Iowa-Class Battleship USS New Jersey Is Making a Big ‘Comeback’

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Key Points and Summary: The USS New Jersey, America’s most decorated battleship, has completed a $10 million restoration at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

-Known as the “Big J,” this Iowa-class battleship served in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War, earning 19 battle stars.

-Visitors can now experience its history through interactive exhibits, from climbing inside its massive 16-inch gun turret to exploring Admiral Halsey’s command chair.

-The restoration ensures the ship’s structural integrity and watertightness for years to come.

-Moored in Camden, New Jersey, the Big J continues to inspire visitors, offering a unique glimpse into naval history and military might.

When it is time to be nostalgic, you cannot beat enthusiastic U.S. Navy veterans, their families, and the public who are fans of old ships.

They love a naval story that has a happy ending. This time, workers have wrapped up a refurbishment on the famed battleship USS New Jersey so it can last in museum mode for the next several years.

Fans dug into their pockets for $10 million in state government funds, grants, and donations for the extensive work, and they will be happy about the outcome.

The Iowa-class dreadnought sailed to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 2024 from its home port in Camden, New Jersey, where it had stayed for 20 years. It drastically needed a glow-up in Philadelphia.

This included a new paint job for the mammoth ship and other repairs completed in dry dock.

This has been a sweet return to the Philadelphia yard where the New Jersey was first built. The ship needed to improve its structural integrity and watertightness, so it could entertain visitors.

USS New Jersey: The Big J Battleship is a Huge Hit

You can now have a blast on the New Jersey when you visit the “Big J” as it is affectionately known.

Check out all you can do on board the museum ship.

“Not only do you see exhibits of artifacts from the largest battleship’s past, but you are put into the exhibit as you go through the tour route. Sit in the chair from which Admiral Halsey commanded the longest battleship and the 5th Fleet. Stretch out on the bunks where the sailors slept. Climb into the 16-inch gun turret and learn how the projectiles were loaded. The New Jersey is one of the most interactive U.S. battleship museums,” according to the battleship’s museum website.

The New Jersey is so popular that people paid significant money to see it during the dry dock period.

At least 6,000 visitors purchased the $225 ticket to get a peek at the Big J out of the water.

The workers patched some holes while in drydock and focused on “repairing the ship’s cathodic protection system to detect rusting,” National Public Radio said.

The New Jersey is known for its enviable service history and is the Navy’s most decorated battleship. It served in World War Two, during the Korean and Vietnam War, and into the Cold War until the 1980s. The ship earned 19 battle stars.

The New Jersey was commissioned in 1943. It went to the Pacific in 1944 to battle the Japanese. The first engagement was during the invasion of the Marshall Islands. It was a big part of several successful operations during World War Two and taught Japan’s navy and army a master class on U.S. combat prowess.

In 1950, the Big J was back in action against the North Koreans during that conflict with two combat tours. The New Jersey was the only battleship that fought in the Vietnam War. The North Vietnam Army and Viet Cong were the targets of the Big J’s large guns and massive firepower.

During the substantial naval buildup during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, USS New Jersey was called back into service in the 1980s. It patrolled waters in the Middle East during the Lebanon crisis and U.S. Marine deployment there in 1983 and 1984. Other deployments to the Pacific ensued before its final retirement in 1991.

The USS New Jersey is almost 900 feet long and displaces more than 57,000 tons. It barely fit through the Panama Canal in its heyday.

“USS New Jersey’s main battery consisted of three turrets, each with three Mark 7 16-inch/50-caliber gun barrels. That is, the barrels’ mouth could fire 16-inch shells, and the barrels’ length was 50 times 16 inches, or 66.66 feet long. These rifled guns could fire a 2,700 lb. armor-piercing round, or a 1,900 lb. high-explosive round, to a maximum range of 41,622 yards (23.6 miles),” the ship’s tourism website explained.

If you are in the Philadelphia-Camden, New Jersey, metro area, you should check out that museum.

It would be a fun time for young people who may want to consider a career in the U.S. Navy. The public can envision just how formidable the battleship is and understand the power of those big guns.

A significant public-private partnership executed the effort to refurbish the vessel to increase knowledge and appreciation of one of the best battleships the Navy ever built.

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare, plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.…Read more by Brent M. Eastwood

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