It takes only a few such salvos before the spotting officer reports a ''straddle'' - two shells have fallen to either side of the target. They soar as high as the peaks of the Rocky Mountains and then plunge into the sea, producing two glistening fountains which seem to hang in the air for several seconds. Two bullet-shaped chunks of steel, each weighing as much as a Ford sedan, are burning holes through the atmosphere. The starboard guns of the fore and aft turrets have fired. From below comes the tinkle of breaking glass -any object not secured is likely to take flight. A blast of hot air smacks our faces, and the steel casing of the ship's funnel ripples as if it were a sail. Then a thunderclap - more a boom than a bang. Out leap enormous orange balls of flame and mustard-colored smoke. Suddenly, a Klaxon sounds the warning - ''Aoo-ga! Aoo-ga!'' The guns are about to fire. ''Mickey Mouse ears'' are the order of the day, although old sea dogs are prone to stuff wads of cotton into their ears. Fogarty runs the risk of ruptured eardrums. Even on the bridge, 35 yards from the closest gun, Capt.

The decks have been cleared because the blast of a 16-inch gun is enough to blow a man's head off if he is too near the muzzle. She is making 15 knots, signal flags cracking in the breeze. The time is later this year and the 39-year-old battlewagon is out here to test-fire her heavy-caliber guns. The 57,500-ton battleship New Jersey - which blasted 20 Japanese warplanes out of the sky and scarred the beaches of Okinawa and Iwo Jima a generation ago - is rumbling along the Navy's firing range a few miles off the California coast.

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