USS Massachusetts (BB-59), From World War II to Battleship Cove
by David Doyle
Publisher Schiffer and author David Doyle have teamed up once again to add another title to the rapidly growing and highly acclaimed “Legends of Naval Warfare” series. This time we take a detailed, and I do mean detailed, look at the former USS Massachusetts (BB-59), now a war memorial and museum ship impeccably preserved at Battleship Cove, “America’s Fleet Museum” in Fall River, MA.
David Doyle is nothing if not world-renowned for his meticulous “full immersion” approach to researching his subjects. Along the way he has also developed great talent and skill as a photographer, especially of fine detail that is often overlooked by the casual observer. In this series he combines historical photographs, often many of which have never been previously published, with thorough yet concise narrative histories of the subject at hand and his own photography produced specifically for the book. In cases where the subject is still extant and can be visited today, he concludes with a separate section of his own recent photographs, often approaching nearly half the book in total page count, and almost all of which in color. This volume has the highest page count in the series so far, with slightly more than half of the book being the author’s excellent recent color photos of the preserved memorial ship at Battleship Cove. This should put smiles on the faces of serious modelers tackling the 1/350 scale Trumpeter kit, especially those who have invested in the supplemental photo-etched brass fine detail kit/s to make their model even more impressive.
All the histories in this series follow the same format, beginning with some background information on previous warships with the same name and their fates, and a brief recounting of how the subject ship came to be. What typically follows is the part I find absolutely riveting (pun intended), a series of photos depicting the progress of construction from keel laying to launching and fitting out prior to commissioning. What follows then is a chronological photographic recounting of the ship’s operational history with appropriate captions and accompanying narrative. Massachusetts’ active career spanned only four years, but those four years encompassed intense combat action in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of operations. A most noteworthy footnote is that in all her combat actions, especially in the later stages of the Pacific war and the constant lethal kamikaze threat, Massachusetts suffered no fatalities to enemy action.
Massachusetts was the third of the four ships of the South Dakota class of battleships designed in compliance with the Washington Naval Arms Limitation Treaty (1922). As such, they were limited to a standard displacement of 35,000 tons. As the Navy’s General Board insisted their design incorporate as many fighting qualities as could be fitted into a ship of that “limited” displacement, the design was considered to be “cramped.” Perhaps so, as far as installation of all necessary systems and equipment is concerned, but from carefully viewing all the detailed photos, it is difficult to get the impression that this is anything but a large ship with sufficient room for the crew to live, work, and comfortably move around. Even so, they were also considered to be the most satisfactory combination of necessary design compromises that had to be made in order to comply with the treaty requirements.
As is typically the case with the “Legends of Naval Warfare” volumes, there is neither a bibliography nor an index. Nevertheless, at only $29.99 it is a real bargain in these inflationary times.
For those readers sufficiently motivated by this book to visit the ship, you should know it is not the only attraction worth investigating at Battleship Cove. There is also the former USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD-850) a Gearing-class destroyer named in honor of the assassinated president’s older brother who was killed in action in WWII and the Balao-class fleet submarine USS Lionfish (SS-298), and two authentic plywood PT boats. It would be wise to plan on spending the entire day there, if not more.
While Fall River is not exactly a spot you are likely to unintentionally stumble across in the course of your travels through New England, it is not difficult to reach, and in reality, is in close proximity to a substantial number of other significant historical sites in the Greater Providence-Boston area, making it a worthwhile destination.
Copyright 2025, Mark Dwyer (speedreaders.info)
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