Departing Long Beach 2 September, "New Jersey" touched at Pearl Harbor and Subic Bay before sailing 25 September for her first tour on the "" along the Vietnamese coast. Near the 17th parallel on 30 September, the battleship fired her first shots in battle in over sixteen years, expending a total of 29 sixteen inch rounds against People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) targets in and near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) at the 17th parallel. "New Jersey" took up station off Tiger Island 1 October and fired at targets north of the DMZ before moving south that afternoon to engage Viet Cong targets. She accounted for six bunkers, a supply truck and an anti-aircraft site that day; additionally, she helped rescue the crew of a Marine spotting plane forced down at sea by anti-aircraft fire. On 3 October "New Jersey" fired on targets south of Tiger Island, and on 4 October the battleship fired on a Communist troop concentration and destroyed several bunkers. On the evening of 7 October "New Jersey" received reports that a number of waterborne logistics craft were moving south near the mouth of the Song Giang River. "New Jersey" responded by closing on the formation, and succeeded in sinking eleven of the craft before they could beach.