The USS New Jersey, an Iowa-class battleship, testifies to a very storied and somewhat resilient US Navy force through multiple conflicts and decades-long service. Constructed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, the New Jersey was commissioned in May 1943, and it was this 45,000-ton monster that would go on to conduct initial operations in the western Atlantic and Caribbean before making her lasting presence in the Pacific Theater.
Early in 1944, the USS New Jersey supported the invasion of the Marshalls and was the Fifth Fleet flagship when the raid on the Japanese base at Truk occurred in mid-February. She made one enemy vessel a wreck of its former self with her heavy guns and accounted for another as sunk. During 1944, the battleship took part in many pivotal actions: raids on Japanese-occupied islands, the invasion of the Marianas, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. By August 1944, she had become the flagship of Admiral William F. Halsey’s Third Fleet.
The battleship continued her implacable campaign into 1945, supporting the invasions of Iwo Jima and the Ryukyus. After an overhaul she resumed her duties as Fifth Fleet flagship during the final days of World War II, remaining in the Far East until early 1946. A brief time in the Atlantic in 1947 and a midshipmen’s training cruise to Europe preceded her decommissioning in June of 1948.
The outbreak of the Korean War brought about the recommissioning of the USS New Jersey in November 1950. She made two Korean combat tours, one in 1951 and another in 1953; between those, she had a European cruise during the summer of 1952. From 1953 onward, the battleship operated in the Atlantic and cruised twice to Mediterranean and European waters in 1955-1956 before being decommissioned again in August 1957.
Remarkably, the USS New Jersey was the only battleship recalled to duty during the Vietnam War. Recommissioned in April 1968, she arrived in Southeast Asia in September and conducted frequent bombardments along the South Vietnamese coast until April 1969. Although preparations were underway for a second Vietnam tour, she was ordered inactivated and decommissioned in December 1969.
The early 1980s defense buildup heralded a fourth active period for USS New Jersey. Recommissioned in December 1982, she saw 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. Decommissioned once again in February 1991, she was towed from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 1999 and now serves as a museum in Camden, New Jersey.
Those who enter the Battleship New Jersey Museum & Memorial are stepping into the history of one of America’s storied vessels. The museum gives the guest an interactive experience: a guest can sit down in Admiral Halsey’s command chair, look through the crewman bunks, and climb into the 16-inch gun turret. The museum stands among the best museums in New Jersey, giving details of service in World War II through to the 1980s in the battleship and hence worth a visit for both a military historian and families.