USS New Jersey ( BB - 16 ) USS " New Jersey " ( BB - 16 ) was a of the United States Navy . She was the first ship to carry her name . " New Jersey " was launched on 10 November 1904 by Fore River Shipbuilding Company , Quincy , Massachusetts ; sponsored by Mrs . William B . Kenney , daughter of Governor Franklin Murphy of New Jersey ; and commissioned on 12 May 1906 , Captain William W . Kimball in command . Pre - World War I . " New Jersey " s initial training in $ 3 and Caribbean waters was highlighted by her review by President Theodore Roosevelt in Oyster Bay in September 1906 , and by her presence at Havana , Cuba from 21 September – 13 October to protect American lives and property threatened by the Cuban Insurrection . From 15 April – 14 May 1907 , she lay in Hampton Roads representing the Navy at the Jamestown Exposition . In company with fifteen other battleships and six attendant destroyers , " New Jersey " cleared Hampton Roads on 16 December , her rails manned and her guns crashing a 21 - gun salute to President Roosevelt , who watched from this beginning of the dramatic cruise of the " Great White Fleet " . The international situation required a compelling exhibition of the strength of the United States ; this round - the - world cruise was to provide one of the most remarkable illustrations of the ability of sea power to keep peace without warlike action . Not only was a threatened conflict with Japan averted but notice was served on the world that the United States had come of age , and was an international power which could make its influence felt in any part of the world . Commanded first by Rear Admiral Robley D . Evans , and later by Rear Admiral Charles S . Sperry , the fleet laid its course for Trinidad and Tobago and Rio de Janeiro , then rounded Cape Horn . After calling in Punta Arenas , Valparaíso and Callao , the battleships made a triumphant return to the United States at San Francisco . On 7 July , the fleet sailed west , bound for Hawaii , Auckland , and three Australian ports ; Sydney , Melbourne , and Albany , Western Australia . Each city offered an enthusiastic reception for the American sailors and their ships , but tension and rumor of possible incident made the arrival in Tokyo Bay on 18 October unique among the cruise ' s calls . Immediately it was clear that no special precautions had been necessary ; nowhere during the cruise did the men of " New Jersey " and her sisters meet with more expression of friendship , both through elaborately planned entertainment and spontaneous demonstration . The President observed with satisfaction this accomplishment of his greatest hope for the cruise : " The most noteworthy incident of the cruise was the reception given to our fleet in Japan . " The Great White Fleet sailed on to Amoy , returned briefly to Yokohama , then held target practice in the Philippines before beginning the long homeward passage on 1 December . The battleships passed through the Suez Canal 4 January 1909 , called at Port Said , Naples and Villefranche , and left Gibraltar astern on 6 February . In one of the last ceremonial acts of his presidency , Theodore Roosevelt reviewed the Great White Fleet as it went up to anchor in Hampton Roads on 22 February . Except for a period out of commission in reserve at Boston from 2 May 1910 – 15 July 1911 , " New Jersey " carried out a normal pattern of drills and training in the Western Atlantic and Caribbean , carrying midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy in the summers of 1912 – 13 . With Mexican political turmoil threatening US interests , " New Jersey " was ordered to the Western Caribbean in the fall of 1913 to provide protection . On 21 April 1914 , as part of the force commanded by Rear Admiral Frank F . Fletcher , following Mexican refusal to apologize for an insult to American naval forces at Tampico , sailors and marines landed at Veracruz and took possession of the city and its customs house until changes in the Mexican government made evacuation possible . " New Jersey " sailed from Veracruz on 13 August , observed and reported on troubled conditions in Santo Domingo and Haiti , and reached Hampton Roads on 9 October . Until the outbreak of World War I , she returned to her regular operations along the east coast and in the Caribbean . World War I . During World War I , " New Jersey " made a major contribution to the expansion of the wartime Navy , training gunners and seamen recruits in Chesapeake Bay . After the Armistice she began the first of four voyages to France , from where she had brought home 5 , 000 members of the American Expeditionary Force by 9 June 1919 . " New Jersey " was decommissioned at the Boston Naval Shipyard on 6 August 1920 , and was sunk along with off Cape Hatteras on 5 September 1923 in Army bomb tests conducted by Brigadier General Billy Mitchell . The film of this bombing was used as stock footage for many years , notably in the 1936 Three Stooges short " Half Shot Shooters " .