USS New Jersey (BB-62)

US Navy Ship Wood Blanks are 3/4" x 3/4" 5â" x 3/4" Long blanks are $20 each 2.5â" x 3/4" Short blanks are $11 each 5â" x 1-1/2â" Call blanks are $80 each 2.5â" x 1-1/2â" Stopper blanks are $40 each Extra COAs are $2 each Wooden Wave Blanks are pre-tubed blanks with a label cast of the ship's seal and wood from the ship. These blanks are designed to work with Sierra Clone or Bolt Action pen kits. Sierra Clone tubes are 2-1/4" x 27/64" and Bolt Action Tubes are 1-31/32”. All blanks will come with one COA per blank. COAs are 4" x 6" card stock with foil embossed COA seal. All blanks are cut as they are ordered. -- USS New Jersey (BB-62) ("Big J" or "Black Dragon") is an Iowa-class battleship, and was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the US state of New Jersey. New Jersey earned more battle stars for combat actions than the other four completed Iowa-class battleships, and was the only US battleship providing gunfire support during the Vietnam War. During World War II, New Jersey shelled targets on Guam and Okinawa, and screened aircraft carriers conducting raids in the Marshall Islands. During the Korean War, she was involved in raids up and down the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "mothball fleet". She was briefly reactivated in 1968 and sent to Vietnam to support US troops before returning to the mothball fleet in 1969. Reactivated once more in the 1980s as part of the 600-ship Navy program, New Jersey was modernized to carry missiles and recommissioned for service. In 1983, she participated in US operations during the Lebanese Civil War. New Jersey was decommissioned for the last time in 1991 (after serving a total of 21 years in the active fleet), having earned a Navy Unit Commendation for service in Vietnam and 19 battle and campaign stars for combat operations during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Lebanese Civil War, and service in the Persian Gulf. After a brief retention in the mothball fleet, she was donated to the Home Port Alliance in Camden, New Jersey, and began her career as a museum ship 15 October 2001. Namesake: State of New Jersey Ordered: 1 July 1939 Builder: Philadelphia Naval Shipyard Laid down: 16 September 1940 Launched: 7 December 1942 Sponsored by: Carolyn Edison Commissioned: 23 May 1943 Decommissioned: 30 June 1948 Recommissioned: 21 November 1950 Decommissioned: 21 August 1957 Recommissioned: 6 April 1968 Decommissioned: 17 December 1969 Recommissioned: 28 December 1982 Decommissioned: 8 February 1991 Struck: 4 January 1999 Motto: "Firepower for Freedom" Nickname(s): "Big J" "Black Dragon" Honors and awards: 19 battle stars Status: Museum ship in Camden, New Jersey Notes: Most decorated battleship in the US Navy's history