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NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive

BB-2 USS MASSACHUSETTS
1891 - 1906


To Additional Pages

1907 - 1921


Indiana Class Battleship: Displacement 10,288 Tons, Dimensions, 351' 2" (oa) x 69' 3" x 27' 2" (Max), Armament 4 x 13"/35 8 x 8"/35, 4 x 6"/30, 4 x 18"tt,Armor, 18" Belt, 15" Turrets, 3" Decks, 10" Conning Tower. Machinery, 9,000 IHP; 2 vertical, inverted, triple expansion engines, 2 screws; Speed, 15 Knots, Crew 473.

Operational and Building Data: Laid down by Cramp, Philadelphia on June 25 1891, Launched June 10 1893, Commissioned June 10 1896, Decommissioned January 8 1906, Recommissioned May 2 1910, Decommissioned May 23 1914, Recommissioned June 9 1917, Reclassified Coastal Battleship # 2, March 29 1919, Decommissioned March 31 1919, & stricken November 22 1920.
Fate: Sunk as target (By US Army) off Pensacola, Florida, January 1921. Hulk still can be seen at low tide.

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BB-1 Indiana 195k The sinking of the British battleship Victoria, a model of which was exhibited in the Transportation Building, gave a melancholy but not less eager interest to the United States marine exhibit at the northern pier, where a ship of war modeled on the latest patterns adopted by the Navy Department, was exposed to the closest public scrutiny and study.
The engraving shows the structure of brick, built on the bottom of the lake, and simulating a man-of-war, which was conceived by Commodore R. W. Meade, and furnished with all the implements of human slaughter.
Thus built, it was a full-sized model, above water-line, of the ten thousand three hundred ton coast-line battleships Indian (BB-01), Massachusetts (BB-02), and Oregon (BB-03) of our navy, and if no mistake be made, the creation of such a ship in Lake Michigan in reality would violate a treaty with Great Britain.
The principal guns seen on this vessel were of wood, but there were enough machines on board which were genuine to destroy almost anything of ordinary resisting power that might be within a distance of three miiles. A nearer view of the upper deck and search light is shown on another page.
Among the real guns on board were four six-inch rifled breech-loaders; twenty six-pounders; six one-pounders, two Gatlings and six torpedo guns.
The interior was a museum of war, in which a student might be kept busy for months. The length was over three hundred and forty-eight feet; greatest width, sixty-nine feet; conning tower, seventy-six feet high. Designer, Frank W. Grogan. Cost, $100,000.
Courtesy of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, Chicago. Contributed by Pavel Khozhainov.
BB-2 Massachusetts 60k Halftone photograph of the Massachusetts (BB-02) taken prior to 1898. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 46422. Copied from the contemporary publication Uncle Sam's Navy.
BB-4 Iowa 115 Painting entitled "Before the War" by Carlton T. Chapman, depicting the U.S. North Atlantic Squadron anchored in Hampton Roads, Virginia, circa late March or early April 1898. Iowa (BB-04) is seen very distantly, and partially, on the right side of the image. Ships present are (left to right: New York (CA-2), Indiana (BB-1), Texas, Massachusetts (BB-2), Columbia (C-12) and Iowa. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 78627-KN, courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC. Donation of Capt. R.G. Colbert, USN.
BB-2 Massachusetts 56k Photograph taken in 1898. The original photograph was copyright J.F. Jarvis, and printed on a stereograph card. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 82638.
BB-2 Massachusetts 63k At anchor, 1898. The original photograph was copyright 1898 by J.F. Jarvis, and published on a stereograph card. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # 82653.
BB-2 Massachusetts 58k Photographed by E.H. Hart off New York City, during the victory review, circa August 1898. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 46423.
BB-2 Massachusetts 37k Beer Line aboard the Massachusetts (BB-02), 1890's. USNI/USN photo.
BB-2 Massachusetts 35k Marines at mess aboard the Massachusetts (BB-02). USNI/USN photo.
BB-2 Massachusetts 42k Members of the Massachusetts (BB-02) Marine guard detachment, man one of the Battleshipıs 6-inch guns in this photo from the late 1890s. USNI/USN photo.
BB-2 Massachusetts 73k Massachusetts (BB-02) as she appeared in 1898, before or after the Spanish American War, her hull is painted peacetime white. USNI/USN photo.
BB-2 Massachusetts 546k Massachusetts (BB-02) and other ships of the victorious U.S. Fleet sail into New York Harbor, during the Spanish-American War Victory Fleet Review, 20 August 1898. Photoprint copyrighted by Charles E. Bolles. LOC photo # LC-USZ62-71303. Photo courtesy of Tom Kermen.
Return of the Conquerors, September 29, 1899 60k Oil on canvas painting entitled "Return of the Conquerors, September 29, 1899", by the artist Edward Moran (1829-1901), which appears in the collections of the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, Maryland, features the Texas, Indiana (BB-01), Massachusetts (BB-02), Oregon (BB-03), Iowa (BB-04) and other ships of the victorious U.S. fleet. Partial text and drawing courtesy of USNI.
BB-1 Indiana 1.8m The Indiana (BB-01) and her indomitable commander, Fighting Bob Evans impressed Rudyard Kipling. The Massachusetts (BB-02) is probably behind her in this circa post war photo. USN photo via USNIP submitted by Pieter Bakels.
BB-2 Massachusetts 86k The steam hoisting gear of Massachusetts (BB-02) in 1900. USNI / USN photo.
BB-2 Massachusetts 25k Officers and crew of Massachusetts (BB-02), circa 1900. USN photo.
BB-2 Massachusetts 171k Starboard bow at warf. June 1901. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph #1 81-NYS-15-46.
BB-2 Massachusetts 15k Bow spirit, June 1901. USN photo.
BB-2 Massachusetts 80k The Massachusetts (BB-02) at dock, 1902. USNI/USN photo.
BB-2 Massachusetts 101k The submarine Plunger (SS-02) at the New York Navy Yard, circa 1903. Massachusetts (BB-02) is under refit in the background. Published on a stereograph card by the Keystone View Company, circa 1918. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 85293. Courtesy of Commander Donald J. Robinson, USN(MSC), 1977
BB-2 Massachusetts 431k The Massachusetts (BB-02) is seen at the Coaling Facility (Building 109) on Pier 1 of the Boston Navy Yard in 1904. Astern of the battleship is Constitution. Photo by E. Chickering, National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, cat. no. BOSTS-10053, courtesy of Stephen P. Carlson, Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard.
BB-2 Massachusetts 98k Taken from the deck of Massachusetts (BB-02) titled "Bringing the men ashore", 1904. USNI/USN photo.
BB-2 Massachusetts 132k Pre cruise fitting out of the Massachusetts (BB-2), at the New York Navy Yard, 1904, Indiana (BB-01) is in the background. USNI/USN photo.
BB-2 Massachusetts 98k The Massachusetts (BB-02) in drydock, possibly at the New York Navy Yard, 1904. USNI/USN photo.
BB-2 Massachusetts 1.58m Massachusetts (BB-02) coaling at Lamoine Naval Coaling Station, Lamoine, Maine, during the time of the Atlantic Fleet's visit to Bar Harbor, Maine, 3-10 Aug 1905. Please note that this picture was taken from the same approximate position that the Constitution and Grebe were in, in the pic from Henry Brown's collection. Photo from the collection of Robert Alvarez submitted by Jonathan Eno. Photo added 06/26/09.
BB-2 Massachusetts 80k Captain Edward D. Taussig, USN. With guests, probably on board Massachusetts (BB-02), circa 1905-1906, while he was the ship's Commanding Officer. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 99046.
BB-2 Massachusetts 76k Captain Edward D. Taussig, USN (holding cap),greeting guests, probably on board Massachusetts (BB-02), circa 1905-1906, while he was the ship's Commanding Officer. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 99045.
BB-2 Massachusetts 129k Steroscopic photograph, taken in 1906. Courtesy of Paul Petosky.
BB-2 Massachusetts 115k Explanation of the steroscopic photograph containing the ship's 13" main guns. Courtesy of Paul Petosky.

Additional Massachusetts Images
17 General Views Of Massachusetts From The Library Of Congress Server.
11 Dock Views Of Massachusetts From The Library Of Congress Server.
14 Crew Images From The Library Of Congress Server.
20 Interior Images From The Library Of Congress Server.
11 Raised (With Hightened Stacks) Images From The Library Of Congress Server.

USS MASSACHUSETTS BB-2 History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The Hazegray & Underway Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable To This Ship
Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway Battleship Pages By Andrew Toppan.
Links To Various Related Massachusetts Web Resources.
U.S.S. Massachusetts BB-2 By The State of Florida.
Pre-Dreadnought Preservation By Mark Howells.

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