New Jersey
USS New Jersey Fired over 5,000 Massive 16-Inch Shells During Vietnam War
When it comes to the Vietnam War, you often think of Huey helicopters and bloody jungle fighting. But there was a naval aspect to the conflict as well. The Iowa-class battleship USS New Jersey was recalled to serve off the coast of South Vietnam in 1968 at the end of the Tet Offensive – the surprise attacks carried out by the Communist-led insurgency. The battleship’s mission was simple: Stay close to shore and bomb the enemy into the Stone Age.
The USS New Jersey continued to blast targets until April 1969. It did not disappoint. In all, the New Jersey fired an unbelievable 12 million pounds of munitions against the enemy in less than a year. That means it lobbed 5,866 sixteen-inch shells and 14,891 five-inch shells.
Star-Studded War History
You wouldn’t believe how many targets the New Jersey destroyed or damaged in Vietnam. The numbers are simply too high, and the nature of the targets too diverse, to fully list in this article. You can see all the statistics on BattleshipNewJersey.org.
The ship’s main battery and secondary battery caused inordinate damages. Enemy body count was not particularly high, but the New Jersey specialized in taking out Communist infrastructure such as buildings, bunkers, artillery sites, mortars, anti-aircraft systems, roads, trenches, tunnels, and caves. The greatest damage was done to enemy bunkers, as the main battery destroyed 596 of these emplacements. The secondary battery knocked out 92 structures. You can see video of the New Jersey firing its guns here.
The New Jersey, known as the “Big J,” is now a museum ship that you can tour in Camden, New Jersey. The vessel is 887 feet long and displaces 45,000 tons. When in service, it had a top speed of 33 knots. It has nine 16-inch guns. The Big J was upgraded with missile tubes and a helicopter pad during the Cold War build-up of the 1980s, and it shelled Syrian targets in Lebanon from 1983 to 1984, during the crisis in that country. The New Jersey is the most decorated ship in the history of the U.S. Navy. It was initially designed in 1938 and commissioned in 1943, and it served until 1991.
Why Didn’t the USS New Jersey Have a Larger Role?
An oral history from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs featured Gary Loers, who served on the New Jersey during the Vietnam War. Loers cannot forget the awesome power of its guns. “It was an honor to get to walk on her decks and see the 16-inch guns. A person is quite proud to be an American when you see a ship like her,” he said.
Why didn’t the USS New Jersey have a longer mission during the Vietnam War? It only operated there from the autumn of 1968 until the spring of 1969. I can only speculate that it was expensive to operate and keep the crew supplied with ammunition, food, and other needs. We are talking about a huge crew, after all, and the New Jersey was the only Iowa-class battleship called up during Vietnam.
There were also strategic aspects to consider. The Navy depended on carrier power during the long war. It was probably more of a priority to use carrier-launched aircraft to bomb North Vietnam and take out targets closer to Hanoi, and then conduct bombardments that regular Army or Marine Corps artillery could carry out.
Nevertheless, the USS New Jersey was quite active during Vietnam for a short period. It destroyed and damaged hundreds of targets with millions of pounds of ordnance – not bad for a ship that was commissioned in 1943. The battleship’s mission of shore bombardment certainly saved the lives of many American grunts fighting a tough enemy in difficult jungle terrain.
About the Author
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer.
Main Image is from Shutterstock. The intext image is Creative Commons.
3-minute read
A Bergen County man and his New York business associate are facing a civil enforcement action filed by the New Jersey Bureau of Securities with the Division of Consumer Affairs for defrauding at least one New Jersey investor in an investment scheme tied to a job recruiting software service that they were allegedly trying to grow, according to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.
Michael Lakshin. of Fair Lawn, and Edward Aizman. of Brooklyn, as well as their company Bowmo, Inc. used “fraud and deception,” allegedly convincing one of Lakshin’s childhood friends to liquidate her retirement fund and invest in their start-up business venture, according to a civil complaint filed in Bergen County on Friday. They then allegedly diverted most of the funds for their own personal use including cash advances, hotel stays and purchases at car dealerships and designer stores among other expenditures.
“The defendants in this case shamelessly bankrolled their lavish lifestyles with someone else’s hard-earned retirement savings,” said Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. “The lawsuit announced today sends a clear message that this kind of blatant exploitation of investors will not go unpunished in New Jersey.”
The complaint alleges, according to the Office of the Attorney General, that from April through August 2020, Lakshin, Aizman and Bowmo (through Lakshin and Aizman), offered and sold at least $84,681.19 of Bowmo’s securities in the form of a convertible note to at least one NJ investor.
They told the investor that the Bowmo note was an investment opportunity which would provide her a “significantly higher return” than her retirement savings. They allegedly told her that Bowmo was successful, bringing in a lot of money through its success and that she could profit by investing her funds into the company.
Lakshin also allegedly leveraged their childhood connection to convince her to invest. After learning about the investor’s retirement account, Lakshin allegedly pressured her to liquidate the account for the purpose of buying the Bowmo note.
Lakshin assured the investor that she would “realistically” be able to earn “A MUCH GREATER return,” through a series of text messages, falsely informed the investor that she should not have any taxes or penalties withheld when withdrawing funds from her account, and assured her that Bowmo would reimburse her for any taxes or penalties that would have to be paid as a result of the liquidation.
On June 25, 2020, the investor liquidated her retirement account. This liquidation included two charges and exposed her to paying taxes on the funds as she was not “rolling them over to another qualified retirement plan,” according to the Office of the Attorney General .
On July 2, 2020, the investor met with Lakshin and Aizman and signed a Bowmo subscription agreement. She wired $84,681.19 from her bank account to a Bowmo bank account controlled by Lakshin and Aizman later that month.
A Bowmo investor package provided to the investor prior to investing said that funds would be used to further develop Bowmo’s software, expand its marketing business, and make strategic hires among other business-related ventures.
Instead, the defendants allegedly transferred the funds to bank accounts held by a seperate and unrelated entity and misused the funds by diverting them for personal and non-business-related purposes.
The lawsuit seeks a court order to permanently ban Bowmo, its president and chairman Lakshin, and its founder and CEO Aizman, from issuing, offering, or selling securities in New Jersey, according to the Office of the Attorney General. It also asks the court to assess civil monetary penalties, restitution plus interest and expenses for the victim, and disgorgement of all funds and profits gained from the scheme.
According to Bureau Chief Elizabeth M. Harris, this case “serves as a sobering example of why it’s vitally important to investigate investment products, even those offered by someone you know and trust.”
She continued, “It’s also an opportunity to remind our residents that while fraudulent investment schemes come in a variety of forms, the pressure to act fast to avoid missing out on a hot investment is a universal red flag of fraud that should not be ignored. In addition to doing their due diligence before investing, we urge New Jerseyans to follow their instincts when a transaction doesn’t pass the smell test.”
Investors can obtain information about any financial professional doing business to or from New Jersey by visiting the Bureau’s website at www.NJSecurities.gov, or calling the Bureau within New Jersey at 1-866-446-8378 or from outside New Jersey at 973-504-3600.
Up to another quarter-inch of rain is likely to fall by Friday evening across most of the state. Northwestern parts of the state will get another dusting of snow, while some higher elevation spots are expected to get a a few more inches.National Weather Service
New Jersey
New Jersey winemaker says drought helps the grapes, but he’s grateful for the rain this week
The much-anticipated rain finally made its way into the Philadelphia region this week.
For many gardens, nurseries and farms, the rain was needed.
But in Hammonton, New Jersey, Sharrott Winery says the drought wasn’t all that bad.
Sprawling on 34 acres, 22 of those under vine, the owner of the South Jersey winery says the drought conditions actually helped their vines.
Owner and winemaker Larry Sharrott said in the spring, the rain helped their vines grow.
Come August, the rain tapered off and the dry weather from there on out was used to their advantage.
“For grapes, if it’s dry starting in August and then running through the entire harvest season, that’s really good,” Sharrott said. “It helps concentrate the juice basically, so especially with red wine it makes a much more robust red wine. They take on much nicer fruit flavors.”
Sharrott said the team was also happy when it finally rained after the long stretch.
He said it was perfect timing because the vines could use a boost of hydration.
“But the fact that we have some rain now is really good for the vines because at this point they really need a good drink so they can begin shutting down for winter. We want them to be nice and hearty by the time we get the cold January and February temperatures,” he said
And if you are looking on the bright side, too, Sharrott say they are looking forward to future wines.
“We are going to have some great wines in a couple years when these come out of barrel,” he said.
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