That Time New Jersey Sank an Island in Vietnam
In 1967, during the height of the Vietnam War, the Iowa-class Battleship was reactivated and was upgraded for operations in South East Asia. Now, it may be odd to hear that a battleship was used in Vietnam, but the logic was that while fast jets could stay on a target for about 20 minutes at most, New Jersey could stay on station for days or even weeks if needed. Not to mention, her 9 x 16-inch guns were more than capable of destroying whatever they were aimed at.
New Jersey Arrives in Vietnam
Arriving in Vietnam on 30 September of 1968, New Jersey immediately went to work. Shelling Vietnamese positions up and down the coast, in support of American and other allied forces on the ground.
The “Sinking” of Hon Matt Island
But of course, how did she “sink an island”? Well, on 14 October, New Jersey was tasked with neutralizing enemy positions on Hon Matt Island. A small but heavily fortified island that had coastal artillery sites. Interestingly, the Vietnamese on the island were allowed to abandon the island before the battleship opened fire. Now obviously, you can’t “sink” an island and it is more than likely that the media embellished it a bit. But considering what one 16-inch can do and the New Jersey can fire 9 of them at the same time at an incredible rate, I really doubt there was much of an island left after she was done.
Impact of the New Jersey
Anyway, New Jersey would only be in Vietnam until April 1st, 1969. During that time, she fired 5,688 rounds of 16-inch shells, and 14,891 rounds of 5-inch shells. So, though she was there for a short time, New Jersey left her mark… Literally.
~NC
