USS Massachusetts (BB-59)
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Massachusetts off the coast of Point Wilson, Washington
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Namesake: | Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
| Ordered: | 15 December 1938 |
| Builder: | Bethlehem Steel Corporation (Fore River Shipyard) |
| Laid down: | 20 July 1939 |
| Launched: | 23 September 1941 |
| Sponsored by: | Francis Adams |
| Commissioned: | 12 May 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 27 March 1947 |
| Struck: | 1 June 1962 |
| Nickname(s): | "Big Mamie" |
| Honors and awards: |
11 Battle Stars |
| Status: | Museum ship at Battleship Cove since 14 August 1965 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | South Dakota-class battleship |
| Displacement: | 35,000 tons |
| Length: | 680.8 ft (207.5 m) |
| Beam: | 108.2 ft (33.0 m) |
| Draft: | 29.3 ft (8.9 m) |
| Speed: | 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) |
| Complement: | 115 officers, 1,678 men |
| Armament: |
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USS Massachusetts (BB-59)
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Massachusetts at Battleship Cove
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| Location | 5 Water Street, Battleship Cove, Fall River, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates | 41°42′22.3″N 71°9′48″W / 41.706194°N 71.16333°WCoordinates: 41°42′22.3″N 71°9′48″W / 41.706194°N 71.16333°W |
| Built | 1941 |
| Architect | US Navy |
| NRHP Reference # | 76002269 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 30 September 1976 |
| Designated NHL | 14 January 1986 |
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, and one of two ships of her class (along with her sister Alabama) to be donated for use as a museum ship. Massachusetts has the distinction of having fired the US Navy's first and last 16-in (406 mm) shells of the war.
During World War II Massachusetts was initially assigned to duty in the Atlantic Fleet during which she successfully crippled the Vichy French battleship Jean Bart in a gun duel during Operation Torch. Transferred to the Pacific fleet in 1943, Massachusetts participated in the Solomon Islands campaign and the Philippines Campaign, and in the latter campaign took part in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. In 1945 she was one of several ships assigned to shell targets on Honshū, the largest of the Japanese Home Islands. Following the end of World War II, Massachusetts was involved in routine operations off the US coast and eventually reassigned to the Atlantic fleet. Decommissioned in 1947, she was laid up in the reserve fleet at Norfolk, Virginia until stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1962.
In an effort to spare the battleship from scrapping, citizens of Massachusetts pooled resources to raise money for her transfer to the Massachusetts Memorial Committee, and in 1965 the Navy formally donated the battleship to the committee. Massachusetts was towed to what would later be renamed Battleship Cove, Fall River, Massachusetts, and formally opened as a museum ship on 14 August 1965.
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