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. All three Japanese forces were defeated, and the amphibious attack on Leyte proceeded unimpeded. When the first American ship entered Leyte Gulf, Japan triggered its new decisive battle plan called Sho Ichi Go, meaning Victory One Operation. This complicated plan sought to use Admiral Ozawas carriers, which had only a few planes and trained pilots, as bait to lure Halsey and the Third Fleet away from Leyte Gulf while Japans still powerful surface fleet launched a two-pronged pincer attack Admiral Takeo Kurita through San Bernardino Strait and Admiral Shji Nishimura through Surigao Strait into Leyte Gulf to destroy the American amphibious ships there. The New Jerseys radar-directed 5-inch guns downed an aircraft in a Japanese night airstrike on March 29. This 58,000-ton ship, whose armor alone weighs more than our largest cruiser, is being recommissioned at no more than the cost of a new 4,000-ton frigate. It crippled the Japanese carrier force, which had only 35 aircraft remaining after the battle and lost many irreplaceable pilots. The Iowa-class ships great size and reserve of buoyancy allowed them to carry the heavy anti-aircraft armament needed to defend themselves and the carriers they escorted in the Air Age, and to incorporate the latest cruise missile and anti-ship missile technology to keep them relevant in the Missile Age. Recognizing that an American capture of Okinawa would enable the invasion of its Home Islands, Japan launched an all-out offensive against the invasion fleet on April 6, 1945. 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. 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. * This is a blast. With the collapse of the Soviet threat to the West (soon followed by the breakup of the Soviet Union itself), defense budgets were drastically cut. For another layer of defense, eight sextuple Mark 36 Super Rapid Bloom Offboard Countermeasures Chaff and Decoy Launching Systems were installed. Armament: 9 16", 20 5". Most were downed by Navy planes, carriers, the screen, or the New Jersey, but some got through. General MacArthur strode ashore through the surf and broadcasted: This is the voice of freedom, General MacArthur speaking. Thus, ended World War II and the largest naval war in history, in which the New Jersey had a leading role. She had helped carry the American advance thousands of miles from the edge of the Japanese outer defensive perimeter in the Marshalls to the doorstep of Japan itself. Kelley, emphasized: There is no weapon system in the world that comes even close to the visible symbol of enormous power represented by the battleship.. Wryly called CripDiv and BaitDiv, the slowly creeping ships did attract waves of Japanese planes and a Japanese cruiser force, but the force retreated when they discovered Third Fleet was otherwise intact. Awesome experience, Great Ship and Great Crew. 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. It was the only battle where ships were sunk by submarines, aircraft, and other ships, using all types of guns, torpedoes, bombs, rockets, and mines. 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. [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. On March 23, 1944, she led the fleet 2,000 miles west, deep in Japanese waters. The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk, @ 1951 Herman Wouk, Published by Back Bay Books, New York, NY. On July 28, 2000, the New Jersey was towed to a temporary Camden berth for more work. She returned to Long Beach in February 1990. USS New Jersey arrived in Japan on May 12, 1951 and became the flagship of the Seventh Fleet under Admiral Harold Martin, who had commanded a carrier at Leyte Gulf. 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. 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. Unlike the flammable carriers, the Iowa-class ships were near impervious to kamikazes. These frames and spacings along with the many other bulkheads provide the ship with approximately 1,100 individual compartments. They were also the only ships for which nuclear projectiles were designed. By September 1950, when the Missouri finally reached Korea and General Ned Almonds X Corps landed at Incheon, the Navy began to reactivate the New Jersey. The Two-Ocean War, A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War, by Samuel Eliot Morison, @ 1963 Samuel Eliot Morison, Published by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA. USS New Jerseys electronics systems also evolved, sprouting different antennae on her superstructure over time. Her first commander, Captain Carl F. Holden, predicted the New Jersey would be a lovely lady who will have her angry moments.. When she was commissioned for the third time on April 6, there were a few protestors among the many well-wishers at the Philadelphia celebration. In August, the New Jersey became Admiral Charles Wellborns flagship for the Second Fleet and NATOs Striking Fleet Atlantic. USS New Jerseys 16-inch shells could not be shot down and had no pilot who could be taken prisoner. Superlatively well done.. They sank the light carrier Princeton, the sole American fast carrier sunk after 1942. armor-piercing round, or a 1,900 lb. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, by Samuel Eliot Morison, Published by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA. With only the Missouri still active, a call went out for more battleship support, and USS New Jersey was the first to answer. It involved about 200,000 sailors and airmen, almost a thousand aircraft, nearly three hundred major warships, and hundreds of other ships. 2 turret gunhouse assembly is seen being lowered into position on 12 January 1943. Volume XIII, The Liberation of the Philippines, 1944-1945, @ 1959 Samuel Eliot Morison. Unable to prevent the New Jerseys battle group from patrolling these international waters off Siberia, the Soviet Union shadowed her with a cruiser and frigates, and buzzed her with patrol aircraft, bombers, and helicopters. The New Jersey also received new search radars to scan for hostile planes and ships, a new electronic countermeasures system, and an improved super blooming chaff dispenser, to confusing enemy radar-guided missiles. The Official Clancys description of their shore bombardment vividly evokes the New Jerseys many fire support missions in four wars: As the massive sixteen-inch rifles turned slowly to starboard and fired their first salvo, obscuring the firing battleship in an orange flash, the Soviet commander whispers Mother of God. Already the guns were going through their thirty-second reload cycle. On February 16-17, to prevent kamikazes from interfering with the landings, the New Jersey escorted the first major carrier strike against Japan. However, the reduced American force could not prevent the escape of two damaged Japanese battleships Ise and Hyuga, a cruiser, and four destroyers. This was the New Jerseys third recommissioning still a Navy record. Nimitz spent Christmas conferring with Halsey on the New Jersey. In the typhoons two-day ordeal, Spence and two other destroyers capsized and sank. He was now awarded the main Pacific fleet as his first fleet command. Meanwhile, waves of Admiral Halseys carrier planes were striking Admiral Ozawas carriers. The Navy accepted the Home Port Alliances application on January 20, 2000. On June 6, 1944, the New Jersey, Iowa, and the 642 smaller ships of Admiral Spruances Fifth Fleet sailed from Majuro for the Marianas. Admiral Halsey had to abandon the strikes on Mindoro and bring USS New Jersey and the battered fleet back to Ulithi. The slipway then had to be lengthened by 325 feet and reinforced to accommodate the New Jersey which was 12% longer and 30% heavier. At 0700, Admiral Sprague was shocked to spot the surface fleet of Admiral Kurita, who was surprised to see the Americans had left carriers to be bombarded by surface ships. By contrast, the next day, D-Day, Allied ships carried 160,000 soldiers only 50 miles across the English Channel, supported by nearby English ports and airbases. Most had left by February 26, when the New Jersey fired thirteen 16-inch shells after U.S. reconnaissance planes were fired upon. 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. On October 6, 1944, using a typhoon as cover, Admiral Halsey in USS New Jersey led five other battleships, nine fleet carriers, eight light carriers, fourteen cruisers, and fifty-eight destroyers straight into Japans inner line of defenses to clear the way for the Leyte landings. Missouri opened as a museum in 1999. 4 Jul 1945 : USS New Jersey departed Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. 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. USS New Jerseys armor protection is extensive and layered, using both Class A and Class B armor. Box BB-62 All but Kearsarge (BB-5) were named after states. The nine 16-inch guns of the New Jersey and Iowa could fire 2,700-pound shells almost 24 miles. Fleets of these battleships fought each other in climactic battles that determined the outcomes of the Spanish-American War and the Russo-Japanese War. She carried three Tomahawk versions: land attack with nuclear warheads, land attack with conventional warheads, and anti-ship with conventional warheads. The New Jersey sailed to Hawaii and California, carrying GIs returning from the war. The records include name of registrant, age, birth date, birthplace, residence, employer information, and physical description. For RATING SHIRTS - Click on your Rating Abbreviation below: AB. After visiting Portugal, Scotland, and Norway, she led NATO exercises north of the Artic Circle. The U.S. Navy was escorting American-flagged tankers and had been attacked with missiles and mines. USS New Jersey sailed from Bremerton on June 30, 1945. Admiral Nimitz, General MacArthur, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff accepted his recommendation. In late May 1951, U.N. forces counterattacked, driving the Communist forces back above the 38th Parallel. Thanks to the volunteers and staff. Years in Service: 1952. At 0705, Halsey replied from the New Jersey: NEGATIVE. The United States was still recovering from the Great Depression. 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. Halseys message from the New Jerseys powerful radio mast copied Admiral Nimitz in Pearl Harbor, and Admiral Kinkaids radio operators intercepted it. Spruance avoided publicity; Halsey gave printable, incredibly bellicose statements to the press which lionized him. | Thus, the typhoon results in a court-martial. Over the next two months, she launched some of her heaviest and most accurate bombardments, again hitting Wonson, Hungnam, and Tanchon and directly supporting U.N. troops near Kansong. On September 11, 1999, the New Jersey bade farewell to Bremerton. Battleship New Jersey, An Illustrated History, by Paul Stillwell, @ 1986 Paul Stillwell, Published by the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD. They hit Taffy One and Taffy Three, sinking Spragues escort carrier St. After his pilots reported little aerial opposition, Halsey on the New Jersey told his chief of staff, Admiral Robert Mick Carney: Im going to stick my neck out. U.S. defense spending was drastically reduced, and 90% of the Navys ships were decommissioned. U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949. The USS New Jersey (BB-62) was an Iowa-class battleship that entered service in 1943 and saw combat in World War II and later fought in Korea and Vietnam. 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.. Admiral Mitscher launched an airstrike that did not reach the Japanese fleet until sunset. These and other attacks cost Japan over a thousand aircraft and made April one of the bloodiest months in the war for the Navy. In summer 1956, she conducted the midshipman cruise to Norway, Great Britain, and Cuba, returning July 31. President Reagan closed: After valiant service in Vietnam and after saving the lives of countless Marines, the New Jersey was decommissioned in 1969. USS New Jersey was in active service for over 21.5 years 2.5 years more than Iowa, 5 years more than Missouri, and 8.5 years more than Wisconsin. The next day, she set sail for home. 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. The next day, when she bombarded targets north of the DMZ, the Navy jet spotting for her was shot down, and she helped rescue the crew. On July 19, 1940, Congress passed the Two-Ocean Navy Act, authorizing the construction of three more Iowa-class battleships. Her helicopters rescued Navy pilots downed in or near North Korea, and her doctors cared for wounded from a South Korean frigate damaged by shore batteries. She was launched with SK and SG air and surface search radars, upgraded to SPS-6 and SG-6 respectively by 1952. They had just attacked the Bonin Islands, where Navy aviator and future President George H.W. The Japanese suffered almost 3,000 killed, the Americans barely 100. The Quiet Warrior, A Biography of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, by Thomas B. Buell, @ 1987 Naval Institute Press, Published by Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD. Four turrets were removed in 1982 to make room for Tomahawk cruise missile and Harpoon anti-ship missile batteries. 06/25/2012 two2scoops@aol.com Ernest Caltenback. Thereafter, the Communists made peace overtures but resumed ground attacks. After returning home from the western Pacific in late 1953, New Jersey operated in the Atlantic. Band photo sent by Dave Brown. 25 Feb 1945 : USS Wisconsin escorted carriers as the carrier aircraft attacked Hachino, Japan. Iwo Jima Operations, and 9. Back to 1st page. However, all battleships worldwide were made obsolete by Britains commissioning in 1906 of the all-big-gun, heavily armored, turbine-driven HMS Dreadnought, which had twice their firepower and could reach 21 knots. Perry Levine The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General P.X. The attack forced the Combined Fleet to withdraw to bases in the Philippines, and compelled its commander, Admiral Mineichi Koga, to flee in a flying boat that was lost in a typhoon. The table below contains the names of sailors who served aboard the USS New Jersey (BB 62). 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. She rejoined the fast carriers on October 27, 1944. United Nations Summer/Fall Offensive, 3. 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. They captured its capital Seoul and drove the beleaguered South Korean units and reinforcing U.S. forces into the Pusan Perimeter. The New Jersey promptly pitched in on May 19, shelling Kansong just above the Parallel to interdict enemy supplies. Do not sell or share my personal information, Date reported for particular duty or on board. Starting around 1890, the United States built its own battleships (designated BB). Signed up the help maintain this historic ship after retiring from the IBM Corporation. Spruance used the New Jersey as his flagship until April 10. The New Jersey remained at Bayonne until the summer of 1962 when she was towed to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in a consolidation of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. After World War I, America completed her first battleships with eight 16-inch/45-caliber guns (BB-45, -46 and -48). Because of their great size, they had the space and reserve buoyancy to be retrofitted with modern missile systems, while retaining unmatched firepower and armor protection. The task force was subjected to a flurry of attacking bombers and kamikazes, including the first use of rocket-powered piloted flying bombs. 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. Almost seven hundred Japanese planes attacked the fast carriers and invasion fleet, and the giant battleship Yamato and escorts embarked on a one-way attack aimed at Okinawa. Once launched, USS New Jersey was towed to drydock so her four propellers and two rudders could be fitted. Her 16- and 5-inch guns destroyed enemy bridges, tunnels, road and rail junctions, railroad yards, trains, bunkers, trenches, troops, mortar pits, artillery positions, shore batteries, supply dumps, ammo dumps, a dam, and an oil refinery. She headed through the Panama Canal to Cuba and Norfolk. I held the American Flag in the ceremony. The New Jersey was the only battleship that participated in the Navys siege of Wonson, the longest naval blockade in modern history. G-2 The Best Turret ( just kidding) Battleship Gunners mates are the best, i loved being on the jersey though i hated my job and some people went out of their way too make my life miserablei loved the ship and enjoyed the travel i think of my time on the jersey almost every day please email me guys at stealthywizard@hotmai. Miss the Big J. The Modern Military Branch at College Parkalso has custody of the Bureau of Naval Personnel Casualty Files, which have the official list of Navy casualties for each World War II action. Her ten-gun 5-inch broadside blew up an armed minesweeper/trawler, and she finished off the destroyer Maikaze. Meanwhile, USS New Jersey was again celebrated in fiction, now by best-selling author Tom Clancy. In World War II, the New Jersey led the Pacific Fleet under Admirals Spruance and Halsey and fought in the two largest naval battles in history. USS New Jersey continued steaming on the summer cruise for 700 midshipmen. The Modern Military Branch, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001, has custody of deck logs from 1941 to 1983, as well asmuster rolls created after 1938.