The only American battleship activated for Vietnam now rests in New Jersey

USS New Jersey’s Brief but Devastating Vietnam Revival

In 1968, the USS New Jersey came back from the dead. With U.S. planes dropping from Vietnam skies, Defense Secretary McNamara pulled this mighty battleship out of mothballs.

Workers at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard gave her new radar, removed old guns, and added a helicopter pad. By September, she was off Vietnam’s coast, firing her massive 16-inch guns for the first time in 16 years.

Over just 120 days, New Jersey unleashed nearly 6,000 massive shells, destroying 439 enemy structures before sailing home.

The Battleship New Jersey Museum in Camden now lets you stand where sailors once rained steel on distant shores.

McNamara Wanted a Battleship After Losing Too Many Planes

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara ordered a study on May 31, 1967, to see if the USS New Jersey could come out of retirement.

The study found New Jersey was in better shape than her sister ships thanks to a big overhaul before storage in 1957. By August 1967, McNamara decided to bring back a battleship to help with coastal shelling in Vietnam.

The Navy lost too many pilots and planes hitting targets near the coast, so they needed a safer option.

Shipyard Workers Gave the Old Warrior New Tricks

Workers at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard started a $21. 5 million makeover that took just 13 months.

They took off the old 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns and added modern electronic systems and better radar. The team built a helicopter landing pad on the main deck for supply runs.

They installed a SHORTSTOP jammer and chaff launcher to block radar-guided missiles. About 2,000 civilian workers joined with 240 Navy personnel in fall and winter 1967-68 to get her ready.

Half the Crew Ran a Full-Size Battleship

The USS New Jersey came back to life on April 6, 1968, at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard under Captain J. Edward Snyder.

She ran with just 1,550 sailors and officers, half of what she needed during World War II. The Navy cut costs by leaving out the Marine unit and admiral’s staff.

Even with the smaller crew, all nine 16-inch guns and twenty 5-inch guns worked great. The ship could still reach 30 knots with her engines at full power.

The Long Journey to the War Zone

New Jersey left Philadelphia on May 16, 1968, sailed down the East Coast, through the Panama Canal, and reached Long Beach, California. The crew practiced firing the big guns near San Clemente Island in June 1968.

They stopped at Pearl Harbor and Subic Bay in the Philippines for final prep and intel briefings. The ship loaded almost 89 tons of ammo and did one last practice shoot at Tabones Range.

Six months after leaving Philadelphia, New Jersey got to Vietnam on September 29, 1968.

The Big Guns Woke Up After 16 Years of Silence

On September 30, 1968, New Jersey fired her first combat shots since 1952, sending 29 sixteen-inch shells at targets near the DMZ.

The next day, she took position near Tiger Island and hit Viet Cong bunkers, a supply truck, and an anti-aircraft site. The crew saved a Marine spotter plane crew forced down by enemy fire.

New Jersey joined Operation Sea Dragon to stop North Vietnamese supply boats along the coast. The ship fired day and night, rain or shine, whenever troops called for help.

Ground Troops Loved Having a Floating Artillery Battery

New Jersey answered calls from the 1st and 3rd Marine Divisions, 173rd Airborne Brigade, and 101st Airborne Division. A single 16-inch shell could clear a helicopter landing zone 200 yards wide in thick jungle.

Each massive 2,700-pound shell packed eight times more punch than the largest shells other ships carried. The big guns could hit targets more than 22 miles away, putting twice as much North Vietnamese coastline in range.

Marine spotters reported enemy gunners running away when they heard New Jersey firing.

Two Days of Thunder Near Quang Ngai

From November 25-27, 1968, New Jersey unleashed her most brutal shelling near Quang Ngai. For two straight days, she hammered Viet Cong storage areas with non-stop fire.

The barrage destroyed 182 buildings and 54 bunkers while badly damaging 93 more structures. Several tunnel networks fell apart under the pounding, hurting enemy supply lines in the area.

Sailors watching through binoculars saw rocks and logs from thick bunkers flying hundreds of feet in the air when the shells hit.

Enemy Guns Tried and Failed to Fight Back

On October 26, 1968, North Vietnamese gunners fired back when their 130mm coastal artillery tried to hit New Jersey near Cap Lay.

They fired about a dozen rounds at the battleship, but all fell short, with the closest landing about 1. 7 miles away.

Spotter planes found fresh tire tracks showing the enemy quickly moved their mobile guns.

New Jersey answered with five 16-inch shells at the suspected gun position, but darkness made it hard to see the results. North Vietnamese propaganda falsely claimed they hit the battleship.

Six Months of Shelling Set Records

During her 120 days on the gun line, New Jersey fired 5,688 sixteen-inch shells and 14,891 five-inch shells.

The total came to nearly 12 million pounds of explosives, about the same amount she fired in all of World War II and her two Korean War tours combined.

The main guns destroyed 439 enemy structures and damaged 259 more throughout her time there. The ship focused on wrecking Communist buildings: bunkers, artillery, mortars, anti-aircraft guns, roads, and tunnels.

Her biggest success came against enemy bunkers, with the main battery destroying 596 fortified positions.

The Last Mission Before Heading Home

On March 31, 1969, New Jersey fired her final observed combat mission against a bunker complex northeast of Con Thien. Aircraft spotters confirmed the destruction of seven bunkers in this last mission near the DMZ.

That night, the crew fired 50 more main battery rounds and 815 secondary battery rounds without spotters. The battleship left Vietnamese waters on April 1, 1969, ending her six-month combat tour.

Despite North Vietnamese claims, the enemy never landed a serious hit on the massive warship.

Budget Cuts Sent the Battleship Back to Storage

New Jersey returned to Long Beach and started getting ready for a second Vietnam tour in August 1969. While preparing, the crew learned the ship would be decommissioned because of budget cuts.

The Pentagon couldn’t afford to keep paying for the 1,600-man crew while funding both the Vietnam War and Cold War commitments.

On December 17, 1969, the Navy decommissioned New Jersey after she served as the world’s only active battleship for two years.

She went back to the mothball fleet, ending her unique role as the only battleship to fight in Vietnam.

Visiting Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial, Camden

The Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial is at 62 Battleship Place in Camden. Self-guided tours cost $30 for adults and $25 for seniors, while guided tours are $35 at 12pm daily.

You can visit from 10am to 5:30pm with last boarding at 4pm.

Check out the Combat Engagement Center with Vietnam-era fire control technology and take the Fire Power tour to see Turret II’s powder flat and shell loading areas. Parking costs $15.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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