Her main gun battery constituted 9 x 16" /45 caliber Mark 6 series guns set across three three-gunned turrets. This was joined by 20 x 5" (127mm) /38 caliber Dual-Purpose (DP) guns. Her air defense network ultimately consisted of 52 x 40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft (AA) cannons in, thirteen four-gunned turrets, and 35 x 20mm Oerlikon AA gun systems. She also carried a pair of Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplane aircraft - launched by onboard catapult and recovered by crane - which provided an over-the-horizon capability useful in spotting enemy ships, submarines or in assisting in ranging the primary battery.
Of all the battleships in U.S. Navy service during the beginning of World War 2, it was USS Massachusetts that fired the first 16" shells (as well as the last) of the conflict. Her first assignment was in the Atlantic as she took part in "Operation Torch", the Allied landings in North Africa. Her guns were able to limit the French battleship "Jean Bart" during actions there, Jean Bart falling under control of the Vichy French government at the time. Following this commitment, Massachusetts was reassigned for action in the Pacific Theater during 1943 and her guns were used during in the Solomon Islands Campaign which preceded the Battle of Leyte Gulf as part of the Philippines Campaign. Her guns were then used in anger during the shelling of Honshu, Japan which helped lead to the complete surrender of the Japanese Empire in August of 1945. In the immediate post-war period, Massachusetts served for a time longer along the American West Coast until transferred back to Atlantic waters to finished her career. With her usefulness all but over and the military drawdown that followed the war, the warship was decommissioned on March 27th, 1947. Her name was officially struck from the Naval Register on June 1st, 1962. Efforts to save her as a museum ship were successful and she opened her doors to tourists on August 14th, 1965 where she remains harbored at Battleship Cove, Massachusetts today.
During her time at sea, Massachusetts became the recipient of several awards and honors for service rendered - the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (1 Battle Star), the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (10 Battle Stars), the World War 2 Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Medal (Asia Clasp), the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, and the Philippine Liberation Medal. This stemmed from her actions which took her from North Africa to the Pacific theaters of war during World War 2. None of her crew lost to enemy action in the years of fighting - a rarity for a U.S. Navy warship during the conflict.
USS Massachusetts joined USS Alabama as the only two of the four-strong South Dakota-class to be saved from the scrapman's torch. The Alabama herself is harbored in Mobile Bay as a museum ship as of 2015.
The South Dakota-class was superseded during World War 2 by the storied Iowa-class which was made up of the famous warships USS Iowa, USS Missouri, USS New Jersey and USS Wisconsin.
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