 New Jersey began her career as a flagship 4 February in Majuro Lagoon when Admiral Raymond A. Spruance , commanding the 5th Fleet , broke his flag from her main . Her first action as a flagship was in Operation Hailstone , a two @-@ day surface and air strike by her task force against the major Japanese fleet base on Truk in the Carolines . This attack was coordinated with the assault on Kwajalein , and effectively interdicted the Japanese naval retaliation to the conquest of the Marshalls . On 17 and 18 February , the task force accounted for two Japanese light cruisers , four destroyers , three auxiliary cruisers , two submarine tenders , two submarine chasers , an armed trawler , a plane ferry , and 23 other auxiliaries , not including small craft . New Jersey destroyed a trawler and , with other ships , sank the destroyer Maikaze . New Jersey also fired on an enemy aircraft that attacked her formation . The task force returned to the Marshalls 19 February . 
