The World's Greatest Battleship!

The World's Greatest Battleship!. . , The connection between the USS New Jersey (BB-62) and the State of New Jersey goes far beyond just sharing a name. The longest battleship in the world, and the most decorated in our nation's history, was launched a few miles from this spot at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The builders included men and women from New Jersey, particularly those from Camden County. One such "Rosie the Riveter" was Lillian Carson, a native of nearby West Collingswood, NJ. Lillian went to work at the Navy Yard assuming she would be an office worker. Instead she was sent to a vocational school to be trained as a welder. She worked on helping to build many systems on the battleship including "pipes for the heating systems on the ship, and later helped weld the deck and the areas underneath the big gun turrets.", Lillian Carson's efforts, and her fellow New Jerseyans, paid off when New Jersey slid down the ways into the Delaware River on December 7, 1942, a year to the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Christening the ship New Jersey was Mrs. Carolyn Edison, wife of New Jersey Governor Charles Edison, son of famous New Jersey native Thomas Edison. First commissioned on May 23, 1943, the crew of New Jersey would go on to write a long and illustrious history over the course of four decades. During four separate commission periods, New Jersey accumulated nineteen battle stars in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Beirut, and the Persian Gulf War. She was last decommissioned in 1991.