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. Vietnam, An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975, by Max Hastings, @ 2018 Max Hastings, Published by HarperCollins, New York, NY. In some cases, deployment of the New Jersey will free up our overstressed aircraft carriers for other uses. Thus, the Leyte landing occurred before Imperial Japan could train enough naval pilots and reunite its fleet. Even before she was launched, the New Jersey began serving her country. Box BB-62 Middletown, New Jersey 07748-0062 Phone: (908) 233-9093 Fax: (908) 233-0823 Or click below to visit their website: Two turrets are forward, and one is aft. The New Jersey bombarded Japanese bases and escorted carriers attacking Japanese forces on Pacific islands and the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Indochina, and Japan, including the first major carrier raid on Tokyo. That day, however, the Japanese agreed to capitulate. The turret crews moved out of the loading compartments and held their hands over muff-style ear protectors. In late May 1951, U.N. forces counterattacked, driving the Communist forces back above the 38th Parallel. I need to go visit the USS Iowa in the Port of Los Angeles to learn more of his tour. Marines said it greatly increased their morale knowing that the Big J was out there and would help defend them. Spruances orders were precise, Halseys were inspirational. 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. Personnel deaths that occurred during the month were also recorded on these reports. I consider this the gravest error I committed during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.. She was Fifth Fleet flagship during the mid-February raid on the Japanese base at Truk, where she used her guns to sink one enemy ship and join in sinking another. Looking for US Navy memorabilia? Instead, the startled reservists of Taffy 3 reacted to the Japanese onslaught as if they had trained their whole lives for such a fleet engagement. Volume XIV, Victory in the Pacific, 1945, @ 1960 Samuel Eliot Morison. At Guam, Admirals Nimitz and Spruance conferred about the planned invasion of Japans Home Islands. Her bulkheads are 11.2 inches thick and form the forward and aft ends of the citadel. Admiral Gerald Bogan, commander of one of Halseys carrier groups, used TBS to contact the New Jersey and reiterate his night scouting pilots had seen that Admiral Kuritas force was again heading toward San Bernardino Strait and that the Japanese had turned on the straits navigation lights. Based on that assumption, Kinkaid took all the Seventh Fleets battleships and cruisers south to meet the Admiral Nishimuras force coming through Surigao Strait. 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. SERVER UPGRADE IN PROGRESS. The WWII-era USS New Jersey was the second Iowa-class battleship completed. The Fast Carriers, The Forging of an Air Navy, by Clark G. Reynolds, @ 1968 Clark G. Reynolds, Published by McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, NY. 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. On April 15, 1945, USS New Jersey held a memorial service for President Franklin Roosevelt, who had died three days before. Putting this great ship back to work protecting our country represents a major step toward fulfilling our pledge to rebuild Americas military capabilities. Reagan explained the importance of this magnificent ship. Although she had been deployed for much longer than planned, she could not be relieved as she was still the only active battleship; Iowa would not be reactivated until April 28, 1984. It crippled the Japanese carrier force, which had only 35 aircraft remaining after the battle and lost many irreplaceable pilots. The refit also equipped USS New Jersey to fire sixteen Harpoon anti-ship missiles, which had a conventional warhead, a range of 60 miles or more, and active-radar homing. The number of U.S. Navy ships had reached the lowest level since World War II, while the Soviet Union had greatly added to its surface fleet, including the first of the Kirov-class battlecruisers. The designs huge size, sleek lines, teak decks, and massive armament made the ships lovely, fast, and deadly, as indicated by the New Jerseys nicknames, Black Dragon and Big J.. Volume VIII, New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944, @ 1953 Samuel Eliot Morison. After sea trials off California and drills off Pearl Harbor, she headed back to the war on August 2. She twice attacked Truk, Japans Gibraltar of the Pacific, and with Iowa sank fleeing Japanese warships the only surface combat by the Iowa-class ships. at 0048, US submarine USS SEAHORSE (SS-304, Lt. Cdr. Middletown, New Jersey 07748-0062 Another source of information on locating ex-service members is the following publication: Admiral Ozawa launched a weak airstrike from the decoy Japanese carriers to attract Admiral Halseys attention, but to the Americans it appeared to be just another land-based attack. Her armored deck below that is 5 inches armor on 1.25 inches STS. Eagle Against the Sun, The American War with Japan, by Ronald H. Spector, @ 1985 Ronald H. Spector, Published by Random House, New York, NY. Would you like to have such a crew list on your website? Meanwhile, USS New Jersey led Iowa, two cruisers, and four destroyers in a sweep around Truk to engage Japanese vessels attempting to escape. Microsoft On December 30, 1944, Admiral Halsey in USS New Jersey led the Third Fleet to sea to aid General MacArthurs liberation on Luzon. The New Jersey and six other battleships then formed a battle line that pulverized the Japanese base on Ponape Island in the Carolines on May 1. USS New Jersey fired three times more 16-inch ammunition in her first tour in Korea than she had in World War II. The New Jersey sustained only negligible damage and continued escorting the carriers. On February 4, 1944, at the newly seized base on Majuro, USS New Jersey became the flagship of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. After training exercises in the Caribbean, the New Jersey and the midshipmen arrived in New York on August 28. Communist China Spring Offensive, 2. HullNumber.com takes your privacy seriously. No Iowa-class battleship gave more distinguished service than USS New Jersey. When they ran out of ammunition, they made repeated dummy runs through heavy anti-aircraft fire to divert the Japanese ships. 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. 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. 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. USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) Crew Roster. The New Jersey screened the fleet carriers which again struck Tokyo on February 25, and then reconnoitered and bombed the next invasion target, Okinawa. In all, the New Jersey fired an unbelievable 12 million pounds of munitions against the enemy in less than a year. The length of the hull is divided with 4-foot frame section spacings into a total of 216 frames. USS New Jerseys armor protection is extensive and layered, using both Class A and Class B armor. HullNumber.com does not retain your payment information if you make a purchase. The New Jersey was the only battleship that participated in the Navys siege of Wonson, the longest naval blockade in modern history. She was responsible for. Send an urgent dispatch to CINCPAC. Halsey radioed from the New Jersey urging that scheduled landings on several islands be skipped and that Leyte be invaded two months sooner than planned. The 5-inch guns were in ten twin-mount turrets: five each were on the port and starboard beam. The New Jerseys multiple tour routes have a total length of over a mile and half. This pointedly illustrated the new roles of carriers and battleships. USS New Jersey was commissioned into the Navy on May 23, 1943. Her 16-inch guns could range twenty miles inland, outdistancing Army artillery and demolishing targets that had survived repeated air attacks. | Descend to Broadway and walk inside fire and boiler rooms of our nation's largest battleship. This database is an indexed collection of the draft cards from the Fourth Registration. The New Jersey arrived on August 26, relieving a carrier battle group. I point out that the Thanh Hoa bridge was only 12 miles inland, well within the range of the 16-inch guns on the Iowa-class battleships. Moreover, the 16-inch guns would allow the New Jersey to support the troops while out of range of shore batteries that were damaging cruisers firing 8-inch guns. The carriers strikes destroyed an estimated 500 planes and reduced Japanese air attacks during the Okinawa landing. USS New (DD-818) sent whaleboat ashore from Da Nang Harbor . However, American search planes did not locate it until mid-afternoon, at the extreme range of the Americans carrier aircraft. 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. On January 18, 1946, the New Jersey became the flagship of Admiral Frederick C. Sherman, who had commanded carriers in battles from Coral Sea to Leyte Gulf. Try the Ship's Store. In the typhoons two-day ordeal, Spence and two other destroyers capsized and sank. Prior to the end of construction, the ships crew began arriving to learn the equipment they would operate. The New Jersey was awarded the prestigious Spokane Trophy for the best overall excellence in combat systems and warfare readiness. Together, this defense and the American air attacks on Taiwans airfield destroyed over 500 Japanese aircraft, including planes transferred from Japans weakened carriers. She was visited by more than 21,000 people. On July 27, she left behind Bremerton and the mothballed Missouri. During that solemn ceremony, her last commanding officer . BB-62 was the second warship named for the State of New Jersey. Those decisions remain controversial and debated to this day, making the New Jersey center stage for some of the most dramatic and historic scenes in the Pacific War. Information contained in this database includes: name, rank, enlistment date, muster date, and station. Tickets are still available for the @battleshipnj 's Evening Engine Room Guided Tour, Friday, March 3 at 6pm. All Rights Reserved. Admiral Halsey in the New Jersey led preparatory airstrikes against the Philippines. The holes in the plates is where the Class A armor sides will be attached with armor bolts. EN. For best viewing use Ship morale was improved by a show by singer Wayne Newton, a Christmas Eve show by Bob Hope, Brooke Shields, Cathy Lee Crosby, Ann Jillian, and Vic Damone, and a visit by Secretary Lehman. In August, the New Jersey became Admiral Charles Wellborns flagship for the Second Fleet and NATOs Striking Fleet Atlantic. In this episode we're talking about the changes in crew numbers on the battleship over her 50 year career.For the ship's cruise books:https://www.navysite.de. At 1055, finally responding to Admiral Nimitzs message, Admiral Halsey ordered USS New Jersey to lead Task Force 34, and Admiral Bogans carrier group, to rescue Taffy 3. He would have been 18 or 19 then so just a kid. While USS New Jersey was readying again for action, 1968 had opened with the Tet offensive against cities throughout South Vietnam. 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. Then by using the crew list and the list of casualties, the names of the survivors of a World War II ship or vessel can be created. In June and July, the New Jersey provided sustained fire support for a U.N. offensive near Kansong. As seen from the side, the turret's 0.75" STS backing plates are installed. The Forgotten War, America in Korea 1950-53, by Clay Blair, @ 1987 Clay Blair, Published by Doubleday, New York, NY. At 2022 Admiral Halsey sent a radio telegram from USS New Jersey to Admirals Nimitz and Kinkaid stating he was PROCEEDING NORTH WITH 3 GROUPS TO ATTACK CARRIER FORCE AT DAWN. Nimitz and Kincaid believed this referred only to Halseys three carrier groups and not to Task Force 34, which they again assumed was guarding San Bernardino Strait. USS New Jersey was decommissioned on August 21, 1957, in Bayonne, New Jersey, after a party featuring actress Julie Newmar as Miss New Jersey. 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. 1985 1986 On June 30, 1948, USS New Jersey was decommissioned at Bayonne in a ceremony headed by four-star Admirals H. Kent Hewitt and Thomas Kinkaid, who had led amphibious invasions in the European and Pacific Theaters, respectively. The Third Fleet was bedeviled by kamikaze planes, whose crash-dive suicide attacks were easier for inexperienced pilots than dropping bombs or torpedoes, harder to stop because the Americans had to destroy the attacking plane completely, and more devastating because the plane and its fuel added to the destructive force of its bombs. | 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. Shes gray, shes had her face lifted, but shes still in the prime of life, a gallant lady: the New Jersey. He proclaimed: Im honored to be here for the recommissioning of this mighty force for peace and freedom. 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 the war, she remained in the Far East into early 1946. Nonetheless, the heroic efforts of the Taffys pilots and the sacrificial attack of Taffy 3s little escorts had fatally wounded three Japanese heavy cruisers and had bewildered Kurita, making him think he was facing the heavy ships and fleet carriers of the Third Fleet. Note: Distribution of this information by the Department of the Navy does not constitute endorsement by the Department of the Navy of the information or services from the firms, organizations, and websites listed hereafter. National Archive 80-G-469922 ; USS New Jersey (BB-62) silhouetted against the sea and clouds , as seen from a . In December 1985, she became the first battleship to fire the anti-ship version of the Tomahawk missile. Missouri opened as a museum in 1999. The New Jersey is the only one of Spruances flagships still in existence. Chevalier. 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. The Conquering Tide, War in the Pacific Islands 1942-44, by Ian W. Toll, @ 2015 Ian W. Toll, Published by W.W. Norton & Co., New York, NY. The Home Port Alliance for the Battleship New Jersey sought to return the ship to Camden near Philadelphia where she had been built. She steamed to Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. On January 7, they squeezed through the Panama Canal, with less than a foot to spare on each side. But the New Jersey and Iowa were faster, handier, more stable, better constructed, and could fire faster and more accurately. 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 Battle of the Philippine Sea was a decisive American victory. from the e-mails and entries made in the Ships Log, many of the visitors to 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. 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. The ceremonies were limited by security concerns after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Help| What had been the Fifth Fleet while Admiral Spruance commanded was called the Third Fleet while Halsey commanded. Ship images have been indexed, but the shore images have not been indexed. 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. 2023 Wall Calendar - CLICK HERE. Marshall Island Operations, 6. During World War II, USS New Jersey carried a complement of up to three observation floatplanes, initially OS2U Kingfishers and then Curtiss SC Seahawks. President Roosevelt radioed Halsey hailing YOUR FLEETS MAGNIFICENT SWEEP INTO ENEMY WATERS, THE GALLANT FIGHTING OF YOUR FLIERS, AND THE ENDURANCE AND SUPERSEAMANSHIP OF YOUR FORCES.. 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. Four quadruple Mark 141 Launchers were mounted on the superstructure to fire sixteen RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, each with a warhead of almost 500 pounds. The New Jersey escorted carriers launching air strikes from April 21 to 24 in support of Army landings at Hollandia, Aitape, Tanahmerah Bay, and Humboldt Bay. These and other attacks cost Japan over a thousand aircraft and made April one of the bloodiest months in the war for the Navy. 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. By the late 1990s two distinct groups had emerged as potential stewards of the historic warship. Decommissioned again in February 1991, USS New Jersey was towed from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 1999. | 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 Iowa Class Battleships, by Malcolm Muir, @ 1987, Professor Malcolm Muir, Published by the Dorset Press, New York, NY. Many of these battleships served in World War I and provided shore bombardment in World War II. He was now awarded the main Pacific fleet as his first fleet command. Unlike the flammable carriers, the Iowa-class ships were near impervious to kamikazes. 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. For weeks, the New Jersey provided anti-aircraft protection for the carriers whose planes struck airfields in Luzon, the main island in the Philippines. Superlatively well done.. The attack sunk twenty-nine ships and destroyed 214 aircraft. broken down by years, with e-mail links to individuals, Many former crew Nowaki escaped, but it would not escape its next encounter with USS New Jersey and her consorts. The New Jersey and Wisconsin were selected, and the New Jersey remained in the reserve fleet until 2000. USS New Jersey, a 45,000-ton Iowa class battleship, was built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. President Ronald Reagan echoed that remark in 1982 when he personally recommissioned USS New Jersey the only battleship ever commissioned by a sitting president. Two days later, Spruance took command and the Third Fleet again became the Fifth Fleet. 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. EN RU CN DE ES. Before the battle, American submarines spotted multiple Japanese task forces headed across the Philippine Sea separating the Philippines and Marianas Islands. The catapults that had launched her Seahawk floatplanes were removed to make room for landings on the fantail by a new Sikorsky HO3S-1 helicopter. The only thing between Admiral Kuritas fleet and the American amphibious ships were the Seventh Fleets three groups of escort carriers. Together they spearheaded the American counteroffensives in the Pacific that won the largest naval war in history. In the 1960s, with American involvement ramping up in Vietnam, there were repeated calls to bring back a battleship. Please send any Comments or Questions regarding this site to the webmaster. They sank the light carrier Princeton, the sole American fast carrier sunk after 1942. Signed up the help maintain this historic ship after retiring from the IBM Corporation. USS New Jersey also saw more combat in World War II than any other Iowa-class battleship. The Japanese returned fire with coastal defense guns taken from Singapore, hitting the Iowa twice and straddling the New Jersey. Between April 1941 and June 1947, more than 8,000. She earned the following commendations: World War II Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal; Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation; America Defense Service Ribbon; and the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Ribbon with nine battle stars 1. Very surreal experience to go back. On October 20, 1944, over 160,000 Army troops landed on Leyte, a large island in the center of the Philippines. 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. 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. Finally, if flagship New Jersey stayed behind with Task Force 34 to guard the strait, Halsey would miss the battle with the Japanese carriers. For that reason, she did not join the recently reactivated Missouri and Wisconsin when President George H.W. The Japanese suffered almost 3,000 killed, the Americans barely 100. Thank you. 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. The New Jersey reached the east coast of Korea on May 17. Both the Harpoon and the Tomahawk launch using a rocket booster and then achieved their long ranges using a jet engine. Finally, she is a military and technological landmark. 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. As a result, the two Iowa-class battleships under construction (Illinois (BB-65) and Kentucky (BB-66)) were scrapped, and the more powerful but slower Montana-class battleships (BB-67 through BB-71) were never started. This is the Navy, here, the real Navy.. 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. Meanwhile, Imperial Japan invaded China in July 1937, and Nazi Germany rebuilt its navy. By 1906, the United States had built, or was building, enough battleships to give her the third-largest battleship fleet in the world. 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. Secretary Lehman used the New Jersey to test the concept of a battleship being the center of its own battle groups, accompanied by cruisers, destroyers, and frigates to help with anti-air and anti-submarine protection. The U.S. Navy was escorting American-flagged tankers and had been attacked with missiles and mines. That means it lobbed 5,866 sixteen-inch shells and 14,891 five-inch shells. 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. The Fourth Registration, often referred to as the "old man's registration", was conducted on 27 April 1942. 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. guy and ralna divorce cause, seaholm high school alumni,
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