Source: Wikipedia Commons

The USS New Jersey is the most decorated battleship in American history and has the namesake of my home state! Commissioned in 1943, she has fought in nearly all of America’s war since then. After World War 2, the ship fought off the shores of Korea and Vietnam. The last conflict in the ship’s long history was off the deserts of the middle east during the closing years of the cold war. USS New Jersey has 19 Battle and Campaign Stars, the most of any other battleship in the navy.

These battleships, the evolution of ships of the line from before were designed in the late 1930s and commissioned in the second half of World War 2. They were some of the longest serving battleships in the world, serving all the way until 1991.

Bull Halsey, a very noted and famous admiral, picked the New Jersey as his flagship in the pacific. In World War 2, the ship swept through the South China sea, and was the site of many various decisions made throughout the ar. Afterwards, she was the flagship for the occupation of Japan, the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleet, the 7th fleet during the Korean War and the 2nd fleet during the end of the cold war.

Weighing in at 45,000 tons and 57,000 tons under full load, this ship is one of the heaviest ever constructed. It was armed with 9, 16 inch artillery in 3 turrets with 3 barrels on each. It had a secondary armament of 20, 5 inch weapons with 10 on each side and a very large host of anti-aircraft weaponry. However, when President Reagan recommissioned the ship in a bid to make a 600 fleet navy, modern Harpoon and Tomahawk missiles along with Phalanx anti-air were added. Its interesting to think that there are 50 year old cannons stationed adjacent to modern laser-guided weaponry.

In all, this ship is very special. Aside from being one of the few ships named after the proud state of New Jersey, I am glad to say that it was a well-served and decorated battleship.