The historic USS New Jersey battleship has had several service “lives” supporting the US Navy
by Kris Osborn, Warrior
The famous and historic USS New Jersey battleship has had several service “lives” supporting the US Navy in a wide range of conflicts over the course of many decades, and it now stands as a timeless emblem of US Naval power.
After resting as a permanent floating “museum” on the New Jersey coastline in Camden, the warship was moved to Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for critical preservation work, something the ship has not done since its decommissioning. The USS New Jersey is considered an American classic as it supported US forces in WWII, the Korean War as well as Vietnam and other conflicts.
As part of the “drydock” effort, which began in the Spring of 2024, the ship’s underwater hull was washed down and “leaks” were repaired. Rusted portions of the hull were also reinforced with extra steel and hull openings were closed. The ship has since made a historic and celebrated return to Camden, New Jersey.
The intent of all this has been to preserve the ship for posterity as it was awarded as many as nine battlestars for its role in WWII, four for the Korean War and three for Vietnam.
The battleship had been “mothballed” with other US Navy battleships and kept from active service before being “reactivated” for Vietnam. Following much of its service, the ship remained part of the reserve fleet and part of a “mothballed” group of ships until being decommissioned for the last time in 1991.
Battleship Comeback?
The ship has remained extremely popular as a museum site paying tribute to its decorated service in WWII, yet its distinguished service introduces questions about the continued relevance of massive battleships.
Some have posed the question as to whether massive battleships should make a comeback, given their sheer firepower and ability to “blanket” enemy areas with attacks. There are many interesting variables to this equation, and much to consider. In one respect, the ability to support amphibious or coastal Naval operations with heavy ship-to-shore fire could still be extremely relevant in a maritime warfare engagement. In enemy areas where there are shorter range, less-precise munitions, a large battleship could support an amphibious landing with supportive fires and potentially even be equipped with new generations of sensors and long range weapons. Since US Navy battleships were also configured to launch aircraft and use radar, a modern battleship could launch helicopter and vertical-take-off-and-landing aircraft such as an F-35B. In less contested areas, a battleship of this kind could offer warfare reinforcement and function as a floating home or seabase for aircraft and large weapons systems to reinforce attack.
At the same time, large WWII-era US Navy battleships do offer themselves as extremely large, attractive targets for enemy attack. Although they can be equipped with radar, a ship of that size would of course be seen quite easily by drones, satellites and surveillance planes. Potential adversaries now operate with new generations of longer-range, precision weaponry likely to have success targeting or attacking a massive battleship.
Upgraded Massive Battleship
Could large battleships modeled after the New Jersey return if modifications were made? Perhaps large battleships could bring lethal fires, launch aircraft with massively upgraded modern sensors and targeting systems? The US Navy also has increasing numbers of over-the-horizon deck-fired missiles such as the Naval Strike Missile. In a great power engagement, an ability to “mass” precision, long-range fires to “scale” an attack would likely be extremely significant. The most relevant or significant element related to this possibility is that heavily armed large battleships could be massive “attack” platforms protected by cruisers and destroyers in a Carrier Strike Group. Much like carriers are protected with ship-based radar and interceptor missiles launched from cruisers and destroyers, perhaps battleships could bring unparalleled firepower yet also be protected as part of a group of ships?
Not only is there a tactical reason why large volume ship-to-shore fires would remain extremely important in maritime combat, particularly against a less-advanced adversary, but there are likely emerging layered ship defenses and non-kinetic weapons which could address survivability concerns with the ships. EW, lasers, and Vertical Launch Tube-fired interceptor missiles, supported by long-range, high fidelity radar systems, could all prove quite effective with efforts to protect the ship. In any kind of a large scale war – scale and volume will be of great consequence. Should the US Navy need to bombard the Chinese coastline to protect Taiwan or Japan, the fleet would need to attack miles of shoreline and simply need more than a smaller number of precision-weapons to support an amphibious landing. Sensors and targeting technology would likely be useful in attacking Chinese ballistic missile launchers, yet the sheer size of the Chinese Navy and weaponry along its coastline would need to be attacked with large amounts of firepower.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University