New Jersey (BB 62) - Naval Cruise Book

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JE. DH The history of the battleship USS New Jersey is meshed with the history of the United States in the late 20th century. When there were wars she rendered fire support and when there was cause to celebrate she launched the fireworks. This ship has truly been the American people's acting arm abroad for 45 years. Her story began in 1942, exactly one year after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when she slid down the ways of the Philadelphia Navy Yard. After sea trials, she was commissioned May 23rd the following year to the cheers of thousands of shipyard workers and the crack ofa champagne bottle wielded by the wife of Charles Edison, governor of the state of New Jersey. The battleshipfs role in naval engagements was almost entirely limited to antiaircraft screening while the task force aircraft carriers THE BATTLESHIP YESTERDAY performed the operations. However she also served the fleet in pre- invasion beachhead bombardment operations and as a flag ship. During the war she'claimed nine battle stars and embarked Admirals Spruance and Bull Halsey. While Admiral Halsey was embarked, New Jersey was part of one of the most controversial and historic actions of the war. In a last ditch attempt to cripple advancing A invasion forces, the Japanese sent a decoy force of planeless carriers north of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines while their Center and Southern forces assembled near the islands. Admiral Halsey took the bait and steamed north to intercept the carriers with New Jersey and other fast ships of Task Force 34. The Japanese forces off Leyte struck the remaining forces and an alarmed Admiral Nimitz sent the now famous dispatch to Admiral Halsey: 'fWhere is Task Force 34? The world wonders. Admiral Halsey reversed course and steamed south at flank speed, but was too late. The American destroyers and light carriers at Leyte had already annihilated the Japanese attacking force under overwhelming odds. The Philippines were successfully captured and the Japanese Empire was effectively severed, marking the most critical naval action since the Battle of Midway. New Jersey missed by hours a classic engagement with her worthy foe Yamato, the largest battleship ever built. New Jersey continued to splash kamikazes and shell her wayup the archipelago to Japan, where she was part of the first force to strike Tokyo since Doolittle's raid. After a quick refit in the states, the end of the war

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CO TENTS rw ,, M mu 2064 it is Z 2 Ship's History 6 Battleship Today 10 Preparation for Overseas Movement 12 Leaving Port 17 CO X XO X CMC 28 Jerseymen 33 Pusan, Republic of Korea 42 lnchon, Republic of Korea 49 Administration 65 Engineering 92 C Operations 113 Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines 122 Crossing the Line 129 Supply 145 Medical 149 Dental 152 Navigation 155 Weapons 188 MarDet 193 Fremantle, Western Australia 209 Brisbane, Queensland 225 Sydney, New South Wales 248 Hobart, Tasmania 257 The Diplomacy D 262 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii 270 Tiger Cruise 276 Home At Last 283 Explosive Ordnance Disposal 285 Newcomers f Retakes 287 Cruisebook Staff

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f Beginnings of the aft 16-inch gun turret, October, 1941. New jersey fires her 16-inch guns during the bombardment of Tinian Island, Marianas, june 1944. New jersey, second from bottom, steams with the other lowas during the Korean War. New jersey is towed to Long Beach, Ca. for refitting and reactivation, july, 1981. . found her in Guam. She steamed to Japan for a look around and the battle cry was HI-Iome James, don't spare the boilers! - a sentiment to be felt more times than anyone might have suspected in September, 1945. The battleship settled into a routine of midshipman training until she was decommissioned in 1948. Her high speed and fire power were needed again in 1950 when war broke out in Korea. The battleship was recommissioned and on the firing line at Wonsan by May 20th, 1951. The next day, the battleship's uncanny lucky streak was broken with her only combat loss and unfriendly large calibre hit when a five-inch shore battery scored one near the aft 16- inch gun turret and one man was killed. She served two tours of duty in Korean waters providing heavy mobile artillery in support of American and United Nations forces. New Jersey added four more battle stars. D Following the 1953 armistice, the battleship returned to the Atlantic Fleet, via another tight squeeze through the Panama Canal iwith about two feet to sparelj. She operated there until decommissioning in 1957. The decade that followed was a dark one for the gunned behemoths. While they were in mothballs, the Navy was making nuclear vessels and bigger aircraft carriers to handle long- range jets. Surface combatants traded armor for agility. Missiles gradually replaced guns. Aircraft carriers became the Navy's stead and lead the battle groups. The ship-to-ship, gun-to- gun, close-range Hshowdowni' concept became outdated, and so, it seemed, did the battleships designed for it. But there was still one mission that a battleship could accomplish more efficiently that any other craft: shore bombardment. The battleship left her three sisters and was recommissioned to fill that role off the coast of Vietnam on April 6th, 1968. She was outfitted with improved electronics gear and her light antiaircraft guns were removed. Although parts of her were still in mothballs, she was back in her environment . During her one- year tour as the world's last active battleship, she obliterated VietCong targets with over 10,000 rounds, including 3,000 16-inch bullets. When she left, she had another two battle stars and a Navy Commendation Medal to her credit. Despite objections from some Army and Marine Vietnam veterans, political and budgetary reasons determined that the New Jersey would be decommissioned December 17th, 1969. Her commanding officer regretfully retired her with the words, Rest well, yet sleep lightly, and hear the call, if again sounded, to provide fire power for freedom. They were hopeful words, but most experts would agree that the battleship age was over.