USS Massachusetts (BB-59)

USS "Massachusetts" (BB-59), known as "Big Mamie" to her crewmembers during World War II, was a battleship of the second "South Dakota"-class. She was the seventh ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the sixth state. Her keel was laid down 20 July 1939 at the Fore River Shipyard of Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 23 September 1941 sponsored by Mrs. Charles Francis Adams, and commissioned on 12 May 1942 at Boston, Massachusetts, with Captain Francis E.M. Whiting in command.

She is currently located at Fall River, Massachusetts and is the focal point of Battleship Cove.

World War II service

Atlantic operations

After shakedown, "Massachusetts" departed Casco Bay in Portland, Maine 24 October 1942 and four days later made rendezvous with the Western Naval Task Force for the invasion of North Africa, serving as the Flagship for Admiral H. Kent Hewitt. While steaming off Casablanca on 8 November supporting Operation Torch, she came under fire from the newest French battleship "Jean Bart"'s convert|15|in|mm|0|sing=on guns. She returned fire at 0740, firing the first 16 inch shells fired by the U.S. in the European theater of war. Within a few minutes, the main battery of the "Jean Bart" was silenced. With the help of the heavy cruiser USS|Tuscaloosa|CA-37|2, the "Massachusetts" next targeted French destroyers which had joined the attack, sinking the "Fougueux" and "Boulonnais" as well as the light cruiser "Primauguet". The battleship herself was hit twice by 240 mm shells from a shore battery, but sustained only superficial damage. She also shelled shore batteries, and then shelled an ammunition dump. After a cease-fire had been arranged with the French, she headed for the United States on 12 November, and prepared for deployment to the Pacific.

Pacific Theater of Operations

"Massachusetts" arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia, on 4 March 1943. For the next months she operated in the South Pacific, protecting convoy lanes and supporting operations in the Solomon Islands. Between 19 November and 21 November, she sailed with an aircraft carrier group striking Makin, Tarawa, and Abemama in the Gilbert Islands; on 8 December she shelled Japanese positions on Nauru; and on 29 January 1944 she guarded carriers striking Tarawa in the Gilberts.

The Navy now drove steadily across the Pacific. On 30 January, "Massachusetts" bombarded Kwajalein, and she covered the landings there 1 February. With a carrier group she struck against the Japanese stronghold at Truk on 17 February. That raid not only inflicted heavy damage on Japanese aircraft and naval forces, but also proved to be a stunning blow to enemy morale. On 21 February and 22 February, "Massachusetts" helped fight off a heavy air attack on her task group while it made raids on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. She took part in the attack on the Caroline Islands in late March and participated in the invasion at Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) on 22 April which landed 60,000 troops on the island. Retiring from Hollandia, her task force staged another attack on Truk.

"Massachusetts" shelled Ponape Island on 1 May, her last mission before sailing to Puget Sound to overhaul and reline her gun barrels, now well-worn. On 1 August she left Pearl Harbor to resume operations in the Pacific war zone. She departed the Marshall Islands on 6 October, sailing to support the landings in Leyte Gulf. In an effort to block Japanese air attacks in the Leyte conflict, she participated in a fleet strike against Okinawa on 10 October. Between 12 October and 14 October, she protected forces hitting Formosa. While part of TG 38.3 she took part in the Battle for Leyte Gulf from 22 October to 27 October, during which planes from her group sank four Japanese carriers off Cape Engano.

Stopping briefly at Ulithi, "Massachusetts" returned to the Philippines as part of a task force which struck Manila on 14 December. While supporting the invasion of Mindoro, "Massachusetts" sailed into a howling Typhoon Cobra on 17 December, with winds estimated at convert|120|kn|mph km/h|-1. Three destroyers sank at the height of the typhoon's fury. Between 30 December and 23 January 1945, she sailed as part of TF 38, which struck Formosa and supported the landing at Lingayen. During that time she turned into the South China Sea, her task force destroying shipping from Saigon to Hong Kong, concluding operations with air strikes on Formosa and Okinawa.

From 10 February to 3 March, with the Fifth Fleet, "Massachusetts" guarded carriers during raids on Honshū. Her group also struck Iwo Jima by air for the invasion of that island. On 17 March, the carriers launched strikes against Kyūshū while "Massachusetts" fired in repelling enemy attacks, splashing several planes. Seven days later she bombarded Okinawa. She spent most of April fighting off air attacks, while engaged In the operations at Okinawa, returning to the area in June, when she passed through the eye of a typhoon with convert|100|kn|mph km/h|-2|sing=on winds 5 June. She bombarded Minami Daito Jima in the Ryukyu Islands on 10 June.

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Honors

"Massachusetts" received eleven battle stars for World War II service.

During World War II, no United States Navy sailors or Marines were killed in action while aboard the "Massachusetts".

Post war activities

Victory won, the fighting battleship sailed for Puget Sound and overhaul 1 September. She left there 28 January 1946 for operations off the
California coast, until leaving San Francisco, California, for Hampton Roads, arriving 22 April. She was decommissioned 27 March 1947 to enter the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Norfolk, Virginia, and was stricken from the Navy Vessel Register on 1 June 1962.

"Big Mamie", as she was affectionately known, was saved from the scrap pile when veterans and citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with the assistance of Massachusetts schoolchildren who raised $50,000 for her preservation, was transferred to the "Massachusetts" Memorial Committee 8 June 1965. She was enshrined at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts, on 14 August 1965, as the Bay State's memorial to those who gave their lives in World War II.

In the 1980s, when the Reagan administration, as part of its "600-ship Navy" plan, recommissioned all four of the sclass|Iowa|battleship|1s, the U.S. Navy recovered large amounts of specialized equipment and spare parts that were still in storage aboard the "Massachusetts." In 1998, she was towed to historic dry dock number 3 in Boston harbor for an overhaul, and then returned to Fall River the next year.

The USS "Massachusetts" is one of only eight remaining U.S. battleships (along with the USS|Iowa|BB-61|2, USS|Texas|BB-35|2, USS|Alabama|BB-60|2, USS|North Carolina|BB-55|2, USS|New Jersey|BB-62|2, USS|Missouri|BB-63|2, and USS|Wisconsin|BB-64|2.), of the many that were built during the first half of the 20th century.

External links

* [http://www.battleshipcove.org Battleship Cove museum site]
* [http://www.hnsa.org/ships/bbma.htm Historic Naval Ships Association]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.706365,-71.163372&spn=0.006577,0.009291&t=k&hl=en Photography from Google Maps]
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/uss_massachusetts_bb59.htm Maritimequest USS "Massachusetts" BB-59 Photo Gallery]
* [http://www.williammaloney.com/Aviation/BattleshipUSSMassachusetts/index.htm USS "Massachusetts"] Photos on board the battleship USS "Massachusetts" (BB-59) in Fall River, MA
* [http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/battleships/bb-list1.html List of U.S. battleships and their fates]
* [http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/maritime/ Maritime History of Massachusetts, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary]