Massachusetts (BB 59) - Naval Cruise Book

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To All Hands— Well Done! r r

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We ' re Under Woy foe Home t - ' - k ' -

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THE LOG Tossing Ihe first sixteen-inch shell to open the European offensive and firing the last big naval bullet in the Pacific campaign — these are the outstanding mileposts in the 39-month fighting career of the U. S. S. Massachusetts. The Japs have capitulated; details for carrying out the formal surrender ceremonies have been arranged for the official end of World War II. The stories that make the war history can now be released and Big Mamie has one of her own. It may not be spectacular, but it reveals a ship manned by resolute and efficient officers and men who turned in a workmanlike job and who more than once received well done from the Admirals. It wasn ' t always easy going and the grind was monotonous but . . . here ' s our story. When peace come to the Pacific, Mamie could look back on a long and action-packed careei ' . From the time of commissioning on May 12, 1942, until the end of the war in mid-August, 1945, she hod logged over 225,000 nautical miles, her jouineyings taking hei ' all the way from Casa- blanca to Tokyo and the China coast. She had token port in some thirty-five engagements with the enemy. She had sunk or damaged five ships. Including the mighty French battleship, Jean Bart. She had taken port in nine bombardments of enemy teriitory, three of which were directed at the Japanese home islands. She had destroyed or assisted In the destruction of at least eighteen Japanese aircraft. Her scout Kingfisher planes hod rescued seven aviators downed by enemy fire, often per-forming the rescues within sight and lange of Jap guns. Thanks to hei ' fiie-powei ' and speed, she had lent Invaluable suppoi-t to the fast carrier task forces as they carried out their mission of crippling Japanese olrpowei ' and seizing control of Pacific skies. Our ship has been a workhorse of the Fleet. She was always in there pitching when there was fighting to be done. She went about her tasks without ostentation and with a high degree of com- petence and skill gained from long hours of practice and of combat. Birth of a Fighting Ship Big Mamie ' s keel was laid July 20, 1939. Her- launching took place two years and two months later on September 23, 1941 — A few scant months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Her spon- sor at the launching was Mrs. Charles Francis Adams, wife of the former- Secretary of the Navy. The ship, building of which had cost more than $75,000,000, was for-molly commissioned on May 12, 1942. She was constructed by the Bethlehem Steel Co. and the workmen at the Fore River Yard at Quincy, Massachusetts. She was given tremendous firepower- in her- nine 16-inch guns ond twenty 5-Inch guns — the latter weapons adding to the anti-aircraft might of the many 40-m.m. and 20-m.m. guns bristling from her decks and superstructure. After her trial i uns. Big Mamie, undei ' the command of Captain (now Rear- Admiral) Francis E. M. Whiting, USN, began an intensive period of ti aining in preparation for the battles for the bottles In which she was soon to take port. About six or seven hundred of the men who took par-t in That Battle ore still aboard and so generous hove they been in sharing their reminiscences that even the newest boot just arrived is familiar with the affair down to the last detail, and he almost feels as though he were there him- self. Here, briefly, is what happened: In the early morning hours of November 8, 1942, a large task force of American worships and transpor-ts, with the Massachusetts as flagship, moved In toward the coast of Casablanca in French