Key facts
- Namesake
- State of New Jersey
- Ordered
- 1 July 1939
- Builder
- Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
- Laid down
- 16 September 1940
- Launched
- 7 December 1942
- Sponsored by
- Carolyn Edison
- Commissioned
- 23 May 1943
- Decommissioned
- 30 June 1948
- Recommissioned
- 21 November 1950
- Stricken
- 4 January 1999
- Identification
- Callsign : NEPP Hull number : BB-62
- Motto
- Firepower for Freedom
- Nickname s
- "Big J" "Black Dragon"
- Honors and awards
- 19 battle stars Navy Unit Commendation
- Status
- Museum ship
- Notes
- Most decorated battleship in the history of the US Navy
- Class type
- Iowa -class battleship
- Displacement
- 49,657 long tons (50,454 t) standard (1943) 58,132 long tons (59,065 t) full load (1943) 60,000 long tons (61,000 t) full load (1968)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Named after
- New Jersey
- Country
- United States
- Located in
- Camden
- Operator
- United States Navy
- Country of origin
- United States
- Manufacturer
- Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
- Conflict
- World War II
- Official website
- www.battleshipnewjersey.org
- Image
- New Jersey Sails.jpg
- Speed
- 33
- Has use
- museum ship
Show 10 more facts
- Commons category
- USS New Jersey (BB-62)
- shipping port
- Camden
- pennant number
- BB-62
- vessel class
- Iowa-class battleship
- inception
- 2004-09-17
- country of registry
- United States
- different from
- USS New Jersey
- Commons gallery
- USS New Jersey (BB-62)
- name
- USS New Jersey
- location of creation
- Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
USS New Jersey (BB-62) is an Iowa-class battleship and the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the U.S. state of New Jersey. She was often referred to fondly as "Big J". New Jersey earned more battle stars for combat actions than the other three completed Iowa-class battleships, and was the only US battleship used to provide 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 along the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "mothball fleet". She was briefly reactivated in 1968 and sent to Vietnam to support US troops before returning to the mothball fleet in 1969. Reactivated once more in the 1980s as part of the 600-ship Navy program, New Jersey was modernized to carry missiles and recommissioned for service. In 1983, she participated in US operations during the Lebanese Civil War.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “USS New Jersey” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.