| 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. |
| New Jersey completed fitting out and trained her initial
crew in the Western Atlantic and Caribbean. On 7 January 1944 she passed
through the Panama Canal war-bound for Funafuti, Ellice Islands. She reported
there 22 January for duty with the Fifth Fleet, and three days later rendezvoused
with Task Group 58.2 for the assault on the Marshall Islands. New Jersey
screened the carriers from enemy attack as their aircraft flew strikes
against Kwajalein and Eniwetok 29 January through 2 February, softening up
the latter for its invasion and supporting the troops who landed 31
January. |
| New Jersey began her distinguished career as a flagship
4 February in Majuro Lagoon when Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commanding
the Fifth Fleet, broke his flag from her main. Her first action as a flagship
was a bold two-day surface and air strike by her task force against the
supposedly impregnable Japanese fleet base on Truk in the Carolines. This
blow was coordinated with the assault on Kwajalein, and effectively interdicted
Japanese naval retaliation to the conquest of the Marshalls. On 17 and 18
February; the task force accounted for two Japanese light cruisers, four
destroyers, three auxiliary cruisers, two submarine tenders, two submarine
chasers, an armed trawler, a plane ferry, and 23 other auxiliaries, not including
small craft. New Jersey destroyed a trawler and, with other ships,
sank destroyer Maikaze, as well as firing on an enemy plane which attacked
her formation. The task force returned to the Marshalls 19 February. |
| Between 17 March and 10 April, New Jersey first sailed
with Rear Admiral Marc A. Mitscher's flagship Lexington (CV-16) for
an air and surface bombardment of Mille, then rejoined Task Group 58.2 for
a strike against shipping in the Palaus, and bombarded Woleai. Upon his return
to Majuro, Admiral Spruance transferred his flag to
Indianapolis
(CA-35). |
| New Jersey 's next war cruise, 13 April-4 May, began and
ended at Majuro. She screened the carrier striking force which gave air support
to the invasion of Aitape, Tanahmerah Bay and Humboldt, Bay, New Guinea,
22 April, then bombed shipping and shore installations at Truk 29-30 April.
New Jersey and her formation splashed two enemy torpedo bombers at
Truk. Her sixteen-inch salvos pounded Ponape 1 May, destroying fuel tanks,
badly damaging the airfield, and demolishing a headquarters building. |
| After rehearing in the Marshalls for the invasion of the Marianas,
New Jersey put to sea 6 June in the screening and bombardment group
of Admiral Mitscher's Task Force. On the second day of preinvasion air strikes,
12 June, New Jersey downed an enemy torpedo bomber, and during the
next two days her heavy guns battered Saipan and Tinian, throwing steel against
the beaches the marines would charge 15 June. |
| The Japanese response to the Marianas operation was an order
to its Mobile Fleet; it must attack and annihilate the American invasion
force. Shadowing American submarines tracked the Japanese fleet into the
Philippine Sea as Admiral Spruance joined his task force with Admiral Mitscher's
to meet the enemy. New Jersey took station in the protective screen
around the carriers on 19 June as American and Japanese pilots dueled in
the Battle of the Philippine Sea. That day and the next were to pronounce
the doom of Japanese naval aviation; in this "Marianas Turkey Shoot," the
Japanese lost some 400 planes. This loss of trained pilots and aircraft was
equaled in disaster by the sinking of three Japanese carriers by submarines
and aircraft, and the damaging of two carriers and a battleship. The anti-
aircraft fire of New Jersey and the other screening ships proved virtually
impenetrable. Only two American ships were damaged, and those but slightly.
In this overwhelming victory but 17 American planes were lost to
combat. |
| New Jersey 's final contribution to the conquest of the
Marianas was in strikes on Guam and the Palaus from which she sailed for
Pearl Harbor, arriving 9 August. Here she broke the flag of Admiral William
F. Halsey, Jr., 24 August, becoming flagship of the Third Fleet. For the
eight months after she sailed from Pearl Harbor 30 August New Jersey was
based at Ulithi. In this climactic span of the Pacific War, fast carrier
task forces ranged the waters off the Philippines, Okinawa, and Formosa,
striking again and again at airfields, shipping, shore bases, invasion beaches.
New Jersey offered the essential protection required by these forces,
always ready to repel enemy air or surface attack. |
| In September the targets were in the Visayas and the southern
Philippines, then Manila and Cavite, Panay, Negros, Leyte, and Cebu. Early
in October raids to destroy enemy air power based on Okinawa and Formosa
were begun in preparation for the Leyte landings 20 October. |
| This invasion brought on the desperate, almost suicidal, last
great sortie of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Its plan for the Battle for Leyte
Gulf included a feint by a northern force of planeless heavy attack carriers
to draw away the battleships, cruisers and fast carriers with which Admiral
Halsey was protecting the landings. This was to allow the Japanese Center
Force to enter the gulf through San Bernadino Strait. At the opening of the
battle planes from the carriers guarded by New Jersey struck hard
at both the Japanese Southern and Center Forces, sinking a battleship 23
October. The next day Halsey shaped his course north after the decoy force
had been spotted. Planes from his carriers sank four of the Japanese carriers,
as well as a destroyer and a cruiser, while New Jersey steamed south
at flank speed to meet the newly developed threat of the Center force. It
had been turned back in a stunning defeat when she arrived. |
| New Jersey rejoined her fast carriers near San Bernadino
27 October for strikes on central and southern Luzon. Two days later, the
force was under suicide attack. In a melee of anti-aircraft fire from the
ships and combat air patrol, New Jersey shot down a plane whose pilot
maneuvered it into Intrepid's (CV- 11) port gun galleries, while machine
gun fire from Intrepid wounded three of New Jersey 's men.
During a similar action 25 November three Japanese planes were splashed by
the combined fire of the force, part of one flaming onto Hancock's
(CV-19) flight deck. Intrepid was again attacked, shot down one would-be
suicide, but was crashed by another despite hits scored on the attacker by
New Jersey gunners. New Jersey shot down a plane diving on
Cabot (CVL-28) and hit another which smashed into Cabot's port
bow. |
| In December, New Jersey sailed with the Lexington
task group for air attacks on Luzon 14-16 December; then found herself in
the furious typhoon which sank three destroyers. Skillful seamanship brought
her through undamaged. She returned to Ulithi on Christmas Eve to be met
by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. |
| New Jersey ranged far and wide from 30 December to 25
January 1945 on her last cruise as Admiral Halsey's flagship. She guarded
the carriers in their strikes on Formosa, Okinawa, and Luzon, on the coast
of Indo-China, Hong Kong, Swatow and Amoy, and again on Formosa and Okinawa.
At Ulithi 27 January Admiral Halsey lowered his flag in New Jersey, but it
was replaced two days later by that of Rear Admiral Oscar Badger commanding
Battleship Division Seven. |
| In support of the assault on Iwo Jima, New Jersey screened
the Essex (CV-9) group in air attacks on the island 19-21 February,
and gave the same crucial service for the first major carrier raid on Tokyo
25 February, a raid aimed specifically at aircraft production. During the
next two days, Okinawa was attacked from the air by the same striking
force. |
| New Jersey was directly engaged in the conquest of Okinawa
from 14 March until 16 April. As the carriers prepared for the invasion with
strikes there and on Honshu, New Jersey fought off air raids, used
her seaplanes to rescue downed pilots, defended the carriers from suicide
planes, shooting down at least three and assisting in the destruction of
others. On 24 March she again carried out the vital battleship role of heavy
bombardment, preparing the invasion beaches for the assault a week
later. |
| During the final months of the war, New Jersey was overhauled
at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, from which she sailed 4 July for San Pedro,
Pearl Harbor, and Eniwetok bound for Guam. Here on 14 August she once again
became flagship of the Fifth Fleet under Admiral Spruance. Brief stays at
Manila and Okinawa preceded her arrival in Tokyo Bay 17 September, where
she served as flagship for the successive commanders of Naval Forces in Japanese
waters until relieved 28 January 1946 by Iowa (BB-61). New Jersey
took aboard nearly a thousand homeward-bound troops with whom she arrived
at San Francisco 10 February. |
| After west coast operations and a normal overhaul at Puget Sound,
New Jersey's keel once more cut the Atlantic as she came home to Bayonne,
New Jersey, for a rousing fourth birthday part 23 May 1947. Present were
Governor Alfred E. Driscoll, former Governor Walter E. Edge and other
dignitaries. |
| Between 7 June and 26 August, New Jersey formed part of
the first training squadron to cruise Northern European waters since the
beginning of World War II. Over two thousand Naval Academy and NROTC midshipman
received sea-going experience under the command of Admiral Richard L. Connoly,
Commander Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, who broke his
flag in New Jersey at Rosyth, Scotland 23 June. She was the scene of official
receptions at Oslo, where King Haakon VII of Norway inspected the crew 2
July, and at Portsmouth, England. The training fleet was westward bound 18
July for exercises in the Caribbean and Western Atlantic. |
| After serving at New York as flagship for Rear Admiral Heber
H. McClean, Commander, Battleship Division One, 12 September-18 October,
New Jersey was deactivated at the New York Naval Shipyard. She was
decommissioned at Bayonne 30 June 1948 and assigned to the New York Group,
Atlantic Reserve Fleet. |
| New Jersey was recommissioned at Bayonne 21 November 1950,
Captain David M. Tyree in command. In the Caribbean she welded her crew into
an efficient body which would meet with distinction the demanding requirements
of the Korean War. She sailed from Norfolk 16 April 1951 and arrived from
Japan off the east coast of Korea 17 May. Vice Admiral Harold M. Martin,
commanding the Seventh Fleet. placed his flag in New Jersey for the
next six months. |
| New Jersey's guns opened the first shore bombardment of her Korean
carrier at Wonsan 20 May. During her two tours of duty in Korean waters,
she was again and again to play the part of seaborne mobile artillery. In
direct support to United Nations troops; or in preparation for ground actions,
in interdicting Communist supply and communication routes, or in destroying
supplies and troop positions, New Jersey hurled a weight of steel,
fire far beyond the capacity of land artillery, moved rapidly and free from
major attack from one target to another, and at the same time could be
immediately available to guard aircraft carriers should they require her
protection. It was on this first such mission at Wonsan that she received
her only combat casualties of the Korean War. One of her men was killed and
two severely wounded when she took a hit from a shore battery on her number
one turret and received a near miss aft to port. |
| Between 23 and 27 May and again 30 May, New Jersey pounded
targets near Yangyang and Kansong, dispersing troop concentrations, dropping
a bridge span, and destroying three large ammunition dumps. Air spotters
reported Yangyang abandoned at the end of this action, while railroad facilities
and vehicles were smashed at Kansong. On 24 May, she lost one of her helicopters
when its crew pushed to the limit of their fuel searching for a downed aviator.
They themselves were able to reach friendly territory and were later returned
to their ship. |
| With Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet,
and Vice Admiral C. Turner Joy, Commander Naval Forces Far East aboard, New
Jersey bombarded targets at Wonsan 4 June. At Kansong two days later she
fired her main battery at an artillery regiment and truck encampment, with
Seventh Fleet aircraft spotting targets and reporting successes. On 28 July
off Wonsan the battleship was again taken under fire by shore batteries.
Several near misses splashed to port, but New Jersey's precision fire silenced
the enemy and destroyed several gun emplacements. |
| Between 4 and 12 July, New Jersey supported a United Nations
push in the Kansong area, firing at enemy buildup and reorganization positions.
As the, Republic of Korea's First Division hurled itself on the enemy, shore
fire control observers saw New Jersey's salvos hit directly on enemy mortar
emplacements, supply and ammunition dumps, and personnel concentrations.
New Jersey returned to Wonsan 18 July for an exhibition of perfect
firing: five gun emplacements demolished with five direct hits. |
| New Jersey sailed to the aid of troops of the Republic
of Korea once more 17 August, returning to the Kansong area where for four
days she provided harassing fire by night, and broke up counterattacks by
day, inflicting a heavy toll on enemy troops. She returned to this general
area yet again 29 August, when she fired in an amphibious demonstration staged
behind enemy lines to ease pressure on the Republic of Korea's troops. The
next day she an a three-day saturation of the Changjon area, with one of
her own helicopters spotting the results: four buildings; destroyed, road
junctions smashed, railroad marshaling yards afire, tracks cut and uprooted,
coal stocks scattered, many buildings and warehouses set blazing. |
| Aside from a brief break in firing 23 September to take aboard
wounded from the Korean frigate Apnok (PF-62), damaged by gunfire,
New Jersey was heavily engaged in bombarding the Kansong area, supporting
the movement of the U.S. Tenth Corps.. The pattern again was harassing fire
by night, destruction of known targets by day. Enemy movement was restricted
by the fire of her big guns. A bridge, a dam, several gun emplacements, mortar
positions, pillboxes, bunkers, an two ammunition dumps were demolished. |
| On 1 October, General Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs;
of Staff, and General Matthew B. Ridgeway, Commander in Chief Far East, came
on board to confer with Admiral Martin. |
| Between 1 and 6 October New Jersey was in action daily
at Kansong, Hamhung, Hungnam, Tanchon, and Songjin. Enemy bunkers and supply
concentrations provided the majority of the targets at Kansong; at the others
New Jersey fired on railroads, tunnels, bridges, an oil refinery,
trains, and shore batteries destroying with five-inch fire a gun that straddled
her. The Kojo area was her target 16 October as she sailed in company with
HMS Belfast, pilots from HMAS Sydney spotting. The operation
was well-planned and coordinated and excellent results were obtained. |
| Another highly satisfactory day was 16 October, when the spotter
over the Kansong area reported "beautiful shooting every shot on target-most
beautiful shooting I have seen in five years." This five hour bombardment
leveled ten artillery positions, and in smashing trenches and bunkers inflicted
some 500 casualties. |
| New Jersey dashed up the North Korean coast raiding
transportation facilities from 1 to 6 November. She struck at bridges, road
and rail installations at Wonsan, Hungnam, Tanchon, Iowon, Songjin, and Chongjin,
and left smoking behind her four bridges destroyed, others badly damaged,
two marshaling yards badly torn up, and many feet of track destroyed. With
renewed attacks on Kansong and near the Chang-San-Got Peninsula 11 and 13
November, New Jersey completed this tour of duty. |
| Relieved as flagship by
Wisconsin
(BB-64), New Jersey cleared Yokosuka for Hawaii, Long Beach and the
Panama Canal, and returned to Norfolk 20 December for a six-month overhaul.
Between 19 July 1952 and 5 September, she sailed as flagship for Rear Admiral
H. R. Thurber, who commanded the NROTC midshipman training cruise to Cherbourg,
Lisbon, and the Caribbean. Now New Jersey prepared and trained for
her second Korean tour, for which she sailed from Norfolk 5 March Shaping
her course via the Panama Canal, Long Beach, and Hawaii, New Jersey
reached Yokosuka 5 April, and next day relived
Missouri
(BB-63) as flagship of Vice Admiral Joseph H. Clark, Commander Seventh Fleet.
Chongjin felt the weight of her shells 12 April, as New Jersey returned
to action; in seven minutes she scored seven direct hits, blowing away half
the main communications building there. At Pusan two days later, New Jersey
manned her rails to welcome the President of the Republic of Korea and
Madame Rhee, and American Ambassador Ellis O. Briggs. |
| New Jersey fired on coastal batteries and buildings at
Kojo 16 April; on railway track and tunnels near Hungnam 18 April; and on
gun emplacements around Wonsan Harbor 20 April, silencing them in five areas
after she had herself take several near misses. Songjin provided targets
23 April. Her New Jersey scored six direct 16-inch hits on a railroad
tunnel and knocked out two rail bridges. |
| New Jersey added her muscle to a major air and surface
strike on Wonsan 1 May, as Seventh Fleet planes both attacked the enemy and
spotted for the battleship. She knocked out eleven Communist shore guns that
day, and four days later destroyed the key observation post on the island
of Hodo Pando, commanding the harbor. Two days later Kalmagak at Wonsan was
her target. |
| Her tenth birthday, 23 May, was celebrated at Inchon with President
and Madame Rhee, Lieutenant General Maxwell D. Taylor, and other dignitaries
on board. Two days later New Jersey was all war once more, returning
to the west coast at Chinampo to knock out harbor defense positions. |
| The battleship was under fire at Wonsan 27-29 May, but her five-
inch guns silenced the counter-fire, and her 16-inch shells destroyed five
gun emplacements and four gun caves. She also hit a target that flamed
spectacularly: either a fuel storage area or an ammunition dump. |
| New Jersey returned to the key task of direct support
to troops at Kosong 7 June. On her first mission, she completely destroyed
two gun positions, an observation post, and their supporting trenches, then
stood by on call for further aid. Then it was back to Wonsan for a day-long
bombardment 24 June, aimed at guns placed in caves. The results were excellent,
with eight direct hits on three caves, one cave demolished, and four others
closed. Next day she returned to troop support at Kosong, her assignment
until 10 July, aside from necessary withdrawal for replenishment. |
| At Wonsan 11-12 July, New Jersey fired one of the most
concentrated bombardments of her Korean duty. For nine hours the first day,
and for seven the second, her guns slammed away on gun positions and bunkers
on Hodo Pando and the mainland with telling effect. At least ten enemy guns
were destroyed, many damaged, and a number of caves and tunnels sealed. New
Jersey smashed radar control positions and bridges at Kojo 13 July, and
was once more on the east coast bombline 22-24 July to support South Korean
troops near Kosong. These days found her gunners at their most accurate and
the devastation wrought was impressive. A large cave, housing an important
enemy observation post was closed, the end of a month-long United Nations
effort. A great many bunkers, artillery areas, observation posts, trenches,
tanks and other weapons were destroyed. |
| At sunrise 25 July New Jersey was off the key port, rail
and communications center of Hungnam, pounding coastal guns, bridges, a factor
area, and oil storage tanks. She sailed north that afternoon, firing at rail
lines and railroad tunnels as she made for Tanchon, where she launched a
whaleboat in an attempt to spot a train known to run nightly along the coast.
Her big guns were trained on two tunnels between which she hoped to catch
the train, but in the darkness she could not see the results of her six-gun
salvo. |
| New Jersey 's mission at Wonsan, next day, was her last.
Here she destroyed large-caliber guns, bunkers, caves and trenches. Two days
later, she learned of the truce. Her crew celebrated during a seven day visit
at Hong Kong, where she anchored 20 August. Operations around Japan and off
Formosa were carried out for the remainder of her tour, which was highlighted
by a visit to Pusan. Here President Rhee came aboard 16 September to present
the Korean Presidential Unit Citation to the Seventh fleet. |
| Relieved as flagship at Yokosuka by Wisconsin 14 October,
New Jersey was homeward bound the next day, reaching Norfolk 14 November.
During, the next two summers she crossed the Atlantic with midshipman on
board for training, and during the rest of the year sharpened her skills
with exercises and training maneuvers along the Atlantic coast and in the
Caribbean. |
| New Jersey stood out of Norfolk 7 September 1955 for her
first tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. Her ports of
call included Gibraltar, Valencia, Cannes, Istanbul, Suda Bay; and Barcelona.
She returned to Norfolk 7 January 1956 for the spring program of training
operations. That summer she again carried midshipman to Northern Europe for
training, bringing them home to Annapolis 31 July. New Jersey sailed
for Europe once more 27 August as flagship of Vice Admiral Charles Wellborn,
Jr., Commander Second Fleet. She called at Lisbon, participated in NATO exercises
off Scotland, and paid an official visit to Norway where Crown Prince Olaf
was a guest. She returned to Norfolk 15 October, and 14 December arrived
at New York Naval Shipyard for inactivation. She was decommissioned and placed
in reserve at Bayonne 21 August 1957. |
| New Jersey 's third career began 6 April 1968 when she
recommissioned at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Captain J. Edward Snyder in
command. Fitted with improved electronics and a helicopter landing pad and
with her 40-millimeter battery removed, she was tailored for use as a heavy
bombardment ship. Her 16-inch guns, it was expected, would reach targets
in Vietnam inaccessible to smaller naval guns and, in foul weather, safe
from aerial attack. |
| New Jersey , now the world's only active battleship, departed
Philadelphia 16 May, calling at Norfolk and transiting the Panama Canal before
arriving at her new home port of Long Beach, California, 11 June. Further
training off Southern California followed. On 24 July New Jersey
received 16-inch shells and powder tanks from Mount Katmai (AE-16)
by conventional highline transfer and by helicopter lift, the first time
heavy battleship ammunition had been transferred by helicopter at sea. |
| Departing Long Beach 3 September, New Jersey touched at
Pearl Harbor and Subic Bay before sailing 25 September for her first tour
of gunfire support duty along the Vietnamese coast. Near the 17th Parallel
on 30 September, the dreadnought fired her first shots in battle in over
sixteen years. Firing against Communist targets in and near the so-called
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), her big guns destroyed two gun positions and two
supply areas. She fired against targets north of the DMZ the following day,
rescuing the crew of a spotting plane forced down at sea by antiaircraft
fire. |
| The next six months self into a steady pace of bombardment and
fire support missions along the Vietnamese coast, broken only by brief visits
to Subic Bay and replenishment operations at sea. In her first two months
on the gun line, New Jersey directed nearly ten thousand rounds of
ammunition at Communist targets; over: 3,000 of these shells were 16-inch
projectiles. |
| Her first Vietnam combat tour completed, New Jersey departed
Subic Bay 3 April 1969 for Japan. She arrived at Yokosuka for a two-day visit,
sailing for the United States 9 April. Her homecoming, however, was to be
delayed. On the 15th, while New Jersey was still at sea, North Korean
jet fighters shot down an unarmed EC-121 "Constellation" electronic surveillance
plane over the Sea of Japan, killing its entire crew. A carrier task force
was formed and sent to the Sea of Japan, while New Jersey was ordered
to come about and steam toward Japan. On the 22nd she arrived once more at
Yokosuka, and immediately put to sea in readiness for what might befall.
As the crisis lessened, New Jersey was released to continue her
interrupted voyage. She anchored at Long Beach 5 May 1969, her first visit
to her home port in eight months. Through the summer months, New Jersey's
crew toiled to make her ready for another deployment. Deficiencies discovered
on the gun line were remedied, as all hands looked forward to another opportunity
to prove the mighty warship's worth in combat. Reasons of economy were to
dictate otherwise. On 22 August 1969 the Secretary of Defense released a
list of names of ships to be deactivated; at the top of the list was New
Jersey. Five days later, Captain Snyder was relieved of command by Captain
Robert C. Peniston. |
| Assuming command of a ship already earmarked for the "mothball
fleet," Captain Peniston and his crew prepared for their melancholy task.
New Jersey got underway on her last voyage 6 September, departing
Long Beach for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. She arrived on the 8th, and began
pre-inactivation overhaul to ready herself for decommissioning. On 17 December
1969 New Jersey 's colors were hauled down and she entered the inactive
fleet, still echoing the words of her last commanding officer: "Rest well,
yet sleep lightly; and hear the call, if again sounded, to provide fire power
for freedom." |
| New Jersey was recommissioned at Long Beach, California,
on 28 December 1982. She was modernized, receiving an installation of 16
Harpoon missiles, with a range of about 60 miles, and 32 Tomahawk missiles,
with a range of about 500 miles. |
| In 1983, a bloody civil war was raging in Lebanon, and U.S. naval
forces were offshore to protect U.S. interests and U.S. Marines who had landed
in the war-torn country. On September 19, after a period in which U.S. ships
fired when U.S. position were attacked, USS Virginia (CGN 38) and
USS John Rogers (DD 983) fired 338 rounds from their 5-inch guns in
support of Lebanese Army forces defending the strategically important village
of Sug el Gharb in the Shouf Mountains east of Beirut. This signaled a shift
in U.S. policy, and on 25 September, New Jersey took up station off
Beirut. |
| On 28 November, the U.S. government announced that New Jersey
would be retained off Beirut although her crew would be rotated. On 14 December,
New Jersey fired 11 projectiles from her 16-inch guns at hostile positions
inland of Beirut. This is the first 16-inch shells fired for effect anywhere
in the world since New Jersey ended her time on the gunline in Vietnam
in 1969. |
| On 8 February 1984, New Jersey fired almost 300 shells
at Druze and Syrian positions in the Bekka Valley east of Beirut. Some 30
of these massive projectiles rained down on a Syrian command post, killing
the general commanding Syrian forces in Lebanon and several other senior
officers. This was the heaviest shore bombardment since the Korean War. |
| Reductions in budgets and the high-manning requirements of the
battleship saw New Jersey decommissioned for the final time at the
Naval Station Long Beach, California, on 8 February 1991 and then towed to
Bremerton, Washington On Sept. 12, 1999, the ship was towed by the tug Sea
Victory from Bremerton to Philadelphia where it arrived on November 11.
|
| On 20 January 2000, Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig announced
that the battleship would be donated to Home Port Alliance of Camden, New
Jersey, for use as a museum. |
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