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History Of The BB-62
Just one year after the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into WWII. The BB-62 was launched in on December 7,1942. It was built in Philadelphia in the naval ship yard. It was commissioned in Philadelphia on May 23, 1943. It was actually the second to be named "The New Jersey". The First ship to be named "The New Jersey" was the BB-61. The New Jersey was named by president Franklin Roosevelt. It was named to repay a political debt.
A brief history of the BB-61. The BB-61 served from the years 1906 until 1922. Then in 1922 it was sunk after it was a bombing target. The BB-61 served in World War I as a training vessel. It also sailed in the Great White Fleet.
The BB-62 was christened by Carolyn Edison on May 23 1943. Carolyn Edison was the wife of Carolyn Edison who was the governor of New Jersey. It was christened after its launch.
The main battery was made of nine 16"/50 caliber Mark 7 guns. These guns could hurl 2,700-pound (1,225 kg) armor-piercing shells 23 miles. The second battery had twenty 5"/38 caliber guns, these guns had the capability of hitting a target up to nine miles away. The New Jersey was then fitted with Oerlikon 20mm and Bofors 40 mm anti-air craft guns. The reason for doing this was because of the increasing need to maintain air superiority. The BB-62 needed to protect the growing fleet of aircraft carriers.
The BB-62 was inactive in 1957. The ship was sent to the New York Naval Shipyard to be placed in inactivation. After the process was done there it was then sent to Bayonne were it sat in decommission. Until April 21, 1968 when it was recommissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
Then in 1968 when the New Jersey was reactivated some of these guns were then removed. Some of the guns that were removed were the 20 mm and 40 mm guns. The New Jersey was then custom - made for the use as a heavy bombardment ship. It was also fitted with improved electronics and a helicopter landing pad. Her 16-inch guns, it was expected, would reach targets in Vietnam inaccessible to smaller naval guns and, in foul weather, safe from aerial attack.
The New Jersey was now the world's only active battleship. It departed Philadelphia on May 16, calling at Norfolk and transiting the Panama Canal before arriving at the battleships new home port of Long Beach, Calif., 11 June. Further training off southern California followed. Then on July 24, the New Jersey received 16-inch shells and powder tanks from Mount Katmai (AE-16) by conventional highline transfer and by helicopter lift, the first time heavy battleship ammunition had been transferred by helicopter at sea.
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