A Starboard Quarter View of USS New Jersey (BB-62) Crossing the Gaillard Cut: A Historic Moment in Naval Power

On April 26, 1984, a remarkable sight unfolded along the winding waters of the Panama Canal’s Gaillard Cut—a passage famed for its engineering marvel and critical role in global maritime navigation. Towering above the tropical landscape and the narrow canal banks was the imposing silhouette of the USS New Jersey (BB-62), an Iowa-class battleship with a storied history. Seen from the starboard quarter as she crept steadily through the waterway, the New Jersey offered an awe-inspiring display of American naval might, poised between the great oceans she was built to dominate.

The Iconic USS New Jersey

Commissioned in 1943, the USS New Jersey was the second Iowa-class battleship to join the U.S. Navy fleet. Armed with nine 16-inch guns and bristling with anti-aircraft weaponry, she was a floating fortress designed for speed, power, and endurance. Over her decades of service—which spanned World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and even the 1980s Lebanon crisis—the “Big J,” as she is affectionately known, became synonymous with American sea power and technological prowess.

Navigating the Panama Canal

The sight of New Jersey traversing the Gaillard Cut was more than just a military routine; it was a test of precision seamanship and logistical coordination. The Gaillard Cut, also known as Culebra Cut, is the narrowest and most iconic stretch of the Panama Canal, carved through the continental divide. Navigating a ship of the battleship’s massive dimensions—887 feet long and over 45,000 tons fully loaded—through such a confined space required expert piloting, tugs, and canal staff working in seamless coordination.

From the starboard quarter view, the lines and majesty of New Jersey were on full display. The long, armored hull rose from the placid canal waters, her decks busy with sailors, lookouts posted high above the turrets, and her state-of-the-art radar and communications gear glinting in the tropical sun. Behind her, the land dropped away, giving a sense of scale to the ship and underscoring the audacious ambition of American naval engineering.

Symbolism and Significance

In 1984, the world was in the throes of the Cold War, and demonstrations of military power mattered as much symbolically as they did operationally. The USS New Jersey, freshly reactivated and modernized under the Reagan Administration’s 600-ship Navy initiative, represented not just a weapon of war but a floating act of deterrence. Her passage through the Panama Canal—enabled by the fact that the Iowa-class ships were expressly designed to fit the canal’s locks—was a vivid reminder of American reach: the ability to project power from the Pacific to the Atlantic or beyond with remarkable speed and flexibility.

A Lasting Image

Photographs and eyewitness accounts from that day capture the tension and excitement of the crossing. Canal workers lined the banks to witness the event, while the crew stood proudly at their stations. The massive battleship edged through the narrow channel, her hull nearly brushing the concrete walls, every movement carefully measured. After clearing the Gaillard Cut, New Jersey continued her journey, a living legend binding together past and present, Atlantic and Pacific, tradition and innovation.

Legacy

Today, the USS New Jersey is preserved as a museum ship in Camden, New Jersey, but her transit through the Panama Canal remains etched in naval history. It is a testament to the shipbuilders who designed her for such feats, the sailors who sailed her, and the enduring legacy of “the most decorated battleship in U.S. Navy history.” That starboard quarter view, in the heart of the isthmus, embodied the might and reach of a nation—and the stories that only a ship like the New Jersey can tell.