Locked & Loaded Special Edition: Battleship New Jersey

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- Daniel & Kaitlyn Ramey, Editors-In-Chief

BATTLESHIP

Special thanks to the men and women who served on the Battleship New Jersey for your decades of service. Without your sacrifice this publication would not be possible. The continued task to preserve this historical icon is a true testament of the love that you have for your country and your history. We are very proud of you and very honored to have walked the decks of the USS New Jersey (BB-62). God bless you.

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USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62)

BATTLESHIP NEW JERSEY

USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62)

TO WALK THE DECKS OF THE BATTLESHIP NEW JERSEY IS SUCH AN HONOR.

To walk the decks of the Battleship New Jersey is such an honor. After all, it is the most decorated Battleship in history.

It really is unreal that this piece of history still exists and in almost perfect condition, floating off the shoreline of Camden, New Jersey.

So here is a little more history on the Battleship New Jersey and where she started. The Battleship New Jersey was one of the Iowa-Class “fast battleship” designs planned in 1938 by the Preliminary Design Branch at the Bureau of Construction and Repair.

She was launched on December 7, 1942 (the first anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor) and commissioned on May 23, 1943. She was the second of the Iowa class to be commissioned by the U.S. Navy.

She was christened at her launching by Carolyn Edison, wife of Governor Charles Edison of New Jersey, himself a former Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned at Philadelphia on May 23, 1943, with Captain Carl F. Holden in command.

So what is an Iowa class battleship? Well, they are the ultimate battleships, and the epitome of the gun-armed ships

of the line that ruled the sea for almost three centuries. The Iowa class ships were the last class of American battleships built and the last battleships in service in the world. They were the largest American battleships, and the longest and fastest of all battleships. They also served over a longer peri-

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USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62)

od than any other battleships from 1943 until 1992. The four Iowa class battleships are the USS Wisconsin, USS New Jersey, USS Missouri, and USS Iowa. Most of which are now preserved and floating museums and open for display and visitation.

The four Iowa-class were the only battleships fast enough to keep up with the fast carriers in World War II. Together they spearheaded the American counteroffensives in the Pacific that won the largest naval war in history. After fighting enemy ships and planes, escorting carriers, and bombarding hostile islands across the Pacific, they carried home thousands of American troops.

All four Iowa-class battleships served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War, and some fought in the Gulf War. Only USS New Jersey served in the Vietnam War and the conflict in Lebanon, and she served in the Persian Gulf. To counter the Soviet military and naval expansion, the New Jersey led her three sisters into the Missile Age, adding cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, and anti-missile weapons to their massive 16-inch guns and numerous 5-inch guns, making them the most formidable surface warships ever put to sea by the Navy. They were also the only ships for which nuclear projectiles were designed.

No Iowa-class battleship gave more distinguished service than USS New Jersey. In World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, and the Persian Gulf, the New Jersey earned a total of 19 Battle and Campaign stars, making her the most decorated battleship in American history, the most of any surviving U.S. Navy ship, and the second-most decorated ship in American history. (The carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), which the New Jersey frequently escorted, earned 20 battle stars in World War II but sadly was scrapped after the war.) The New Jersey

also received a Naval Unit Commendation for her service in Vietnam, and Presidential Unit Citations from the Republic of the Philippines and the Republic of Korea. The Guinness Book of World Records awarded USS New Jersey the title as the fastest battleship in history.

PHOTO CRED: DANIEL RAMEY

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NEW JERSEY (BB-62)

LOCKED & LOADED MAGAZINE

USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62)

FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS WE HAVE BEEN VISITING THE BATTLESHIP NEW JERSEY TO AID IN THE EFFORT TO PRESERVE THIS HISTORICAL ICON.

For the past ten years we have been visiting the Battleship New Jersey to aid in the effort to preserve this historical icon. Annually STANG Magazine hosts an event to put our rides on display, take tours of the ship, and to meet and greet the dozens of Veterans that volunteer their time keeping the vessel open to the public. On any given day, the Battleship New Jersey hosts events and there is always something to do or see.

This year, we decided to let our sister magazine, Locked &

Loaded take the helm and instead of having Mustangs only on display like we usually do, we opened the event up to every make and model vehicle known to man. We had Mustangs, Jeeps, Dodge Chargers, Firebirds, and more rides than you can imagine gleaming on a somewhat rainy day.

Regardless of the weather, the turn out of friends, family, and guests was amazing. This year we decided to dress the part and many of our staff arrived wearing sailor uniforms, paratrooper jumpsuits, flying aces gear, and even bombshell

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dresses. We put our rides on display, spent hours catching up with old friends, walked all over the ship to say hello to our friendly Veterans posted on the decks giving tours, and enjoyed the afternoon laughing and taking pictures. Even though this annual event is something we look forward to, this year was even more special because a lot of the staff and attendees had family that served in the military.

We had family members who served in World War II, Vietnam, Korea, and we even had staff present who served in the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. Not only did they bring and wear their family member’s uniforms, they also wore their own, and luckily, they still fit! Well, some did and some didn’t, but that’s not the point. This year’s event was designed to honor all of those in our lives that made a difference. The ultimate difference.

I guess you could say that this past year’s annual event was the highlight of our ten years visiting the Battleship New Jersey. As we walked around the ship acknowledging her history, we also started to acknowledge our own history and how we have become a part of the Battleship New Jersey in our own way.

Every year that we step onto this ship, that feeling of ex-

citement and honor never fades. From day one to ten years later, visiting the Battleship New Jersey is unlike anything else you will experience. Honestly, every time we visit, we find something new around every corner that we missed the previous year.

Locked & Loaded took the helm and this year was both traditional and new in many ways. It has been some time since the event, but a lot of staff and fans are already asking about our 2023 visit and the agenda. We are not exactly sure what the plans are yet, but one thing is definite, we plan on keeping it open to all vehicles, inviting all of our friends and family, spreading the word to all of our fans, and looking forward to walking those decks again! Maybe this year we will do the overnight option and really get the full Battleship New Jersey experience. After all, who could say that they have ever slept on a battleship!

PHOTO CRED: DANIEL RAMEY

TwISTED BOMBSHELL

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USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62)

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THIS SHIP WAS A WRECKING MACHINE AND HERE IS WHY.

The history of the Battleship New Jersey is pretty cool, but let’s talk about what is really cool... her GUNS! Let’s just say the Battleship New Jersey has way more than you would think and hidden everywhere! This ship was a wrecking machine and here is why.

The Battleship New Jersey’s main battery consisted of nine 16” .50 caliber Mark 7 guns in three-gun turrets, which could fire 2,700 pound armor-piercing shells some 23 miles. Her secondary battery consisted of twenty 5” .38 caliber guns mounted in twin-gun dual purpose (DP) turrets, which could hit targets up to 9 miles away.

With the advent of air power and the need to gain and maintain air superiority came a need to protect the growing fleet

of allied aircraft carriers, so the Battleship New Jersey was fitted with an array of Oerlikon 20mm and Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns. When reactivated in 1968, the Battleship New Jersey had her 20mm and 40mm guns removed and was tailored for use as a heavy bombardment ship. When reactivated in 1982, she had four twin 5” .38 caliber DP mounts removed and was outfitted with four Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) mounts for protection against missles and aircraft, and eight Armored Box Launchers and eight Quad Cell Launchers designed to fire Tomahawk missles and Harpoon missles, respectively.

PHOTO CRED: DANIEL RAMEY

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© 2023 LOCKED & LOADED

USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62)

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© 2023 LOCKED & LOADED

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Editor-In-Chief: Daniel Ramey

Editor-In-Chief: Kaitlyn Ramey

Creative Director: Chuck DeKett

HR Director: Anita Everett

SR Director: TJ Perry

Analytics Director: Tim Perry

HISTORY AND RESEARCH DIRECTOR:

Scott Bieber

SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTORS:

Nicklas Bieber

Lisa Cook

Mike Everett

MARKETING DIRECTORS:

Joyce Galanti

Doug Smith

SEMA

RELATIONS DIRECTOR

Mark Dennis

SOCIAL EVENTS DIRECTORS:

Laura Mattern

Dan Medina

Dave Moyer

Tija Moyer

Brad Peterson

Michelle Van Sickler

CRUISE EVENTS DIRECTORS:

Mark Ide

Laura Ide

Joerg Werner

CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS DIRECTOR:

Rayn Hoch

OPERATIONS DIRECTORS:

Robert Moorman (Northeast Region)

Jeff Dixon (Southeast Region)

Janie Cantu (Midwest Region)

Don Houston (Midwest Region)

Roberto Marty (Midwest Region)

Ingo Rutenberg (Canadian Region)

Dawn Rutenberg (Canadian Region) www.stangmagazine.com