USS Massachusetts BB-2 |
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USS Coastal Battleship #2 |
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Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |
The fourth Massachusetts (BB-2) was laid down by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa., 25 June 1891; launched 10 June 1893; sponsored by Miss Leila Herbert, daughter of Secretary of the Navy Hilary Herbert; and commissioned 10 June 1896, C apt. Frederick Rodgers In command. Massachusetts departed Norfolk 13 May (1898) for Cienfuegos, Cuba, where she took up blockade duties on the 22nd. On the afternoon of 31 May (1898) in company with battleship Iowa (BB-4) 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 3 July (1898), when she stood out to coal at Guantanamo Bay. Missing the Battle of Santiago, the battleship steamed back to her station on the 4th, arriving in time to help battleship Texas force cruiser Reina Mercedes to beach and surrender at midnight 6 July (1898). Following duty in support of the American occupation of Puerto Rico, 21 July to 1 August (1898), Massachusetts steamed for home, arriving New York 20 August (1898). During the next 7 years, Massachusetts cruised the Atlantic coast and eastern Caribbean as a member of the North Atlantic Squadron. From 27 May to 30 August 1904, the warship served as a training ship for 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 8 January 1906. Massachusetts was placed in reduced commission 2 May 1910 to serve as a summer practice ship for Naval Academy midshipmen. During the next 4 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 5 to 16 October (1912) for the Presidential Fleet Review, the warship returned to Philadelphia where she remained until decommissioning 23 May 1914. Massachusetts recommissioned 9 June 1917 at Philadelphia. Sailing 9 October(1917), she arrived at the Naval Training Station, Newport, R.I., on the 15th, where she embarked Naval Reserve gun crews for gunnery training in Block Island Sound. Continuing on this duty until 27 May 1918, the old battleship then underwent repairs at Philadelphia Navy Yard. Assigned to battle practice, "A" Division, Battleship Force 1, Atlantic Fleet, 9 June 1918, the veteran battlewagon steamed to Yorktown, Va., 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. |
(Courtesy of the USNHC)
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Page published Nov. 7, 2009 |