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NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive

BB-2 USS MASSACHUSETTS
1901 - 1909


To Additional Pages

1891 - 1900
1910 - 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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Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
BB-2 Massachusetts 171k Starboard bow at wharf. June 1901. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph #1 81-NYS-15-46.
BB-2 Massachusetts2.95k THE BATTLESHIP MASSACHUSETTS (BB-02) PASSING THROUGH HELL'S GATE.
SECRETARY LONG ORDERS THAT HAZARDOUS TRIP OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BE NOT REPEATED.
Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Photo from New-York Tribune.(New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 21 June 1901, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
BB-2 Massachusetts1.72kINVENTION FOR COALING WAR-SHIPS AT SEA
The battleship Massachusetts (BB-02) then took in tow the Marcellus and headed for the open sea.
Image and text provided by University of Utah, Marriott Library.
Photo & text by Deseret Evening News. (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 31 August 1901, Image 23, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
PDF added 09/28/11.
SANTIAGO SQUADRON 1.84k SCHLEY DID NOT EXERT EVERY EFFORT TO DESTROY THE CRUISER COLON, DECLARES HIGGINSON, WHO COMMANDED THE BATTLESHIP MASSACHUSETTS (BB-02) Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside.
Photo from The San Francisco Call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 21 September 1901, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
BB-2 Massachusetts 80k The Massachusetts (BB-02) at dock, 1902. USNI/USN photo.
BB-2 Massachusetts900kSIX MEN ARE DEAD AND THREE WOUNDED IN TURRET ACCIDENT ON THE MASSACHUSETTS (BB-02).
Explosion of Powder in the Breech of Eight-Inch Gun During Target Practice on the Big Battleship, Off Culebra Island, Slays and Maims Nine Out of the Ten Men in the Turret Crew. Victims Meet Their Deaths Heroically and the Wounded Walk With out Assistance to the Hospital. Gallant and Daring Work of Rescuing Officers. Washington Not Yet Advised as to the Cause of the Disaster, the First of the Kind in the History of the American Navy.
Text provided by State Historical Society of Missouri; Columbia, MO & University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA.
Photo from The St. Louis Republic. (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 18 January 1903, PART I, Image 1 & The San Francisco Call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 18 January 1903, Image 17 via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
BB-2 Massachusetts2.14kBATTLESHIP MASSACHUSETTS (BB-02) BREAKS ALL THE NAVAL BAD LUCK RECORDS
The battleship is not pictured here. As to why the Dutch De Ruyter is, I haven't a clue.
Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside;
Photo from The San Francisco Call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 17 August 1903, Image 6, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
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 stereographic 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 the 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 Massachusetts1.46kCAUGHT IN A TRAP, THREE LOSE LIVES
Lieutenant and Others Badly Injured in Accldent on MASSACHUSETTS (BB-02)
GASKET GAVE WAY; STEAM RUSHED IN
Image and text provided by Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA.
Photo from The Times Dispatch. (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 16 December 1904, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
BB-2 Massachusetts2.4kCOALING BATTLE-SHIPS AT SEA
The battleship Massachusetts (BB-02) then took in tow the Marcellus and headed for the open sea.
Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside.
Photo from Los Angeles Herald.(Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 26 February 1905, Image 39 via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
PDF via nytimes.com.
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.
Bar Harbor 200k The First Squadron of the North Atlantic Fleet during a visit, 3-10 August 1905, to Bar Harbor, Maine. The visit consisted of eight BB's commanded by RA R.D. Evans. Maine (BB-10), Missouri (BB-11), Kearsarge (BB-5), Kentucky (BB-6), Alabama (BB-8), Illinois (BB-7), Iowa (BB-4), and Massachusetts (BB-02).
The Massachusetts appears here with the Iowa in the background.
Photo from the collection of Raymond Strout via Jonathan Eno.
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 129k Stereoscopic photograph, taken in 1906. Courtesy of Paul Petosky.
BB-2 Massachusetts 115k Explanation of the stereoscopic photograph containing the ship's 13" main guns. Courtesy of Paul Petosky.
BB-2 Massachusetts1261k A GIGANTIC SKELETON MAST FOR THE Massachusetts (BB-02).
The first skeleton suit to be built in the New York Navy Yard now practically completed for the Massachusetts. It is 103 feet high, and constructed of tabular steel. The new mast is to be applied to many of the battleships.
Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside; CA.
Photo from Los Angeles Herald. (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 18 April 1909, Image 47 via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
New York Navy Yard 141k Plunger on her way out of the New York Navy Yard, sometime before Oct 1909.
At that time she was assigned to the First Submarine Flotilla, based at the New York Navy Yard, joining sister-ships Porpoise (SS-07), and Shark (SS-08).
Among the ships in the background is the then decommissioned battleship Massachusetts (BB-02). The Massachusetts had her cage mast installed sometime in 1909.
US Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Partial text courtesy of DANFS. Photo i.d. and partial text i.d. courtesy of Mike Green from "U.S. Warships of WW1", by Paul Silverstone on the Indiana class listing on page #31.

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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