depth charges, small bombs, rockets, and machine gun bullets. With barometers setting record lows, Halsey postponed refueling and ordered the fleet to hold a new course, which inadvertently prolonged its ordeal in the typhoon and prevented skippers from maneuvering independently. All the 40mm guns were removed in 1967. A carrier airstrike was launched against the Syrian anti-aircraft batteries, but two planes were shot down. Admiral Halsey had to abandon the strikes on Mindoro and bring USS New Jersey and the battered fleet back to Ulithi. 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. USS New Jerseys main battery consisted of three turrets, each with three Mark 7 16-inch/50-caliber gun barrels. Admiral J. Paul Reason, the Navys first African American 4-star Admiral, commanded Cruiser-Destroyer Group 1 and Battle Group Romeo from the New Jersey. P.O. Ed Spivey points to the part of the ship USS New Jersey where he spent 27 months at sea during World War II. As the fleet neared Saipan after midnight on June 12, Japanese aircraft dropped flares and launched torpedoes, but the New Jersey shot down an attacking torpedo bomber. 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.