 New Jersey joined the Great White Fleet on 16 December 1907 , when they departed Hampton Roads to begin their circumnavigation of the globe . The purpose of the cruise was a show of naval strength , which was especially directed at Japan . Tensions between the two countries were high at the time , and the cruise served to defuse the situation . The fleet cruised south to the Caribbean and then to South America , making stops in Port of Spain , Rio de Janeiro , Punta Arenas , and Valparaíso , among other cities . After arriving in Mexico in March 1908 , the fleet spent three weeks conducting gunnery practice . The fleet then resumed its voyage up the Pacific coast of the Americas , stopping in San Francisco and Seattle before crossing the Pacific to Australia , stopping in Hawaii on the way . Stops in the South Pacific included Melbourne , Sydney , and Auckland . 
