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Welcome
Aboard!
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This
Month in the History of Big J...
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February
4, 1944 - On
this day USS New Jersey began her distinguished career as a
flagship in Majuro Lagoon, when Admiral Raymond A. Spruance,
commanding the Fifth Fleet, broke his flag from her main.
Her first action as a flagship was a bold two-day surface and
air strike by her task force against the supposedly impregnable
Japanese fleet base on Truk in the Carolines.
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February
8, 1984 - While
on station off
Beirut, USS New Jersey fired 288 16-inch rounds into the
surrounding hills to effectively knock out Syrian anti-aircraft
missile sites.
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February
8, 1991 - USS
New Jersey decommissioned at Pier Echo, Naval Station Long Beach
with hundreds of dignitaries and spectators looking on. In
his speech, Captain R.D. Tucker uttered the words of former
commanding officers, which, he said, will close the final
chapter in the history of the Battleship New Jersey: "The
hour cometh and now is to say farewell. But, before doing
so, my last order to you -- Battleship New Jersey -- is rest
well, yet sleep lightly, and hear the call, if again sounded, to
provide "Firepower for Freedom."
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February
19 - 21, 1945 - In
support of the assault on
Iwo Jima, USS New Jersey screened USS Essex's (CV-9) group in
air attacks on the island. Four days later Big J provided
the same service for the first major carrier raid on
Tokyo, a raid aimed specifically at aircraft production.
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February
25, 1990 - USS
New Jersey returned to her homeport, Naval Station Long Beach,
from the Indian Ocean,
Singapore,
Thailand, the
Philippines
and
Hawaii, ending a 34,500 mile deployment, the last deployment for
the proud, veteran battleship.p.
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Big
J's Volunteers were awarded the 2003
Governor’s Award
for
“Mobilization of Volunteers."
To date over 500,000
volunteer
hours have been
logged for
tours, renovations
and
maintenance.
Bravo Zulu to the crew, keep up the good work!
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The
USS New Jersey is open for tours, for
information
about visiting click Here.
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To see photos taken at the ships Grand Opening
Celebration on October 15, 2001
click Here.
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Interested
in Volunteering onboard?
For Information
on joining the Crew click Here.
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To
see photos from my most recent
Volunteer Day onboard click Here.
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For information on upcoming events
onboard the USS New Jersey click Here.
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To
see photos taken at the new
Air & Space Museum Annex click Here.
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To
see photos taken during my visit onboard the
Heavy Cruiser USS Des Moines (CA-134) during
a parts raid before she was scrapped click Here.
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The
Jerseyman, a Quarterly online periodical written
and edited
by Master Chief Tom Helvig, USN (Ret.),
is available
on this site. To read the current or
past issues of The Jerseyman click Here.
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*
* Current
Status and General Information about the Ship * *
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Welcome to the
Online Home Port of the Battleship New Jersey. I established this site for two main
reasons: First, I wanted to chronicle the Final Voyage of this historic warship,
home to the state for which she was named, and Second, I wanted to provide information
about how you can Volunteer
to help maintain and operate the ship by joining her Volunteer Crew.
Well, the Final Voyage is over, but the need for your help still
remains.
The USS New Jersey completed her Final Voyage
home from Bremerton, Washington to the former Philadelphia Naval
Ship Yard, arriving there appropriately enough, on Veteran's Day 1999.
The Navy's decision of where to permanently berth the Battleship was announced on January
20, 2000, and the winner was... Camden!!!
On July 27, 2000 she was
moved to the South Jersey Port Corporation's Beckett Street Terminal, where she
remained for about 2 weeks. While there she was opened to the public
for Deck Tours on August 9th & 10th, and drew an estimated 11,000
visitors. She was moved again on August 15, 2000 to
another dock, the Broadway Terminal, where she underwent a
year long, $7.3 Million restoration. Finally, on September 23, 2001
she was moved to her new permanent home on the Camden waterfront. She was officially opened to the public for tours on October 15, 2001.
This site contains lots of information about the USS New Jersey, the Navy's most
decorated Battleship, including the Ships History, Battle Record, and Iowa Class
Statistics. It also contains information about how you can
help with her ongoing restoration and operation and also fund the construction of a permanent
onshore museum. If you are a New Jersey Resident there are several easy ways you can
help and there are also other ways everyone can help. I myself belong to the the Home
Port Alliance, they are the organization that currently has control
of the ship and have opened her as a Museum
on the Delaware River. Another organization that worked a long time
to bring Big J home is the Battleship New Jersey Historical Society.
These two
organizations worked hard to bring the Navy's most decorated
warship home to the state she was named for, and I'm proud to be a small part of their
efforts.
If you're interested in reviewing Photos
and entries from a Daily Journal kept during the ships final trip home, click on the Final
Voyage button. The Photo Gallery contains
photos taken during the ships 4 different active duty periods and an
extensive collection of pictures chronicling her final voyage home to New
Jersey. It also contains hundreds of photos taken by me over the
past 8+ years showing the ships complete restoration, grand opening to the
public and ongoing operations. If you want to see a picture of a
certain area of the ship, chances are you'll find it in the Photo Gallery,
and if not, send me an e-mail
and describe the area, and I'll take some for you the next time I'm
onboard.
Feel free to send me any Comments or Suggestions
you may have about this site, I value your input. If you're interested in visiting
websites for other Battleships, other Warships or Naval related sites be sure to check out
the extensive Related Links list I compiled while researching for
this site. The list contains links to sites for well over 400 warships and
many other Navy related sites.
I encourage you to get involved and help this great cause if you can. You can join the Home Port Alliance for as little as
$40.00 per year or you can help in numerous other
ways. For more information about how you can help, click on the You Can Help button. Even purchasing items from
the Home Port Alliance's Ships Store helps the cause, and the Hats, Shirts and other
items there are very nice. Buy an official USS New Jersey Hat, a T-Shirt or a Golf
Shirt and wear it with pride knowing a portion of its purchase price went to
help restore and maintain the Battleship. I thank you in advance for any help you can provide to
this effort. Don't forget to stop by and sign the Ships
Log before you leave. There are hundreds of entries in the
Ships Log, many are from former crewmen looking for old shipmates. Check out the
Log Entries and see if you can hook up with an old buddy.
If you too are trying to get in touch with old shipmates, click on the Crew
Info button for some helpful hints to get you started on your way.
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