&sq=&lang=&file=File:USS_New_Jersey_(BB-16)_in_camouflage_coat,_1918_edit.jpg) USS New Jersey (BB-16) in a camouflage paint scheme, 1918
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | New Jersey |
| Namesake | New Jersey |
| Builder | Fore River Shipyard |
| Laid down | 3 April 1902 |
| Launched | 10 November 1904 |
| Commissioned | 12 May 1906 |
| Decommissioned | 6 August 1920 |
| Stricken | 12 July 1922 |
| Fate | Sunk as target 5 September 1923 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Virginia-class battleship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 441 ft 3 in (134 m) |
| Beam | 76 ft 3 in (23 m) |
| Draft | 23 ft 9 in (7 m) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 19 kn (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Complement | 812 |
| Armament |
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| Armor |
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USS New Jersey (BB-16) was the fourth of five Virginia-class battleships of the United States Navy, and the first ship to carry her name. She was laid down at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company in Quincy, Massachusetts, in May 1902, launched in November 1904, and commissioned into the fleet in May 1906. The ship was armed with an offensive battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns and eight 8-inch (203 mm) guns, and she was capable of a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).
New Jersey spent her entire career in the Atlantic Fleet. In late 1906, she took part in the Second Occupation of Cuba, and 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. 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, and 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. Martin NBS-1 bombers sank the ship on 5 September 1923 in a series of bomb attacks.