In 1909, New York was recommissioned and rejoined the Asiatic Fleet. Two years later, still in the Far East, her name was changed to Saratoga. At the beginning of World War I, her name was again changed, this time to Rochester. She spent the war primarily escorting convoys across the Atlantic, and after the armistice served as a transport bringing troops home. In the years between the wars, the former New York was stationed in Central and South America, before once again, and for the last time, steaming to the Far East. In 1933 she was decommissioned in Shanghai and then moved to the Philippines, where she remained at her mooring until she was scuttled in December 1941, to prevent her being captured by the Japanese. Like her predecessor at Norfolk, the armored cruiser New York was destroyed to keep her out of enemy hands. Unlike the wooden ship-of-the-line, she saw much honorable service before she was lost.

The 19th century armored cruiser New York was sailing under the name Saratoga when the fifth New York (whose keel was laid on 9/11/1911) was launched at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn, N.Y. Designated BB 34, the latest USS New York was 200 feet longer than ACR 2 and displaced four times the tonnage. New York slid into the East River on Oct. 30, 1912, and soon after was flagship of Rear Adm. Frank F. Fletcher’s squadron, blockading Vera Cruz during the crisis with Mexico in 1914.

In 1917, New York steamed for Europe to take part in the naval action of World War I. At Scapa Flow she joined the American Squadron in the Grand Fleet, a naval presence so powerful that the Germans did not even attempt a major naval engagement. New Yorkended the war as part of the fleet that escorted President Woodrow Wilson to the Versailles Conference.

From the end of World War I to the beginning of World War II, New York was primarily part of the Pacific Fleet, serving also as a training vessel for midshipmen at the Naval Academy. With America’s entry into World War II, the battleship became part of the North Atlantic convoys, fending off German U-boats and bringing merchant vessels safely into port.

In 1942, New York was stationed off the coast of Africa, providing gunfire support for the Allied invading forces. She then escorted convoys from the United States to Africa in support of the invasion. She continued in that mission until 1944, and after another brief turn as a training ship, she steamed for the West Coast to prepare for amphibious operations in the Pacific Theater.

New York was getting on in years by the time she was called upon to help drive the Japanese out of the Pacific Islands, but she was nonetheless at the vanguard of that offensive, joining the pre-invasion bombardment of Iwo Jima. The aging battleship took her place in the most prolonged bombardment of the war, firing more rounds than any other vessel, and scoring a direct hit on an enemy ammunition dump with her 14-inch shells.

After repairs to her propellers she joined in the attack on Okinawa, arriving in time to participate in the five days of shelling that preceded the landing on the island. For 76 consecutive days, New York was in the thick of the action, covering landings, shelling enemy positions and providing close support for troops on shore. A kamikaze swept down on her, but she proved to be a lucky ship. The enemy plane only grazed her, taking out her spotter plane as it sat on the catapult. Shortly before the hard-won capitulation of Okinawa was secured, New York was under way for Pearl Harbor. There she began preparations for the coming invasion of Japan, a final battle that was made unnecessary by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

New York’s fighting career was ended by the atomic bomb, and the ship herself nearly was as well. After serving as a transport, she was selected to take the part of a target ship for the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll, a project known as Operation Crossroads. On July 1, 1946, New York endured and survived a surface blast of an atomic bomb, and later that month lived through an underwater explosion as well. She was later towed to Pearl Harbor, where she was studied for the next two years. Finally, in the summer of 1948, the 35- year-old ship, veteran of both world wars, winner of three battle stars during World War II, was towed out to sea 40 miles from shore to again serve as a target. For eight hours she was pounded by sea and air attacks before finally slipping beneath the waves.

Then in 1979, the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS New York City was commissioned. Although not carrying exactly the same name as the U.S. ships named New York that preceded her, New York City faithfully preserved the tradition of service to the nation during a major portion of the Cold War.

From the American Revolution through World War II, wherever American naval power was most needed, a ship with the name New York was under way, sailing or steaming to the sound of the guns. It is a proud tradition. It is a tradition that will carry on.

This article was first published in First Responder: USS New York.