| Act of 30 June 1890: |
"._._. The President
is hereby authorized to have constructed by contract three sea-going coast-line
battle ships designed to carry the heaviest armor and most powerful ordnance
upon a displacement of about eight thousand five hundred tons, with a coal
endurance of about five thousand knots on the total coal capacity at the
most economical rate of speed, and to have the highest practicable speed
for vessels of their class, to cost, exclusive of armament
._._. not exceeding
four million dollars each;
._._. in all
their parts said vessels shall bo of domestic manufacture
._._. such provisions
for minimum speed and penalties for deficient speed may be made subject to
the penalties for deficient speed may be made subject to the terms of this
bill, as in the discretion of the Secretary of the Navy may be deemed advisable.
._._. One of
such vessels shall be built on or near the coast of the Pacific Ocean
._._. one of
them on or near the Gulf of Mexico.
._._. Provided,
That if it shall appear
._._. that said
vessels cannot be constructed at a fair cost on ore near the coast of the
Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico, he shall authorize the construction
of said vessels, or either of them, elsewhere in the United States;
._._." |
| The fourth Massachusetts was laid down by William Cramp
& Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 25 June 1891; launched 10 June 1893;
sponsored by Miss Lella Herbert, daughter of Secretary of the Navy Hilary
Herbert; and commissioned 10 June 1896, Capt. Frederick Rodgers in
command. |
| Underway for shakedown 4 August 1896, Massachusetts conducted
trials and maneuvers off the middle Atlantic coast until 30 November, when
she entered New York Navy Yard for overhaul. Following a brief voyage to
Charleston, South Carolina, 12 to 20 February 1897, the battleship departed
New York 26 May for Boston, arriving 2 days later for a celebration in her
honor, including the presentation of the Massachusetts Coat of Arms 16 June,
and a gift of a statue of victory the next day. She departed Boston on the
19th to cruise to St. Johns, Newfoundland, off the Atlantic coast for the
next 10 months, participating in training maneuvers with the North Atlantic
Squadron off Florida, and making calls at major east coast ports. On 27 March
1898, she was ordered to Hampton Roads, Virginia to join the "Flying Squadron"
for the blockade of Cuba. |
| Massachusetts departed Norfolk 13 May for Cienfuegos, Cuba,
where she took up blockade duties on the 22nd. On the afternoon of 31 May
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 the 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, 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. Following duty in support of the American occupation of Puerto Rico,
21 July to 1 August, Massachusetts steamed for home, arriving New
York 20 August. |
| 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 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, she arrived at the Naval Training Station, Newport, Rhode
Island, on the 15th, where she embarked Naval Reserve guncrews 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, Virginia, 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. Massachusetts returned
to Philadelphia 16 February 1919. Redesignated Coast Battleship No. 2
on 29 March, the warship decommissioned for the final time on the 31st. She
was struck from the Navy list 22 November 1920, stripped of her guns and
furnishings and loaned to the War Department as a target ship. Towed to Pensacola
, Florida, 6 January 1921, to be used as a target for experimental artillery,
she was scuttled just outside the entrance to the bay and subsequently bombarded
by batteries from Fort Pickens for 4 years and then returned to the Navy
20 February 1925. |
| Scarred and torn, the old battleship sat peacefully for years
in the Gulf, attracting fish and fishermen alike. In the late 1950s, several
salvage companies tried to salvage the wreck but with the support of the
people of Pensacola, the state filed an injunction to prevent salvage, and
when the case was brought before the Supreme Court, title to the
Massachusetts was awarded to the State of Florida. |
| In 1990, the public rallied around the old battleship, and the
site was dedicated as an underwater archaeological preserve on June 10, 1993,
on the 100th anniversary of the ship's launching. Today, the 350-foot hulk
is awash in emerald-green water, partially buried in a white sandy bottom.
After spending 70 of her 100 years in the sea, the battleship has become
a giant artificial reef. |
| The remains of the USS Massachusetts are in 26 feet of
water, a mile and a half south-southwest of Pensacola Pass at Latitude 30
deg 17 min 45 sec N and Longitude 87 deg 18 min 45 sec W, in the Fort Pickens
State Aquatic Preserve, which is administered by the Florida Department of
Natural Resources. LORAN coordinates for the wreck are 13215.0 and 47108.9.
The site is easily located because the ship's two main gun turrets are awash
most of the time. The wreck also is marked by a red bell buoy, and its location
is shown on nautical charts. |
|
Bibliography
 |
Florida's
Underwater Archaeological Preserves |
|
|
Larry W. Jewell, Who's Who of United States
Battleships, (Internet publication), edition: 30 August, 1993. |
|
|
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1964), Vol.1 -- A-B, p. 189 |
|
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1969), Vol.4: L-M, p. 264-265 |
|
