The third Navy vessel to carry the name of the Garden State will be commissioned for active duty Saturday along the waterfront piers of Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County.
The USS New Jersey is the Navy’s newest fast attack, nuclear-powered submarine.
A breakfast will precede the commissioning ceremony, and a luncheon and reception will follow. All these events require a ticket to attend; however, no further requests for tickets are being honored.
About the USS New Jersey
The USS New Jersey is the U.S. Navy’s newest fast attack submarine.
- Named: March 25, 2015
- Christened: Nov. 13, 2021
- Commissioning date: Sept. 14
- Length: 377 feet
- Displacement: 7,800 tons
- Speed: 25 knots
- Power: SG9 nuclear reactor, which provides both propulsion power and electricity
- Weapons: BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles; Mk48 torpedoes
Commissioning is considered by the Navy the most sacred of the four events associated with the launching of a new vessel, according to Peter Engelman, a member of the USS New Jersey Commissioning Committee and a veteran of five years in the Navy.
The first event is the naming of the vessel, second is the laying of the ship’s keel, the third is the christening (where a bottle is broken over the bow as a sign of good luck) and the fourth event is the commissioning.
The ship’s name was announced May 25, 2015, and the christening took place on Nov. 13, 2021.
“The commissioning is considered the biggest and the most sacred of the events,” explained Engelman, “because it is equivalent to the birth of the ship. This makes it an active member of the fleet.”
Members of the USS New Jersey crew are participating in events this week to help kick off the commissioning celebration. Some members of the crew will visit the Statue of Liberty, while others attend a Rutgers University football game. Many will attend 9/11 memorial events around the state.
“It’s about bringing these sailors to New Jersey and giving them a dose of Jersey hospitality,” said Marshall Spevak, another member of the Commissioning Committee and the CEO of the Battleship New Jersey Memorial and Museum.
The USS New Jersey submarine crew will consist of 15 officers, 15 chief petty officers and 110 crew, led by Cmdr. Steven Halle, an Illinois native.
Notably, the USS New Jersey is the first Navy vessel to have separate quarters for men and women. The crew currently includes 40 females.
The submarine underwent sea trials in the spring where, in Navy vernacular, “she was tested for leaks.” In reality, the sub was put through its operational paces and weapons testing.
The size and speed of the USS New Jersey submarine is impressive, but not the most significant attribute, according to Engelman, who was trained in the Navy’s nuclear power program and served in the submarine fleet aboard the USS Sea Dragon.
“Subs don’t care about being fast,” said Engelman. “The faster they go, the more noise they make. They care about being quiet.”
Free rides
New Jersey Transit will celebrate the commissioning of the USS New Jersey by offering military members free transportation from Sept. 9-14.
NJ Transit will offer systemwide complimentary transportation to active-duty, Reserve, retired and veteran members of the military and National Guard and their dependents.
Military members can ride for free by wearing their military uniform or by showing a military ID to the operator or conductor. No ticket or fare is required. For more information, click here.
Engelman noted there will be one very special guest among the military, political and business dignitaries at the commissioning ceremony — namely, the “sponsor of the boat.” This is traditionally a woman, usually one associated with the navy or a government organization. She is considered the symbolic “mother of the ship.”
In the case of the USS New Jersey submarine, the “sponsor of the boat” is Dr. Susan DiMarco, a Montclair resident and retired dentist who has served on the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts for the Kennedy Center, and sits on the boards of the Montclair Arts Museum, the Mental Health Association of Essex County and the Montclair Development Corporation.
She is also the wife of Jeh Johnson, a former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security during President Barack Obama’s administration.
DiMarco christened the ship almost three years ago at a ceremony in Newport News, Virginia. At the end of Saturday’s commissioning ceremony, it is DiMarco who will give the traditional first order to the crew to “man the boat and bring her to life.”
The first Navy ship christened SS New Jersey was a World War I-era battleship commissioned in 1906. It was decommissioned a few years after the “War to End All Wars” and sunk off Cape Hatteras in 1923 as a target in a bombing practice.
The second was the World War II-era battleship that became the most decorated battleship in the nation’s history. It is now docked at the Camden waterfront as a memorial and museum.
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