Editing USS New Jersey (BB-62) (section)

==Vietnam==
''New Jersey's'' third career began 6 April 1968 when she recommissioned at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Captain J. Edward Snyder in command. Fitted with improved electronics and a helicopter landing pad and with her 40-millimeter battery removed, she was tailored for use as a heavy bombardment ship. Her 16-inch guns, it was expected, would reach targets in Vietnam inaccessible to smaller naval guns and, in foul weather, safe from aerial attack.

''New Jersey'', now the world's only active battleship, departed Philadelphia 16 May, calling at Norfolk and transiting the Panama Canal before arriving at her new home port of Long Beach, California, 11 June. Further training off southern California followed. On 24 July ''New Jersey'' received 16-inch shells and powder tanks from ''Mount Katmai'' (AE-16) by conventional highline transfer and by helicopter lift, the first time heavy battleship ammunition had been transferred by helicopter at sea.

[[File:USS New Jersey (BB-62) and USCGC Owasco (WHEC-39) underway off Vietnam, in 1968.jpg|thumb|right|USS New Jersey (BB-62) and USCGC Owasco (WHEC-39) underway off the coast of Vietnam, 1969.]]

Departing Long Beach 3 September, ''New Jersey'' touched at Pearl Harbor and Subic Bay before sailing 25 September for her first tour of gunfire support duty along the Vietnamese coast. Near the 17th parallel on 30 September, the dreadnought fired her first shots in battle in over sixteen years. Firing against Communist targets in and near the so-called Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), her big guns destroyed two gun positions and two supply areas. She fired against targets north of the DMZ the following day, rescuing the crew of a spotting plane forced down at sea by antiaircraft fire.

The next six months self into a steady pace of bombardment and fire support missions along the Vietnamese coast, broken only by brief visits to Subic Bay and replenishment operations at sea. In her first two months on the gun line, ''New Jersey'' directed nearly ten thousand rounds of ammunition at Communist targets; over: 3,000 of these shells were 16-inch projectiles.

Her first Vietnam combat tour completed, ''New Jersey'' departed Subic Bay 3 April 1969 for Japan. She arrived at Yokosuka for a two-day visit, sailing for the United States 9 April. Her homecoming, however, was to be delayed. On the 15th, while ''New Jersey'' was still at sea, North Korean jet fighters shot down an unarmed EC-121 Constellation electronic surveillance plane over the Sea of Japan, killing its entire crew. A carrier task force was formed and sent to the Sea of Japan, while ''New Jersey'' was ordered to come about and steam toward Japan. On the 22nd she arrived once more at Yokosuka, and immediately put to sea in readiness for what might befall. 

As the crisis eased, ''New Jersey'' was released to continue her interrupted voyage. She anchored at Long Beach 5 May 1969, her first visit to her home port in eight months. Through the summer months, ''New Jersey's'' crew toiled to make her ready for another deployment, and deficiencies discovered on the gun line were remedied. However, reasons of economy were to dictate otherwise. On 22 August 1969 the United States Secretary of Defense released a list of names of ships to be inactivated; at the top of the list was ''New Jersey''. Five days later, Captain Snyder was relieved of command by Captain Robert C. Peniston.

Assuming command of a ship already earmarked for the "mothball fleet," Captain Peniston and his crew prepared for their task. ''New Jersey'' got underway on the voyage 6 September, departing Long Beach for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. She arrived on the 8th, and began preinactivation overhaul to ready herself for decommissioning. On 17 December 1969 ''New Jersey'' 's colors were hauled down and she entered the inactive fleet.