The Battleship That Refused to Retire: USS New Jersey and America’s Long Naval Memory

On December 28, 1982, the USS New Jersey (BB-62) was recommissioned, marking a remarkable new chapter in the life of one of the most storied warships in United States naval history. Already a veteran of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, the battleship’s return to active service reflected both the enduring value of naval firepower and the shifting strategic priorities of the Cold War.

Commissioned in 1943, USS New Jersey was the fastest of the Iowa-class battleships and quickly proved her worth in the Pacific Theater during World War II. She served as a flagship for Admiral William “Bull” Halsey and provided heavy naval gunfire support during key operations, while also escorting aircraft carriers that projected American air power across the Pacific. By war’s end, New Jersey symbolized industrial strength, naval dominance, and the ability to bring overwhelming force to distant shores.

The ship was decommissioned after World War II but returned to service during the Korean War in 1950. There, her massive 16-inch guns delivered sustained bombardment along the Korean coastline, demonstrating that battleships still held tactical value even in an era increasingly dominated by air power. After Korea, she was again laid up, seemingly a relic of an earlier age.

Yet history was not finished with USS New Jersey. She was recommissioned once more in 1968 for service in the Vietnam War, where her guns provided long-range fire support unmatched by other surface combatants. Her presence underscored a recurring theme in U.S. naval history: when the nation required reliable, decisive firepower, the old battleship could still answer the call.

By the early 1980s, the Cold War had entered a renewed period of tension. The Reagan administration pursued a 600-ship Navy to counter Soviet maritime expansion, and this strategy revived interest in the Iowa-class battleships. On December 28, 1982, USS New Jersey was recommissioned for the final time, modernized with advanced radar, electronic warfare systems, and Tomahawk cruise missiles. This transformation blended World War II-era armor and guns with late-20th-century precision strike capabilities, turning the ship into a symbol of technological continuity and adaptation.

New Jersey’s final deployment in the 1980s included operations off the coast of Lebanon, where she provided naval gunfire support during a volatile and politically sensitive conflict. Her presence was both a military asset and a strategic signal, reminding adversaries that the United States could project power from the sea with overwhelming force.

The recommissioning of USS New Jersey in 1982 highlighted more than nostalgia for battleships. It reflected an evolving understanding of deterrence, flexibility, and modernization. The ship’s repeated returns to service demonstrated how military assets, when thoughtfully adapted, can remain relevant across radically different eras of warfare.

Today, USS New Jersey rests as a museum ship, preserved not merely as steel and machinery but as a living chronicle of American naval history. Her recommissioning on December 28 stands as a reminder that military power is shaped as much by strategic necessity as by tradition, and that some symbols of strength endure long after their original era has passed.