Battleship Cove (Part 2)

A few weeks back, some friends were visiting us on Cape Cod, and we took a trip to see one of the area's biggest historical attractions: Battleship Cove, the home of four World War II and Cold War era warships. This is my second article on Battleship Cove. The first featured photos of the destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy, the submarine USS Lionfish, and the Soviet-built missile corvette Hiddensee. That article can be found here.

The main attraction at Battleship Cove, and the reason for the the name of the exhibit is the World War II battleship USS Massachusetts.

Built at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy MA, the USS Massachusetts was launched in 1941.

Nicknamed "Big Mamie" by her crew, the USS Massachusetts saw action in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters in World War II. During the Battle of Casablanca, "Big Mamie" fought a gun battle against the unfinished French battleship Jean Bart, moored at a Casablanca pier. Some of the battle damage is still visible aboard the USS Massachusetts.

During that battle, the Massachusetts scored five hits and silenced the guns of the Jean Bart, and also sank two enemy destroyers, two merchant ships, and a floating drydock in Casablanca harbor.

The main weapons aboard the battleship were her 16-inch guns.

"Big Mamie" carried nine of these guns in three triple-turrets, two turrets forward and one aft. Here's a look at the forward deck from the bow.

Here's a mascot painted onto one of the big gun turrets.

And another shot from the bow with the Braga Bridge in the background.

The first and last sixteen-inch shells fired "in anger" by the US Navy in World War II were fired by the Massachusetts. The Massachusetts served in the Pacific at the end of the war, providing support for numerous operations including the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Here is another view of the big guns, looking forward:

Other weapons aboard the USS Massachusetts included 5-inch gun turrets.

There were twenty of these guns in dual mounts. Here's a look inside one of the turrets:

An array of 40 mm and 20 mm machine guns provided close-range and anti-air defense. There were about ninety machine guns aboard, bringing the total number of guns on the ship to well over one hundred.

My friends Steve and Mandy man two of the 20-mm machine guns.

And Steve took this picture of me at one of the forward machine guns.

Here is a view of the city of Fall River from the deck of the USS Massachusetts.

And this shot is looking down Narragansett Bay past the tugboat dock under the Braga Bridge.

The ship's bell:

The ship's launch (and the crane to lower the boat into the water):

Signal flags:

And her anchor:

Inside the USS Massachusetts is the state's official memorial to Massachusetts citizens killed in service to their nation in World War II. Memorials to Massachusetts servicemen and women killed in action in the Vietnam and Korean wars are also located at Battleship Cove, aboard the destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy. The state's memorial to soldiers killed in action in the Persian Gulf War, and the state's official memorial to the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks are located here as well.

As we prepared to head back to the visitors center, we took a look at several aircraft on display. Near the visitors center is this Cobra attack helicopter.

Also on display is a US Navy T-28 trainer plane.

Nearby, you can see a Soviet-made Styx missile, a weapon designed to be used against US ships.

Also on display, a UH-1 "Huey" chopper.

This was a great day spent discovering history and looking at these incredible ships. If you're at all interested in history, this is definitely an attraction worth seeing. For me, it was also a fun trip back in time to those summers when my brother and I would come here with my Grandfather and scramble all over the decks of the ships.