USS New Jersey (BB-62) 1983-84 Cruise Sweatshirt

USS New Jersey (BB-62) was recommissioned in December 1982 as part of President Reagan's 600-ship Navy initiative, the first of four Iowa-class battleships to return to service. Her 1983-84 cruise took her to the Western Pacific and the Eastern Mediterranean, where she became directly involved in the Lebanese Civil War. Operating in support of the Multi-National Peacekeeping Force in Lebanon, New Jersey fired her 16-inch guns against Syrian and Druze militia positions in December 1983 and February 1984 — the most powerful naval gunfire delivered in the region since World War II. This sweatshirt commemorates New Jersey's historic 1983-84 deployment, marking the return of battleship diplomacy to American foreign policy.