USS New Jersey (BB-16)

USS New Jersey (BB-16) was the fourth of five Virginia-class battleships of the United States Navy. She was originally going to be named the USS Virginia.James M. Morris; Patricia M. Kearns, Historical Dictionary of the United States Navy (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2011), p. 287  She was built at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company in Quincy, Massachusetts in May 1902. She was launched in November 1904.Wayne G. Miller, Fore River Shipyard (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2013), p. 32 After sea trials she was commissioned into the fleet in May 1906. The ship was armed with an offensive battery of four  guns and eight  guns. She was capable of a top speed of . New Jersey was  long, had 23,000 horsepower and was built at a cost of $3,405,000.

New Jersey spent her entire career in the Atlantic Fleet. In late 1906, she took part in the Second Occupation of Cuba. 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.Donald Cann, John Galluzzo, Boston Harbor (Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2006). p. 81 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. 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. New Jersey was sunk on 5 September 1923 off Cape Hatteras as a target ship.Karl Jack Bauer, Stephen S. Roberts, Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants (New York: Greenwood Press, 1991), p. 104

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Category:1904 establishments in the United States
Category:1923 disestablishments
Category:1920s disestablishments in the United States
Category:Naval ships of the United States