July
21, 1945
USS
New Jersey has long log of Pacific warfare
Washington,
July 21 (INS) - The Navy Department revealed today that the giant
battleship New Jersey participated in the Pacific Fleet's first
major carrier air strike against Tokyo.
One of the biggest battleships in the world,
the New Jersey protected participating elements of the Fleet
when Tokyo and Yokohama were bombed Feb. 16-17.
The New Jersey offered protection from March
18 to April 13 when carrier air thrusts at Japan, the Ryukyus
and Japanese task forces were made by the Pacific Fleet.
In the March attacks on Honshu the battleship
shot down four enemy planes, some of which were diving on American
carriers with suicidal intent, the Navy said.
From the date the New Jersey joined the Pacific
Fleet, Jan. 22, 1944, she changed from "boot" to "veteran."
Her log reads like a diary of the Pacific war.
Capt. C.F. Holden, of Bangor, Me., was the
battleship's first skipper. He stayed in command until relieved
by Capt. E.T. Woolridge, of Lawrenceburg, Ky., in January, 1945.
The New Jersey, a product of the Philadelphia
Navy Yard, was commissioned in May, 1943.
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