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Black Dragon
Service in three wars made the USS New Jersey the most-decorated battleship in the Navy
December 7, 1942... On a cold winter day at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyards, the wife of New Jersey Governor Charles Edison ceremoniously broke a champagne bottle to launch the latest addition to the United States Navy. As it splashed into the Delaware River, spectators marveled at the 36,000-ton behemoth designed as a heavily-armed support ship for American aircraft carriers. It sported nine monstrous 16-inch guns capable of hitting targets at a distance of twenty-four miles. The decision to launch the USS New Jersey on the one-year anniversary of Pearl Harbor was a fitting one. Within months, the ship and its two thousand man crew would battle the Japanese for control of the Pacific.
This 48-star national flag flew atop the USS New Jersey as it guarded American aircraft carriers during a decisive February 25, 1945 bombardment of Tokyo. At the end of the war, the flag was presented to the state of New Jersey to commemorate the ship's important role. Coupled with awards for service in Korea and Vietnam, the New Jersey earned the noble distinction as the most-decorated U.S. battleship in history. |