Free Republic

In February 1944, the U.S. Navy launched one of the most devastating strikes of the Pacific War — Operation Hailstone. Over the skies and seas of Truk Lagoon, the Japanese stronghold once called the “Gibraltar of the Pacific” was shattered in a two-day assault that rewrote naval warfare. This video tells the forgotten story of how the USS Iowa, USS New Jersey, and America’s radar-guided firepower changed history. Discover how advanced analog computers, precision gunnery, and overwhelming air superiority combined to destroy Japan’s once-invincible fleet. From massive 16-inch naval guns thundering across the ocean to the smoldering wrecks beneath Truk’s...

Thursday, March 21, 2024, shortly after noon, the Battleship New Jersey began traveling down the Delaware River. The ship arrived at Paulsboro Marine Terminal in Paulsboro, New Jersey, just before 4 p.m. for hull preparation. A week later, the historic ship will head to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for historic dry dock maintenance. "This battleship is just a tremendous piece of history," Battleship New Jersey CEO Marshall Spevak said. “This is a once in a generation opportunity really to see the ship move.” When did Battleship NJ depart? The ship left from Camden on March 21 around high tide --...

CAMDEN, N.J. -- Residents in the Philadelphia area are about to see a rare site — a battleship floating down the Delaware River. The USS New Jersey is scheduled to move from its dock in Camden on Thursday, when it will head to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for extensive maintenance work. The vessel, guided by tugboats, will initially head to the Paulsboro Marine Terminal, where it will be balanced to prepare for dry docking, and will then go to the Navy Yard six days later. The maintenance work is expected to take about two months to complete, officials said. Three...

CAMDEN, N.J., Dec. 23 - If anybody was surprised that Camden was recently ranked America's most dangerous city, it wasn't the people who live here. In the past 12 months, there have been 53 homicides, including a 12-year-old shot to death on his porch for his radio, more than 800 aggravated assaults, including a toddler shot in the back of the head, at least 750 robberies and 150 acts of arson, more than 10,000 arrests and one glaring nonarrest - a serial rapist on the loose downtown. All in a city of 79,000, nine square miles small. For decades, Camden...