80 years ago today: The brand-new Iowa-class fast battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62) silhouetted against the sea and clouds, as seen from a minesweeper, 26 October 1943. She was then engaged in training in the western Atlantic and Caribbean areas.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. NH 45486
The second USS New Jersey was launched on the 1st Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and commissioned on 23 May 1943, then spent the rest of the year working up before heading West to eventually earn her “Black Dragon” nickname.
As noted by DANFS:
New Jersey completed fitting out and trained her initial crew in the Western Atlantic and Caribbean. On 7 January 1944 she passed through the Panama Canal war-bound for Funafuti, Ellice Islands. She reported there 22 January for duty with the Fifth Fleet, and three days later rendezvoused with Task Group 58.2 for the assault on the Marshall Islands.
The rest, including nine battle stars for World War II; four for the Korean conflict; and two for Vietnam, was history.