How many sailors on a battleship

As well as space for building the ships, great storehouses had to be built, because the new ships needed lots of supplies. Henry also set up the Navy Board, the administrative wing of the navy, which oversaw the running of the navy. Shipbuilding materials were sourced from the South of England. All ships were built of wood, which meant that very many trees were needed, and there were still quite large forests in parts of Kent and Sussex. Warships now carried much heavier cannon on board, about 20 heavy and 60 light ones.

These gunports were flaps that covered holes in the side of the ship. The flaps would be opened in a battle so the cannon could poke out while they were being fired. Each propeller blade was nearly three times as long as a man of average height. At Yamato 's maximum speed of 32 mph, the propulsion system consumed 70 tons of fuel oil every hour.

Heavy Armor The ship's steel armor weighed 23, tons—more than 30 percent of Yamato 's total weight. The Imperial Navy developed new ways to harden steel and otherwise improve armor technology for the ship.

Plates of armor 25 inches thick—the heaviest armor ever mounted on a warship—shielded the turrets of her main guns. The side of the ship could survive the impact of 3,pound armor-piercing projectiles like those shot from the ship's big guns. But Yamato 's bow and stern were not as well protected. Most of the torpedoes that ultimately sank the ship struck there, below the waterline, where she was most vulnerable.

Flood Control Yamato 's 1, watertight compartments were meant not just to prevent unwanted flooding but, in some cases, to purposely be flooded. If the ship listed to one side, water could be pumped into compartments on the opposite side. Fuel could also be transferred to tanks on the upward side to help counter the tilt.

Midway through Yamato 's last battle, as the ship listed 15 degrees to port, her crew relied on the system to reduce the tilt to five degrees. But soon all the flood-control compartments on the starboard side were filled, and more torpedo hits and flooding on the port side capsized the ship. Tower Bridge The tower bridge was the ship's control center. Perched at its top, feet above the weather deck, was a rangefinder with state-of-the-art optics.

For convenience, all of these ships are listed below under the appropriate numbers in the "BB" series. In addition, the Navy's first two "modern" battleships rated as "Second Class Battleships" never received hull numbers.

For the sake of completeness, these two ships are included at the beginning of this page's "BB" series. Navy battleship construction began with the keel laying of the Maine in and ended with the suspension of the incomplete Kentucky BB in During this almost six-decade-long era, 59 battleships of 23 different basic designs or "classes" were completed for the Navy.

Another twenty battleships and battle cruisers three more "classes" were begun or planned, but not completed. Though the building rate averaged almost exactly one per year, it was not a steady process, but was concentrated in two phases. The first, corresponding to the rise of the United States to first-class naval rank, began in and came to an abrupt halt with the signing of the Naval Limitations Treaty in The New Jersey screened the fleet carriers which again struck Tokyo on February 25, and then reconnoitered and bombed the next invasion target, Okinawa.

The New Jersey returned to Ulithi on March 5, but even that remote atoll was the target of a night kamikaze attack on March The task force was subjected to a flurry of attacking bombers and kamikazes, including the first use of rocket-powered piloted flying bombs. On March 19, the New Jersey shot down about a half dozen aircraft attacking the carriers, damaged others, and used her floatplane to rescue a downed carrier pilot.

However, kamikazes hit several carriers, including Franklin , the most heavily damaged carrier to be saved in the war. This was the largest amphibious operation in the Pacific and proved to be the final amphibious operation of the war.

Through emergency rudder and engine maneuvers, the New Jersey avoided cutting the destroyer in two but still sideswiped her in a shower of sparks. The New Jersey sustained only negligible damage and continued escorting the carriers. Recognizing that an American capture of Okinawa would enable the invasion of its Home Islands, Japan launched an all-out offensive against the invasion fleet on April 6, Almost seven hundred Japanese planes attacked the fast carriers and invasion fleet, and the giant battleship Yamato and escorts embarked on a one-way attack aimed at Okinawa.

On April 7, while still hundreds of miles from Okinawa, Yamato and several escorts were sunk by American planes from the carriers, while the New Jersey protected the carriers from attacking aircraft. This pointedly illustrated the new roles of carriers and battleships. USS New Jersey and the Fifth Fleet weathered the most powerful kamikaze attacks of the war, with over kamikazes and other planes attacking on April , and kamikazes and a hundred or more other planes on April , Unlike the flammable carriers, the Iowa -class ships were near impervious to kamikazes.

The New Jersey shot down at least one of the hundreds of planes downed by American ships and planes. Nonetheless, these initial waves sank three destroyers, three smaller warships, and two transports, and damaged two carriers and dozens of small ships, some beyond repair. These and other attacks cost Japan over a thousand aircraft and made April one of the bloodiest months in the war for the Navy. These suicide attacks, and the fanatical resistance by Japanese soldiers on Okinawa until June 22, helped convince new President Harry Truman that invasion of Japan itself would be exceedingly bloody and that use of the atomic bomb was a better alternative.

She had helped carry the American advance thousands of miles from the edge of the Japanese outer defensive perimeter in the Marshalls to the doorstep of Japan itself. And she did so without losing a man in combat. Her unique round bridge was replaced by the same squared off bridge that had been installed on Missouri and Wisconsin during their construction and on Iowa during a refit. The New Jersey received a more substantial tripod mainmast in place of her previous pole mast, allowing her to handle more radar and radio antennas.

Some of her single barreled 20mm anti-aircraft guns were replaced by twin barreled 20mm mounts. After sea trials off California and drills off Pearl Harbor, she headed back to the war on August 2. On August 8, the New Jersey used her inch and 5-inch guns to bombard Wake Island, captured after a heroic defense by the Marines in The Japanese returned fire but missed.

That day, however, the Japanese agreed to capitulate. USS New Jersey steamed , miles during the war. Asiatic Pacific Raids, 2. Hollandia Operations, 3. Marianas Operations, 4. West Caroline Operations, 5. Marshall Island Operations, 6. Leyte Operations, 7. Luzon Operations, 8. Iwo Jima Operations, and 9. Okinawa Operations. The New Jersey was the first flagship for the occupation of Japan.

From the New Jersey, Spruance commanded all naval forces in Japanese waters. Towers, who had helped pioneer naval aviation.

Both Spruance and Towers went on to command the Pacific Fleet. Sherman, who had commanded carriers in battles from Coral Sea to Leyte Gulf. The next day, she set sail for home. World War II proved the value of the truly fast battleship, but it also showed that the aircraft carrier was now the queen of the seas. Moreover, the destruction of all major hostile surface navies, the coming of peace, and the advent of nuclear weapons reduced the need to maintain the largest fleet in history.

After Britain finished a battleship under construction in , no more battleships were built. For the same reasons, the 19 slower battleships that fought in World War II were decommissioned by Most of them were scrapped or expended as targets in atom bomb tests. Even the speedy Iowa- class ships were targeted by the budget-cutters. President Truman ordered Missouri to remain active, but the other three Iowa -class battleships were decommissioned and placed in reserve by March At Long Beach, California, in , she prepared to observe the atomic bomb tests at Bikini atoll, but they went on without her.

She was docked at Bremerton until early , when she returned through the Panama Canal to the Atlantic. On June 7, , the New Jersey set off on the training cruise carrying over Naval Academy midshipmen.

The crew of the New Jersey , flagship of the largest battle at sea in history, visited HMS Victory , flagship of the largest naval battle in the age of sail. Equipment was coated with preservative grease like cosmoline, and non-moving parts were preserved under layers of paint.

Unfortunately, a foe appeared on June 25, , when North Korean forces blitzed across the 38 th Parallel into South Korea. They captured its capital Seoul and drove the beleaguered South Korean units and reinforcing U. With only the Missouri still active, a call went out for more battleship support, and USS New Jersey was the first to answer. The mothballing process was reversed, and a new crew trained.

The catapults that had launched her Seahawk floatplanes were removed to make room for landings on the fantail by a new Sikorsky HO3S-1 helicopter. Meanwhile, in the fall U. In the winter, they had reeled back as huge numbers of Chinese troops crossed the Yalu River and retook Seoul.

In the early part of , U. The New Jersey reached the east coast of Korea on May The Communist forces had just driven the outnumbered U. The New Jersey promptly pitched in on May 19, shelling Kansong just above the Parallel to interdict enemy supplies. There, on May 21, , a North Korean shore battery scored a direct hit that did no significant damage to the heavily armored Turret I, and a near miss that sprayed the ship with shrapnel, killing Seaman Robert Oesterwind.

He was the only sailor ever killed in action on the New Jersey throughout the many conflicts in which she participated over her four commissionings. The New Jersey returned fire and quickly obliterated the shore battery. She bombarded Wonson multiple times over the next two years, silencing any shore batteries that fired back. In late May , U. Her helicopters worked to rescue downed aviators. During June, while U.

With the battlelines stabilizing and negotiations beginning, USS New Jersey still alternated between escorting carriers and bombarding the North Korean coast. After the Communists broke off talks in August , the New Jersey provided naval gunfire support for the U. Her firing broke up counterattacks, harassed the enemy at night, and supported amphibious feints while X Corps took Heartbreak Ridge and the Punchbowl.

Her inch guns could range twenty miles inland, outdistancing Army artillery and demolishing targets that had survived repeated air attacks. Her and 5-inch guns destroyed enemy bridges, tunnels, road and rail junctions, railroad yards, trains, bunkers, trenches, troops, mortar pits, artillery positions, shore batteries, supply dumps, ammo dumps, a dam, and an oil refinery.

Her helicopters rescued Navy pilots downed in or near North Korea, and her doctors cared for wounded from a South Korean frigate damaged by shore batteries.

On November 22, , as delegates at Panmunjom agreed that the current battleline would be the truce line, USS New Jersey was relieved by the newly arrived Wisconsin later relieved by Iowa. Her remaining sixteen twin 20mm mounts were removed, and a Navy librarian removed any books from her library that might be deemed subversive in the McCarthy era.

In the fall, she trained reservists. She then reloaded ammunition and trained to head back to the war. That same day, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin died. Thereafter, the Communists made peace overtures but resumed ground attacks. The New Jersey relieved Missouri, which had relieved Iowa.

The New Jersey resumed escorting carriers but spent most of her time in the Sea of Japan bombarding the east coast of North Korea, destroying coastal batteries, communication facilities, train tracks, bridges, and tunnels, and other targets at Kojo, Chongjin, Hungnam, Songjin, and Wonson. Once again Wonson shore batteries fired and were silenced by the New Jersey.

When the Communists launched a major offensive, the New Jersey returned to the east coast. Over the next two months, she launched some of her heaviest and most accurate bombardments, again hitting Wonson, Hungnam, and Tanchon and directly supporting U. She thus helped apply pressure on the Communist negotiators at Panmunjom.

She fired the last salvo of the war at Wonson when the armistice was signed on July 27, with a New Jersey delegation present. They first came aboard at Pusan on April 14, Communist China Spring Offensive, 2. Third Korean Winter Offensive. She headed through the Panama Canal to Cuba and Norfolk.

On June 7, , off the Virginia Capes, all four Iowa -class battleships steamed together for the first and only time. USS New Jersey continued steaming on the summer cruise for midshipmen. The New Jersey first stopped in Spain to cement a new pact which allowed the United States to use bases in that diplomatically isolated country. The guns had a lifespan of full charge shots per barrel before the shells wore the rifling away and made the gun inaccurate. By the end of their second war, the Navy decided to replace them.

Fortunately, barrels were a long lead-time item, so barrels had been procured for Illinois , Kentucky , and some of the Montana -class battleships even though the ships never were completed. Those barrels were used to replace the ones on the New Jersey. Her original barrels were relined and went on to be preserved at locations around the country.

The gunnery department also prepared to receive W nuclear inch shells. Fifty such shells were produced, but it is unknown whether they were deployed on the New Jersey or his sister ships. In summer , she conducted the midshipman cruise to Norway, Great Britain, and Cuba, returning July After the Korean War, the Navy again began decommissioning ships. Missouri had been decommissioned in Bremerton in Iowa and Wisconsin were decommissioned in early and laid up in Philadelphia.

In the s, with American involvement ramping up in Vietnam, there were repeated calls to bring back a battleship. North Vietnam had the largest air defense network in the world, which was taking a heavy toll on Air Force and Navy jets and pilots engaged in the Rolling Thunder bombing campaign.

A battleship could have knocked out the Thanh Hoa bridge that I was bombing at the time I was shot down [in ]. We lost five planes in one day on that one target. I point out that the Thanh Hoa bridge was only 12 miles inland, well within the range of the inch guns on the Iowa -class battleships. The work to recommission the New Jersey was performed in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard where she had been built. To save money, only a minimum amount of work was performed. A closed-circuit television system was also added for a crew raised in a television age.

In , surface-to-surface missiles had sunk a warship for the first time when the Egyptians fired Soviet Styx missiles at an Israeli destroyer.

In the refit, USS New Jersey received electronic countermeasures and four Zuni rocket launchers modified to shoot shredded aluminum foil chaff to fool the radar of enemy missiles. As a result, she was recommissioned at the lightest weight ever achieved by an Iowa- class battleship. When she was performing her trials off the Virginia Capes on March 27, , she reached a sustained top speed of On March 31, President Lyndon Johnson announced he would enter negotiations, drop his bid for re-election, and halt bombing north of the 19 th Parallel — thus shielding much of North Vietnam including the Thanh Hoa bridge from bombardment by the New Jersey.

When she was commissioned for the third time on April 6, there were a few protestors among the many well-wishers at the Philadelphia celebration.

When she reached her new home port of Long Beach, more work was done, including removing some 40mm armored gun tubs; two remaining tubs were used as pools for the crew.

The crew practiced transferring inch shells from an ammunition ship at sea by highline and for the first time by helicopter. McCain Jr. She arrived off Vietnam on September The next day, when she bombarded targets north of the DMZ, the Navy jet spotting for her was shot down, and she helped rescue the crew. The New Jersey continued to bombard targets in southern North Vietnam both day and night, harassing enemy troops, destroying bunkers, interdicting enemy logistics, and sinking eleven coastal supply ships.

She ranged into the Gulf of Tonkin almost to the 19 th Parallel, bombarding heavily fortified caves at Vinh. However, President Johnson declared a halt to all bombing of North Vietnam as of November 1, just before the election. The troops were often ambushed by Communist forces, and needed quick, accurate, overwhelming fire support.

Her guns destroyed enemy troops, rocket launchers, antiaircraft sites, trenches, bunkers, tunnels, and supply dumps. On November , , she destroyed or heavily damaged over bunkers, tunnels, and other structures.

She fired continuously for hours when Marine outposts were surrounded and attacked by Communist troops, including on February and March 31, It was estimated she saved lives every day she was on station. Over her career, the New Jersey fired more shells in combat than any other battleship ever built.

Vietnamese Counter-Offensive, Phase V, 2. Tet Counter-Offensive,