The WWII-era USS New Jersey was the second Iowa-class battleship completed. Taffy 3 had only three destroyers and four destroyer escorts screening six escort carriers converted merchantmen each having only a dozen obsolescent fighters plus a dozen bombers armed and trained to attack ground troops and submarines rather than surface ships. Band photo sent by Dave Brown. Those landings had been so bloody as to cast doubt on Americas ability to sustain an offensive through Japans many Pacific island strongpoints, which it had had decades to fortify. Two Korean combat tours in 1951 and 1953 were punctuated by a European cruise in the Summer of 1952. Four turrets were removed in 1982 to make room for Tomahawk cruise missile and Harpoon anti-ship missile batteries. In October and November, she ranged far north up the North Korean coast, bombarding Hungnam, Hamhung, Iwon, Tanchon, Songjin, and Chongjin, almost within 16-inch range of Siberia. 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. During sea trials in Fall 1982, with Secretary Lehman proclaiming, The Battleship Is Back, USS New Jersey fired her Phalanx guns for the first time, as well as her 5-inch guns and 16-inch guns. At 0240, Halsey ordered Admiral Lee to form Task Force 34 with the New Jersey, five other battleships, seven cruisers, and seventeen destroyers not to guard San Bernardino Strait but to steam north ahead of the fast carriers to shell Ozawas ships that survived their airstrikes. On May 23, 1947, the New Jersey had a 4th birthday bash in Bayonne, New Jersey, attended by New Jersey Governor Alfred Driscoll and former Governor Walter Edge. On July 19, 1940, Congress passed the Two-Ocean Navy Act, authorizing the construction of three more Iowa-class battleships. This is a blast. The ships eight electric generators each produced 450-volt, 3-phase alternating current totaling 1,250 kW. Halsey arrayed the Third Fleet east of the Philippines and dispatched search planes. Typhoon Cobra and USS New Jersey were immortalized in Herman Wouks Pulitzer-prize-winning novel The Caine Mutiny, which was made into a movie. Over 33 million records are contained in this database. However, some criticized Admiral Spruance for guarding the landing force rather than charging after the Japanese carriers a criticism which played a role in the New Jerseys next big battle. 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. (The carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), which the New Jersey frequently escorted, earned 20 battle stars in World War II but sadly was scrapped after the war.) From August 1944 through January 1945, the New Jersey was Admiral Halseys first fleet flagship, leading the Navys main fleet during the Battle of Formosa, the invasions of Peleliu, Leyte, Mindoro, and Luzon, and its sweep through the South China Sea. Given the small number of shells, long range, lack of aerial spotting, and poorly remixed powder, her fire was of limited effectiveness. As one observer stated: The battleships, cruisers, and destroyers put up a tremendous barrage which, together with burning planes all around the horizon, created the most awesome spectacle. The Japanese naval air arm lost four hundred planes and had two carriers sunk by American submarines. The Korean War brought New Jersey back into commission in November 1950. USS New Jersey is the most intact of any American battleship. 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.. Several light and escort carriers were badly damaged, with stowed planes breaking loose and staring fires. To save money, only a minimum amount of work was performed. She again fired her big guns in combat during the Lebanon crisis of 1983-84 and deployed to the western Pacific in 1986 and 1989-90, with the latter cruise extending to the Persian Gulf area. On September 5, 1968, USS New Jersey set sail again for war. A ceasefire had been reached in August 1988, but tensions were still high. National Archive 80-G-469922 ; USS New Jersey (BB-62) silhouetted against the sea and clouds , as seen from a . The turret crews moved out of the loading compartments and held their hands over muff-style ear protectors. An athletic lieutenant, future President Gerald Ford, was almost swept overboard as he helped save his burning carrier Monterey. She deployed to Mediterranean and European waters twice in 1955-56 and was placed out of commission in August 1957. After Britain finished a battleship under construction in 1946, no more battleships were built. 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. I recall Captain Tucker being one of the best Commanding Officers I've had. An aerial spotter said the New Jersey put every shot on target most beautiful shooting I have seen in five years. General Almond praised the New Jerseys fire for its devastating effect on enemy morale, equipment, and personnel. On Aug. 12, 1945, days after atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, the Donnors received an official telegram at their home in Big Rapids, Mich. Their son, U.S. Navy Radio Technician 2nd Class. She was launched with SK and SG air and surface search radars, upgraded to SPS-6 and SG-6 respectively by 1952. The New Jersey rendered more active service than any other Iowa-class ship. However, these battleships had a maximum speed of only 27-28 knots, could not keep up with the fast carriers or the Japanese fast battleships, and were no match for the bigger treaty-busting battleships reportedly being built in Japan. For RATING SHIRTS - Click on your Rating Abbreviation below: AB. While preparing for a second Vietnam tour, she was ordered inactivated and decommissioned in December 1969. A carrier airstrike was launched against the Syrian anti-aircraft batteries, but two planes were shot down. For oral history. During the battle, USS New Jersey was the principal American flagship where Admiral Halsey made some of the most difficult, dramatic, and debated naval command decisions in World War II. 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. U.S. involvement was at its height, with over half a million American troops deployed in South Vietnam. After conferring on USS New Jersey with carrier commander Admiral Marc Pete Mitscher, Pacific battleship commander Admiral Willis Ching Lee, and amphibious commander Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner on February 11, 1944, Spruance in the New Jersey directed five fleet carriers and four light carriers the largest carrier concentration of the war so far 1,000 miles west to attack Truk on February 17 and 18. The Japanese returned fire but missed. The early 1980s defense buildup produced a fourth active period for New Jersey, beginning with her recommissioning in December 1982. The conning tower armor is 17.3 inches with a roof at 7.25 inches, deck at 4 inches, and the tube at 16 inches. It did not disappoint. On August 21, the New Jersey was notified that she would be decommissioned again as a cost-cutting measure. Directly before the Japanese onslaught was Task Group 77.4.3, with the radio call signal Taffy 3, commanded by Admiral Clifton Ziggy Sprague. On November 27, 1944, USS New Jersey finally returned to Ulithi. She returned to service in November. Volume VIII, New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944, @ 1953 Samuel Eliot Morison. In May 1986, USS New Jerseys battle group was deployed to the Western Pacific, freeing up aircraft carriers for other assignments. The New Jersey then passed through San Bernardino Strait; the same strait through which Japanese battleships fled from the New Jersey in the Battle for Leyte Gulf. In 1935 and 2020, American night scouting planes spotted and reported Kuritas movement into the strait to Admiral Halsey on the New Jersey. Nonetheless, these initial waves sank three destroyers, three smaller warships, and two transports, and damaged two carriers and dozens of small ships, some beyond repair. Aft and amidships, the ship was fitted with eight quadruple Mark 143 Armored Box Launchers to fire thirty-two Tomahawk missiles. USS New Jersey was selected as to participate in the Navys first midshipman training to Europe since 1938. Nonetheless, the Battle for Leyte Gulf was a smashing American victory, and one of the most decisive naval battles in World War II. Halsey later related: I was sorry not to have the New Jersey again, but she was in overhaul.. Information usually available on muster rolls includes: It will be necessary to view the image of the muster rolls in order to obtain most of this information. However, American search planes did not locate it until mid-afternoon, at the extreme range of the Americans carrier aircraft. The New Jersey screened the fleet carriers which again struck Tokyo on February 25, and then reconnoitered and bombed the next invasion target, Okinawa. By using the list of officers in the deck logs and the muster rolls, one can compile a list of the crew. She carried three Tomahawk versions: land attack with nuclear warheads, land attack with conventional warheads, and anti-ship with conventional warheads. These records are not available online. Please send any Comments or Questions regarding this site to the webmaster. As the Fifth Fleet flagship, USS New Jersey was a frontrunner to be the site for the Japanese surrender. 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. 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 USS New Jersey was decommissioned on August 21, 1957, in Bayonne, New Jersey, after a party featuring actress Julie Newmar as Miss New Jersey. Japan committed to the attack all its modern battleships, including for the first time its treaty-busting battleships, Yamato and Musashi, with displacement exceeding 64,000 tons and 18.1-inch guns both the largest ever for a battleship. He was the only sailor ever killed in action on the New Jersey throughout the many conflicts in which she participated over her four commissionings. I need to go visit the USS Iowa in the Port of Los Angeles to learn more of his tour. USS New Jersey headed into the Yellow Sea and shelled Chinnampo on North Koreas west coast on May 25. When U.S. Marines land to liberate Iceland, the New Jersey and Iowa provide fire support. 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. Through Ancestry's Immigration Collection, select the database New York Passenger Lists. 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. The New Jersey first stopped in Spain to cement a new pact which allowed the United States to use bases in that diplomatically isolated country. 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. Other ports/arrival records Thus, ended Halseys run to the south, which pundits dubbed Bulls Run. As author Ian Toll stated, The mighty New Jersey had chased 300 miles north, turned around, and chased 300 miles south. | However, the Nixon Administration had begun to reduce American troop levels in favor of Vietnamization, the plan to shift combat duties to the South Vietnamese. Retired in 2001. 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. All three Japanese forces were defeated, and the amphibious attack on Leyte proceeded unimpeded. 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. In August, the New Jersey became Admiral Charles Wellborns flagship for the Second Fleet and NATOs Striking Fleet Atlantic. USS New Jersey received the Vietnam Service Medal with three battle stars 1. loved the jersey. Awesome experience, Great Ship and Great Crew. Admiral Halsey eats Thanksgiving dinner with the crew of the USS New Jersey (BB-62) 30 November 1944. Day after day, kamikaze and conventional planes would attack. She also got two Mark 48 shore bombardment computers and a target-designation system. In 1989, USS New Jersey became a flagship once again. Tickets are still available for the @battleshipnj 's Evening Engine Room Guided Tour, Friday, March 3 at 6pm. On April 6, 1953, after passing through the Panama Canal and stopping in Long Beach, Hawaii, and Japan, USS New Jersey again became Seventh Fleet flagship, this time for Admiral Joseph Jocko Clark, who led carriers in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and was the first Native American admiral in the Navy. On February 4, 1944, at the newly seized base on Majuro, USS New Jersey became the flagship of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. 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. At Guam, Admirals Nimitz and Spruance conferred about the planned invasion of Japans Home Islands. Moreover, the museum has exhibits telling the story of the ship from design and construction through final deactivation. While USS New Jersey was readying again for action, 1968 had opened with the Tet offensive against cities throughout South Vietnam. USS New Jersey steamed 200,000 miles during the war. Spruance was an admirals admiral, Halsey a sailors admiral. Just as the majestic power of the New Jersey inspired Spruance to take the risk of personally commanding a surface action, Halseys desire to lead the speedy and powerful New Jersey into battle led him to his most controversial decisions. During World War II, USS New Jersey carried a complement of up to three observation floatplanes, initially OS2U Kingfishers and then Curtiss SC Seahawks. Admiral Arleigh Burke, a future CNO, also visited by highline to confer with Admiral Martin. That is, the barrels mouth could fire 16-inch shells, and the barrels length was 50 times 16 inches, or 66.66 feet long. EN. Why the encoding officer used The World Wonders as padding is unknown, but October 25 happened to be the anniversary of The Charge of the Light Brigade celebrated in Tennysons poem. Thus, the typhoon results in a court-martial. Before the battle, American submarines spotted multiple Japanese task forces headed across the Philippine Sea separating the Philippines and Marianas Islands. 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 Admiral Kuritas chief of staff admitted, the battle spelled the collapse of our Navy as an effective fighting force. Japans ships never again tried to challenge the United States Navy in battle. The Japanese suffered almost 3,000 killed, the Americans barely 100. The first two battleships Iowa (BB-61) and New Jersey (BB-62) were to be built by the New York and Philadelphia Navy Yards, respectively. On September 9, 1983, USS New Jersey was again ordered to head for a hotspot: Lebanon. On May 31, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara authorized a study on whether to reactivate a battleship. 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. 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. To fool incoming anti-ship missiles, USS New Jerseys 1967 refit installed a new ULQ-6B electronic countermeasures system and four new Mk 28 Chaffroc chaff rocket launchers. Okinawa Operations. The New Jersey was the first ship to operate the Tomahawk, and carried more than any warship then afloat. 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. 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. 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. 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. By the end of their second war, the Navy decided to replace them. Millington, TN 38055-3120. Moreover, Iowa had suffered a catastrophic explosion while firing its 16-inch guns in April 1989. 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. However, the reduced American force could not prevent the escape of two damaged Japanese battleships Ise and Hyuga, a cruiser, and four destroyers. Risking submarine attack, the New Jersey and other American ships turned on their searchlights to guide the desperate planes home. A ground control station, hanger structure, and recovery system were added to the New Jersey in the 1980s to operate up to eight RQ-2 Pioneer Remotely Piloted Vehicles for spotting. 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. As Halsey put it: Instead of the stagecoach system of keeping the drivers and changing the horses, we changed drivers and kept the horses. It facilitated planning and confused Japanese Intelligence, but [i]t was hard on the horses, including the New Jersey, the only ship to serve as flagship for both Spruance and Halsey. Based on that assumption, Kinkaid took all the Seventh Fleets battleships and cruisers south to meet the Admiral Nishimuras force coming through Surigao Strait. information about joining, or getting membership information, contact them Her original fuel oil capacity of over 7,250 tons (over 2,175,000 gallons) gave her an endurance range of over 15,000 nautical miles when cruising at 15 knots, allowing her to operate without resupply for a month and to refuel smaller ships. Supporting X Corps advance, USS New Jersey bombarded the Communist supply line near the Parallel at Yangyang and Kansong, dropping bridge spans, exploding ammunition dumps, and shelling enemy troops. On November 25-26, 1968, she destroyed or heavily damaged over 300 bunkers, tunnels, and other structures. 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. About. Commissioned in May 1943, she spent the rest of that year in the western Atlantic. Naval Academy, The Sullivan Brothers and the Assignment of Family Members, Historic Former U.S. Navy Bases and Stations, The African American Experience in the U.S. Navy, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. Navy, Contributions of Native Americans to the U.S. Navy, The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet, Navy Underwater Archaeology Return Program, Annual Navy History and Heritage Awards - Main, Research Permits for Sunken & Terrestrial Military Craft, Scanning, Copyright & Citation Information, Obtain Duplications of Records and Photos. 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. Even the stable New Jersey pitched and rolled, hanging near the point of no return. After the Battle for Leyte Gulf, USS New Jersey picked up downed fliers and Japanese sailors in the water. Tickets are still available for the @battleshipnj 's Evening Engine Room Guided Tour, Friday, March 3 at 6pm. The Americans lost warships displacing 36,600 tons (a light carrier, 2 escort carriers, 2 destroyers, 1 destroyer escort, 1 PT Boat), about 200 planes, and approximately 3000 men. At Long Beach, California, in 1946, she prepared to observe the atomic bomb tests at Bikini atoll, but they went on without her. USS Ticonderoga (DDG/CG-47), nicknamed "Tico", was a guided-missile cruiser built for the United States Navy. On March 14, 1945, Admiral Spruance took USS New Jersey and the Fifth Fleets carriers for renewed airstrikes on Japan, hitting warships and airfields. On December 14, 1983, USS New Jersey was finally allowed to retaliate the first 16-inch shells fired in anger since her service in Vietnam in 1969. | | Volume VII, Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944, @ 1951 Samuel Eliot Morison. 1982 1983 1984 35,169 views Premiered Apr 19, 2022 1.9K Dislike Share Save Battleship New Jersey 115K subscribers In this episode we're looking at some research done by one of our volunteers. The Battle for Leyte Gulf began on October 23, 1944, when American submarines spotted the main Japanese surface fleet under Admiral Kurita approaching the Philippines from the west. REPEAT: STRIKE! The Navy carrier planes sank another carrier and two oilers, and damaged three carriers and a battleship. Visitors can visit (and sleep overnight in) crew berthing spaces, and tour exhibits in other, converted berthing spaces. She was responsible for. That morning and afternoon, Halseys carriers, guarded by the New Jersey, launched repeated airstrikes against Kuritas force in the Sibuyan Sea, sinking the worlds heaviest battleship Musashi with 19 torpedoes and 17 bombs, and damaging several other ships. On September 16, President Rhee presented the Korean Presidential Unit Citation to the Seventh Fleet and Admiral Clark. Free shipping for many products! 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. Help| To browse this image set, select from the options below. To liberate Leyte, the United States sent the largest naval force ever assembled. Sent at 0944 on October 25, the radiogram read: TURKEY TROTS TO WATER GG WHERE IS RPT WHERE IS TASK FORCE THIRTY-FOUR RR THE WORLD WONDERS. 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. The New Jersey was Spruances last seagoing assignment. 06/20/2012 michael.missel@us.army.mil Michael Missel M Div./#2 Engine Room - 1988-1991 16234 Placid Dr. Whittier, CA 90604 After fighting fascism, communism, and terrorism, she was decommissioned for the final time in February 1991. In April 1937, the allied powers invoked the escalator clause in the Second London Naval Treaty which enabled them again to build battleships with 16-inch guns. USS New Jersey was awarded the Armed Force Expeditionary Medal for September 23, 1983 to April 3, 1984, for her duty off Beirut, Lebanon, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Persian Gulf, December 2, 1989 to December 14, 1989. This made her the only American battleship ever commissioned by a sitting president. However, President Johnson declared a halt to all bombing of North Vietnam as of November 1, just before the 1968 election. These were later replaced by three Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk floatplanes in the spring of 1945.