USS New Jersey was the second ship of the U.S. Navy to be named after the US state of New Jersey. The ship was named by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to repay a political debt, to then-New Jersey Governor Charles Edison, himself a former Secretary of the Navy. She has been named after New Jersey’s first governor, who pushed to build the Iowas, and to build one at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
About USS New Jersey (BB-62) in brief
USS New Jersey was the second ship of the U.S. Navy to be named after the US state of New Jersey. New Jersey earned more battle stars for combat actions than the other three completed Iowa-class battleships. She was the only US battleship providing gunfire support during the Vietnam War. During World War II, New Jersey shelled targets on Guam and Okinawa, and screened aircraft carriers conducting raids in the Marshall Islands. During the Korean War, she was involved in raids up and down the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets. Reactivated once more in the 1980s as part of the 600-ship Navy program, she participated in US operations during the Lebanese Civil War. In 1991, she earned a Navy Unit Commendation for service in Vietnam. After a brief retention in the mothball fleet, she began her career as a museum ship 15 October 2001. She is now owned by the Home Port Alliance in Camden, New Jersey, and is on display at the New Jersey Museum of Art and Science. The ship was named by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to repay a political debt, to then-New Jersey Governor Charles Edison, himself a former Secretary of the Navy. She has been named after New Jersey’s first governor, who pushed to build the Iowas, and to build one at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, which secured votes for Roosevelt in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the 1940 presidential election.
Her main battery consisted of nine 16\”50 caliber Mark 7 guns in three three-gun turrets, which could fire 2,700-pound armor-piercing shells some 23 miles. Her secondary battery consist of twenty 5\”38 caliber guns mounted in twin-gun dual purpose turrets,which could hit targets up to 9 miles away. She had four Phalanx Close-In Weapon System mounts for protection against missiles and aircraft, and eight Armored Box Launchers and eight Quad Cell Launchers designed to fire Tomahawk missiles and Harpoon missiles, respectively. The main deck was 53,000 square feet of teak, with the main deck of the Iowa class having a total length of 1,800 meters (4,500 feet) and a beam of 6,000 feet (1,600 meters) The ship has a crew of 2,000. She was decommissioning for the last time in 1991, having earned a Navy Unit Commendedation for Service in Vietnam and 19 battle and campaign stars forCombat operations during World War Two, the Korean War, the Vietnam war, the Lebanese Civil War, and service in the Persian Gulf. Her first action as a flagship was Operation Hailstone, a two-day surface and air strike against the major Japanese fleet base on Trukkines in the Carolines. This was coordinated with Task Group 58. 2 for the assault on Kwajin and Eniwetok 29 January–2 February, and effectively interdicted the Japanese naval fleet.
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