USS Massachusetts (BB-59) Informations

USS Massachusetts (BB-59) is the third of four South Dakota-class fast battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1930s. The first American battleships designed after the Washington treaty system began to break down in the mid-1930s, they took advantage of an escalator clause that allowed increasing the main battery to 16-inch (406 mm) guns, but refusal to authorize larger battleships kept their displacement close to the Washington limit of 35,000 long tons (36,000 t). A requirement to be armored against the same caliber of guns as they carried, combined with the displacement restriction, resulted in cramped ships, a problem that was exacerbated as wartime modifications that considerably strengthened their anti-aircraft batteries significantly increased their crews.

On completion, Massachusetts was sent to support Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa, in November 1942. There, she engaged in an artillery duel with the incomplete French battleship Jean Bart and neutralized her. Massachusetts thereafter transferred to the Pacific War for operations against Japan; she spent the war primarily as an escort for the fast carrier task force to protect the aircraft carriers from surface and air attacks. In this capacity, she took part in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign in 1943 and early 1944 and the Philippines campaign in late 1944 and early 1945. Later in 1945, the ship supported Allied forces during the Battle of Okinawa and thereafter participated in attacks on Japan, including bombarding industrial targets on Honshu in July and August.

After the war, Massachusetts returned to the United States and was decommissioned and assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in 1947. She remained out of service until 1962, when she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. Three years later, she was transferred to the Massachusetts Memorial Committee and preserved as a museum ship at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts. Some material was removed in the 1980s to reactivate the Iowa-class battleships, but the ship otherwise remains in her wartime configuration.

The South Dakota class was ordered in the context of global naval rearmament during the breakdown of the Washington treaty system that had controlled battleships construction during the 1920s and early 1930s. Under the Washington and London treaties, so-called treaty battleships were limited to a standard displacement of 35,000 long tons (36,000 t) and a main battery of 14-inch (360 mm) guns. In 1936, following Japan's decision to abandon the treaty system, the United States Navy decided to invoke the "escalator clause" in the Second London treaty that allowed displacements to rise to 45,000 long tons (46,000 t) and armament to increase to 16 in (410 mm) guns. Congressional objections to increasing the size of the new ships forced the design staff to keep displacement as close to 35,000 LT as possible while incorporating the larger guns and armor sufficient to defeat guns of the same caliber.

Massachusetts was 680 feet (210 m) long overall and had a beam of 108 ft 2 in (32.97 m) and a draft of 35 ft 1 in (10.69 m). She displaced 37,970 long tons (38,580 t) as designed and up to 44,519 long tons (45,233 t) at full combat load. The ship was powered by four General Electric steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by eight oil-fired Babcock and Wilcox boilers. Rated at 130,000 shaft horsepower (97,000 kW), the turbines were intended to give a top speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph). The ship had a cruising range of 15,000 nautical miles (28,000 km; 17,000 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). She carried three Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes for aerial reconnaissance, which were launched by a pair of aircraft catapults on her fantail. Her peace time crew numbered 1,793 officers and enlisted men, but during the war the crew swelled to 2,500 officers and enlisted.

The ship was armed with a main battery of nine 16"/45 caliber Mark 6 guns[a] guns in three triple-gun turrets on the centerline, two of which were placed in a superfiring pair forward, with the third aft. The secondary battery consisted of twenty 5-inch /38 caliber dual purpose guns mounted in twin turrets clustered amidships, five turrets on either side. As designed, the ship was equipped with an anti-aircraft battery of twelve 1.1 in (28 mm) guns and twelve .50-caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns,[b] but she was completed with a battery of six quadruple 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors guns in place of the 1.1 in guns and thirty-five 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon autocannon instead of the .50-cal. guns.

The main armored belt was 12.2 in (310 mm) thick, while the main armored deck was up to 6 in (152 mm) thick. The main battery gun turrets had 18 in (457 mm) thick faces, and they were mounted atop barbettes that were 17.3 in (440 mm) thick. The conning tower had 16 in (406 mm) thick sides.

Massachusetts received a series of modifications through her wartime career, consisting primarily of additions to anti-aircraft battery and various types of radar sets. The first addition was the installation of SC air search radar in 1941, fitted in the foremast, which was later replaced with an SK type set. At the same time, an SG surface search radar was installed on the forward superstructure; a second SG set was added to the main mast after experiences during the Guadalcanal Campaign in 1942. While still under construction, she received a Mark 8 fire-control radar, mounted on her conning tower to assist in the direction of her main battery guns and Mark 4 radars for the secondary battery guns. She later received Mark 12/22 sets in place of the Mark 4s. Massachusetts also received a TDY jammer. In 1945, her traditional spotting scopes were replaced with Mark 27 microwave radar sets.

The ship's light anti-aircraft battery was gradually expanded. Four more 40 mm quad mounts were added in late 1942, and in February 1943, two more quads were added, one each to the roofs of turrets 2 and 3. By this time, she had another twenty-four 20 mm guns installed, bringing the total to sixty-one of the guns. Two more 40 mm quadruple mounts were added in February, and another seven 20 mm guns were added later that year for a total battery of sixty barrels. By early 1944, the Navy had begun to realize that the 20 mm guns were less effective and had made plans to reduce the number of those guns to 33 barrels in favor of more 40 mm guns. By October, Massachusetts had thirty-two of the guns, six of which were in experimental quad and twin mounts. She received six more quadruple 40 mm guns, bringing the total to seventy-two barrels. Two of these new quads were mounted in the forecastle, which proved to be of limited use as they were unusable in all but the calmest seas, and they were removed in the ship's postwar refit, as was the mount atop the number 2 turret.

Massachusetts was laid down at Bethlehem Steel's Fore River Shipyard on 20 July 1939. She was launched on 23 September 1941, and after completing fitting-out work, was commissioned into the fleet on 12 May 1942. She then conducted her shakedown cruise before moving to Casco Bay, Maine; from there, she was assigned to the Western Naval Task Force, which was to support Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa. Massachusetts got underway on 24 October to join the rest of the unit, which she met at sea four days later. She became the flagship of Rear Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt, part of Task Group (TG) 34.1, which also included the heavy cruisers Wichita and Tuscaloosa and four destroyers. The ships rendezvoused with the rest of the invasion fleet on 28 October some 450 nmi (830 km; 520 mi) southeast of Cape Race and proceeded across the Atlantic.

Massachusetts participated in the Naval Battle of Casablanca, which began early on the morning of 8 November. The ships were tasked with neutralizing the primary French defenses, which included coastal guns on El Hank, several submarines, and the incomplete battleship Jean Bart which lay at anchor in the harbor with only half of its main battery installed. Massachusetts began firing at 07:04 at a range of 22,000 m (72,000 ft) and shortly thereafter came under fire from Jean Bart that morning, and she returned fire at 07:40. Wichita and Tuscaloosa initially engaged the French batteries on El Hank and the French submarine pens, while Massachusetts attacked Jean Bart. French naval forces, led by the cruiser Primauguet, put up a stubborn defense. Massachusetts and the American cruisers broke up attempts by French destroyers to attack the fleet before returning to shelling Jean Bart; in the course of the action, Massachusetts scored five hits on Jean Bart and disabled her main battery turret.

With Jean Bart out of action, Massachusetts and the other ships then shifted fire to destroy coastal artillery batteries, an ammunition dump, and merchant ships in the harbor. One of her 16-inch shells also struck the floating dry-dock that held the submarine Le Conquérant; the dry dock sank, but Le Conquérant was not damaged and was able to get underway, only to be sunk by a PBY Catalina at sea. The French defenders agreed to a cease-fire on 11 November, which allowed the ships of TG 34.1 to be detached for other operations. Massachusetts got underway for the United States on 12 November to begin preparations for operations in the Pacific Theater.

Massachusetts reached Noumea in New Caledonia on 4 March 1943 and spent the next several months escorting convoys to the Solomon Islands in support of operations during the Solomon Islands campaign. On 30 June, she provided cover for an amphibious assault on New Georgia, part of Operation Cartwheel; at the time, she was assigned to the battleship group for TF 36.3, which included her sister ship Indiana and North Carolina. Over the next week, the Japanese launched several naval and aerial attacks on American forces involved in the campaign, but none attacked the battleship force.

She departed the area on 19 November to take part in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, escorting the carrier task group TG 50.2, again in company with Indiana and North Carolina, that carried out a series of air attacks on Makin, Tarawa, and Abemama in the Gilbert Islands. These operations were in support of the landings at Tarawa and Makin, both to weaken Japanese defenses on the islands and also isolate the Japanese garrisons from forces on nearby islands that might be able to reinforce them or launch counterattacks. On 8 December, she took part in a bombardment of Japanese positions at Nauru. For the operation, she was detached to form TG 50.8 under the command of Rear Admiral Willis Lee, along with North Carolina, Indiana, South Dakota, and Washington and several escorting destroyers.

Operations during the campaign continued into January 1944, with the invasion of Kwajalein; by this time, Massachusetts had been transferred to TG 58.1, under the command of Fifth Fleet. For much of the Pacific War, Massachusetts served with the fast carrier task force, at that time designated TF 58, screening the carriers from surface attacks and contributing her heavy anti-aircraft battery against Japanese air attacks. The carriers struck numerous targets in the Marshalls, again to isolate the garrison on Kwajalein. Massachusetts bombarded the island on 30 January in company with Washington, North Carolina, and Indiana, the day before marines went ashore.

Massachusetts continued in her role as an escort for the fast carrier task force during Operation Hailstone on 17 February, a major carrier raid on the island of Truk, which had been the primary staging area for the Japanese fleet in the central Pacific. The ship was now part of TG 58.3 for the attack. The fleet continued on to conduct a series of strikes on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam, which provoked heavy Japanese air attacks in response. Massachusetts contributed her heavy anti-aircraft battery to the fleet's defense. The American fleet then moved to the Caroline Islands, striking several islands in the area.

On 22 April, the fleet supported the landing at Hollandia in western New Guinea. On the way back from the area, the fleet struck Truk again. On 1 May, Massachusetts joined a bombardment group designated TG 58.7 that attacked Pohnpei in the Senyavin Islands, again under Lee's command. After the attack, fleet withdrew to Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. From there, the ship was detached for an overhaul at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, which included having her guns re-lined, as they had been worn out by that time. As a result, she was unavailable for the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign that was waged in June and July. She departed the west coast in July and stopped in Pearl Harbor on the way, departing there on 1 August to rejoin the fleet in the Marshall Islands.

By this time, the Third Fleet had taken command of the fast carrier task force and all subordinate units were renumbered from the 50s series to the 30s series. Accordingly, she joined TG 38.3 on reaching the fleet and escorted carriers that made a series of strikes in late August and early September in preparation of the landings at Morotai and Peleliu. These included strikes on 9 and 10 September on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines to neutralize Japanese-held airfields that could interfere with the landings. From 12 to 14 September, the fleet moved to strike targets in the Visayas. Massachusetts escorted the carriers for further strikes on Luzon, particularly around the capital at Manila, and the Visayas from 21 to 22 September. The month-long campaign destroyed some 1,000 Japanese aircraft and sank or otherwise neutralized 150 ships.

On 6 October, she sortied with the rest of the fleet to begin preparations for the invasion of the Philippines, still as part of TG 38.3. The first operation was a major strike on Japanese air bases on the island of Okinawa on 10 October, part of an effort to reduce Japan's ability to interfere with the landings from airbases in the region. From 12 to 14 October, the fast carrier task force struck bases on Formosa (Taiwan), before returning to the invasion fleet off Leyte, the initial target. Over the course of the strikes on Okinawa and Formosa, the fleet came under heavy air attacks, but Massachusetts was not engaged, as the Japanese attacks concentrated on task groups 38.1 and 38.4. On 16 October, a group of Japanese cruisers and destroyers sortied to attack American vessels that had been damaged in the attacks, prompting Massachusetts and the rest of TG 38.3 and 38.2 to return north to engage them, but they failed to locate the Japanese before they returned to port at Amami Ōshima.

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