USS MULLINNIX DD-944

Vietnam 1969 - Page 6
16 Jan - 3 Sept

USS New Jersey BB-62 Memories
(Call sign: 'Big Brother')



"Big J"

• "She fired over our head on Lynde McCormick DDG-8, you couldn’t help but duck"

• USS Vesuvius AE 15 resupplied her with 16” shells and black powder bags

• "Listened to it on arm forces radio, first shots fired by a BB since Korea"

• "And a beautiful sight she was. And the sights and sounds she made when firing those big guns, especially at night, a single ship thunderstorm"

• "When they fired the sound and shockwave came right to us and rocked the ship!"

• At a HS 50-year reunion, an Army Range remembered, “He was on coastal patrol, and they heard a weird sound and looked up and saw a big object but didn’t know what it was. A few seconds later there was a big explosion that shock the ground! It was the New Jersey!!!"

• From USS Power DD-839: “Amazing fire power. Saw the flash, heard the shells fly over and saw the blast on land. Awesome!"

• Before New Jersey left Norfolk, the Navy was looking for volunteers to transfer to her to fill out the crew. A couple of men from Mullinnix were selected including BM2 Shestock. Almost half the Mullinnix Crew volunteered (Mullinnix was in drydock from early 1968 until September 1968 for a complete overall. The Commodore’s Cabin which was built were the dual 3” gun mount was forward – just below the bridge)

• Some saw here blow an island off the map off the coast of Nam. From USS Passumpsic AO-107, “practice shooting” and sunk a small island. "As the shells hit, we could see the island disappear. Powerful. I stood watches in CIC and can recall hearing during a fire mission by the NJ whoever was on the ground said after a round hit, “They just blew half the mountain off!””




USS Newport News CA-148 and USS New Jersey BB-62
1969 Vietnam

September 1969, New Jersey touched at Pearl Harbor and Subic Bay before sailing 25 September for her first tour of gunfire support duty along the Vietnamese coast. Near the 17th Parallel on 30 September, the dreadnought fired her first shots in battle in over sixteen years. Firing against Communist targets in and near the so-called Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), her big guns destroyed two gun positions and two supply areas. She fired against targets north of the DMZ the following day, rescuing the crew of a spotting plane forced down at sea by antiaircraft fire. The next six months settled into a steady pace of bombardment and fire support missions along the Vietnamese coast, broken only by brief visits to Subic Bay and replenishment operations at sea. In her first two months on the gun line, New Jersey directed nearly ten thousand rounds of ammunition at Communist targets; over: 3,000 of these shells were 16 inch projectiles.

Her first Vietnam combat tour completed, New Jersey departed Subic Bay 3 April 1969 for Japan. She arrived at Yokosuka for a two-day visit, sailing for the United States 9 April. Her homecoming, however, was to be delayed. On the 15th, while New Jersey was still at sea, North Korean jet fighters shot down an unarmed EC-121 "Constellation" electronic surveillance plane over the Sea of Japan, killing its entire crew. A carrier task force was formed and sent to the Sea of Japan, while New Jersey was ordered to come about and steam toward Japan. On the 22nd she arrived once more at Yokosuka, and immediately put to sea in readiness for what might befall. As the crisis lessened, New Jersey was released to continue her interrupted voyage. She anchored at Long Beach 5 May 1969, her first visit to her home port in eight months.

Through the summer months, New Jersey's crew toiled to make her ready for another deployment. Deficiencies discovered on the gun line were remedied, as all hands looked forward to another opportunity to prove the mighty warship's worth in combat. Reasons of economy were to dictate otherwise. On 22 August 1969 the Secretary of Defense released a list of names of ships to be inactivated; at the top of the list was New Jersey. Five days later, Captain Snyder was relieved of command by Captain Robert C. Peniston.

Assuming command of a ship already earmarked for the "mothball fleet," Captain Peniston and his crew prepared for their melancholy task. New Jersey got underway on her last voyage 6 September, departing Long Beach for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. She arrived on the 8th, and began pre inactivation overhaul to ready herself for decommissioning. On 17 December 1969 New Jersey's colors were hauled down and she entered the inactive fleet, still echoing the words of her last commanding officer: "Rest well, yet sleep lightly; and hear the call, if again sounded, to provide fire power for freedom." New Jersey earned the Navy Unit Commendation for Vietnam service. She has received nine battle stars for World War II; four for the Korean conflict; and two for Vietnam.







1969 Mullinnix Deck Logs

January 1969 (PDF)
February 1969 (PDF)
March 1969 (PDF)
April 1969 (PDF)
May 1969 (PDF)
June 1969 (PDF)
July 1969 (PDF)
August 1969 (PDF)
September 1969 (PDF)
October 1969 (PDF)
November 1969 (PDF)
December 1969 (PDF)



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