USS New Jersey (BB-16)

USS New Jersey (BB-16) in a camouflage paint scheme, 1918
History
United States
Name	New Jersey
Namesake	New Jersey
Builder	Fore River Shipyard
Laid down	3 April 1902
Launched	10 November 1904
Commissioned	12 May 1906
Decommissioned	6 August 1920
Stricken	12 July 1922
Fate	Sunk as target 5 September 1923
General characteristics
Class and type	Virginia-class battleship
Displacement	Normal: 14,948 long tons (15,188 t) Full load: 16,094 long tons (16,352 t)
Length	441 ft 3 in (134 m)
Beam	76 ft 3 in (23 m)
Draft	23 ft 9 in (7 m)
Installed power	12 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 19,000 ihp (14,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × triple-expansion steam engines 2 × screw propellers
Speed	19 kn (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement	812
Armament	4 × 12 in (305 mm)/40 caliber guns 8 × 8 in (203 mm)/45 cal guns 12 × 6 in (152 mm)/50 cal guns 12 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal guns 12 × 3-pounder guns 4 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor	Belt: 6–11 in (152–279 mm) Barbettes: 10 in (254 mm) Turrets: 12 in (305 mm) Conning tower: 9 in (229 mm)

USS New Jersey (BB-16) was the fourth of five Virginia-class battleships of the United States Navy, and the first ship to carry her name. She was laid down at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company in Quincy, Massachusetts, in May 1902, launched in November 1904, and commissioned into the fleet in May 1906. The ship was armed with an offensive battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and eight 8-inch (203 mm) guns, and she was capable of a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).

New Jersey spent her entire career in the Atlantic Fleet. In late 1906, she took part in the Second Occupation of Cuba, and she participated in the Jamestown Exposition in April – May 1907. At the end of the year, she joined the Great White Fleet for its circumnavigation of the globe, which lasted into 1909. The ship spent the following five years conducting peacetime training. In April 1914, New Jersey took part in the occupation of Veracruz during the Mexican Revolution. During World War I, she was used as a training ship, and after the war, she was tasked with transporting American soldiers back from Europe. New Jersey was decommissioned in 1920 and slated for destruction in bombing tests in 1923. Martin NBS-1 bombers sank the ship on 5 September 1923 in a series of bomb attacks.