USS Massachusetts (BB-2)

USS Massachusetts (BB-2), an Indiana class battleship, was the fourth ship to be named in honor of the sixth state. Her keel was laid down on June 25, 1891, by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was launched on June 10, 1893, sponsored by Miss Leila Herbert, daughter of Secretary of the Navy Hilary Herbert, and commissioned on June 10, 1896, with Captain Frederick Rodgers in command.

Underway for shakedown August 4, 1896, Massachusetts conducted trials and maneuvers off the middle Atlantic coast until November 30, when she entered New York Navy Yard for overhaul. Following a brief voyage to Charleston, South Carolina, February 12 to February 20, 1897, the battleship departed New York on May 26 for Boston, Massachusetts, arriving two days later for a celebration in her honor, including the presentation of the Massachusetts Coat of Arms on June 16, and a gift of a statue of victory the next day. She departed Boston on the June 19 to cruise to St. Johns, Newfoundland, arriving June 23. Sailing on June 28 the warship operated off the Atlantic coast for the next ten months, participating in training maneuvers with the North Atlantic Squadron off Florida, and making calls at major east coast ports. On March 27, 1898, she was ordered to Hampton Roads, Virginia, to join the "Flying Squadron" for the blockade of Cuba.

Massachusetts departed Norfolk, Virginia, on May 13 for Cienfuegos, Cuba, where she took up blockade duties on May 22. On the afternoon of May 31 in company with battleship Iowa and cruiser New Orleans, she bombarded the forts at the entrance to Santiago de Cuba, and exchanged fire with Spanish cruiser Cristobal Colon, forcing the enemy ship to retire into the inner harbor of Santiago. The battleship remained on patrol off Santiago, intermittently bombarding Spanish fortifications, until July 3, when she stood out to coal at Guantanamo Bay. Missing the Battle of Santiago, the battleship steamed back to her station on July 4, arriving in time to help battleship Texas force cruiser Reina Mercedes to beach and surrender at midnight July 6. Following duty in support of the American occupation of Puerto Rico, July 21 to August 1, Massachusetts steamed for home, arriving New York August 20.

During the next seven years, Massachusetts cruised the Atlantic coast and eastern Caribbean as a member of the North Atlantic Squadron. From May 27 to August 30, 1904, the warship served as a training ship for United States Naval Academy midshipmen off New England and then entered New York Yard for overhaul. Departing New York 13 January 1905, the battlewagon then steamed for the Caribbean on training maneuvers, operating there until she returned north to cruise off New England in May. Putting into New York 12 November 1905, she underwent inactivation overhaul and then decommissioned January 8, 1906.

Massachusetts was placed in reduced commission May 2, 1910 to serve as a summer practice ship for Naval Academy midshipmen. During the next four years she made three midshipman cruises -- twice to Western Europe before entering the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in September 1912. Following a brief voyage to New York October 5 to October 16 for the Presidential Fleet Review, the warship returned to Philadelphia where she remained until decommissioning May 23, 1914.

Massachusetts recommissioned June 9, 1917 at Philadelphia. Sailing October 9, she arrived at the Naval Training Station, Newport, Rhode Island, on the 15th, where she embarked Naval Reserve guncrews for gunnery training in Block Island Sound. Continuing on this duty until May 27, 1918, the old battleship then underwent repairs at Philadelphia Navy Yard. Assigned to battle practice, "A" Division, Battleship Force 1, Atlantic Fleet, June 9, 1918, the veteran battlewagon steamed to Yorktown, Virginia, the same day, and for the remainder of World War I served as a heavy gun target practice ship in Chesapeake Bay and local Atlantic waters. Massachusetts returned to Philadelphia February 16, 1919. Redesignated "Coast Battleship No. 2", March 28, the warship decommissioned for the final time on the 31st. She was struck from the Navy List on November 22, 1920, and loaned to the War Department as a target ship. Scuttled off Pensacola Bay, Florida, on January 6, 1921, the hulk was bombarded by batteries from Fort Pickens for four years and then returned to the Navy February 20, 1925. Though offered for sale for scrap, no acceptable bids were received and finally, on November 15, 1956, the ship was declared the property of the state of Florida.

General Characteristics

Displacement: 10,288 tons
Length: 350.9 feet
Beam: 69.3 feet
Draft: 24 feet
Speed: 16.21 knots
Complement: 586 officers and men
Armament: four 13-inch guns, eight eight-inch guns, four six-inch guns, two three-inch guns, 20 six-pounders, six one-pounders, six 18-inch torpedo tubes