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1939 - June 1942 / Keel Laying - Commissioning
July 1942 - Feb. 1943 / War in the Atlantic
March 1943 - December 1945 / War in the Pacific
1946 - 1965
| Click On Image For Full Size Image | Size | Image Description | Contributed By And/Or Copyright |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 68k | Fall River Mass., 5 September 1970. | Richard Leonhardt. | |
 | 221k | A view of the superstructure of the memorial battleship Massachusetts (BB-59) as seen from the ship's stern on 30 May 1987. The No. 3 Mark 6 16-inch/45-caliber guns are in the foreground. | USN photo # DN-ST-87-07706, by Don S. Montgomery, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. | |
 | 480k | A starboard bow view of the memorial battleship Massachusetts (BB-59) at sunset. | USN photo # DN-ST-87-07708, by Don S. Montgomery, from the Department of Defense Still Media Collection, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil. | |
 | 76k | December, 1989, preparation for towing to Boston. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. Photo added 01/18/08. | |
 | 118k | The tug Narragansett helps move the Massachusetts (BB-59) in preparation for towing to Boston in December, 1989. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. Photo added 01/18/08. | |
 | 153k | The Main Battery Fire Control Unit Director Mk.40 installed in the Fire Control Towers of the North-
Carolina / Iowa Class battleships. Photo taken 1991. There was one of this type director onboard, located in the Fire Control Tower and served as a controlling station in both the Primary and Auxiliary method of fire. It was designated as Main battery Director Three. The director was initially equipped with MK.3 & later replaced with Mk.27 radar for ranging and training purposes. The director had built into it a system for target designation between between various Main battery stations. It also had a Mk.3 computer and a Mk.5 Trunnion Tilt Corrector as a portion of the director, in order that the Fire Control tower may become a controlling and transmitting station for Auxiliary control of the Battery. It shows the Target Bearing Transmitter and,on the other side the Target Designator and training Gear Drive and Trainer's Handwheels, a Spotter's telephone Selector Switch mounted on the Rotating Head and telephone Jack Boxes fitted to the Cable tube. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 249k | The Mk.3 computer and above it, the train input rod that connects the computer with the training pinnions of the level transmitters suspended from the roof. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 53k | The modified elliptical form of the antenna of Radar Equipment Mk.27 seen atop the fire control tower has an open grate construction to reduce wind resistance and gun blast. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 66k | Periscope Mk.32 Mod.0 atop the fire control tower of Iowa (BB-61) in 1985. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 110k | The transmitter receiver unit of radar equipment Mk.27 at the left w. a master control switch and high voltage rectifier,1 of 2 level transmitters. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 47k | Gun director Mk.51 Mod. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 53k | Gun director Mk.51 Mod.3 | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 60k | Fire Control Tower hatch. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 487k | Looking aft from Fwd.Air Defence, Spot 2, with Main Battery Fire Control Radar Mk.8 atop, aft of that, #3 16-Inch Turret while at Fall River in 1991. This Image was taken from her Forward Air Defence Level. Note the Mk.8 Main Battery Fire Control Radar atop her Mk.38 Main Battery Fire Control Director (there were two types of this type of director aboard; one at the top of the foremast structure, designated as Main battery director One, and the other located aft of the stack, designated as Main Battery Director two- these directors were armored directors with a crew of six.) and the 40mm Loading Machine to the right. The Mk.8 radar had excellent Range accuracy. Bearing accuracy was practically as good as optics. Spotting in range was excellent- fall of shot within one thousand yards of target range was accurate to the nearest one hundred yards. Spotting in bearing was not practical for small deflection errors. The antenna was stabilized in level from either two sources, the Stable Vertical in Main battery plot or local rangefinder level. Range was transmitted to Main Battery plot electrically, each time the Range Unit Transmitter button was depressed. Generated Range was not at the time (1944-1945) fed back into the Range Unit. All operating and control units of the radar were mounted in the director. Later provision was made to move the greater part of the operating and control units down to Main Battery Plot as first installed experimentally on Washington (BB-56). Operation required one radar operator and the director train operator. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 125k | GFCS Mk.57 w.Radar Equipment Mk.34, could control the fire of two or three different calibers simply by throwing some switches to compensate for ballistic differences. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 128k | Radar Equipment Mk.34 measured Range out to 40,000 yards and permitted observation out to 60,000 yards, provided Range-Rate data and indicated Bearing and Elevation of the Target. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 249k | DBM antennas aboard Massachusetts (BB-59) in 1991. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 32k | On her maintop "SR" a back-up against failure of the SK-2 with its 15ft x 6ft air search antenna. Mounted on a new mast, a second "SG" surface search radar. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 32k | The MK.12 radar proved very successful but ineffective against low-flying aircraft such as Japanese torpedo bombers. A parabolic height-finder, Mk.22 ("Orange Peel"), was therefore mounted alongside (right-hand side) Mk.12. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 44k | The MK.12 - 2 radar. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 71k | The MK.12 - 3 radar. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 47k | The MK.12 - 4 radar. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 95k | Target information was furnished automatically to the associated computer when the system was tracking in radar control. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 198k | Gun Director Mk.40 | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 118k | Gun Director Mk.40 | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 39k | Several radars are visible: the Mk.13 Main Battery Fire Control Radar, 3cm radar within a radome that replaced the earlier Mk.8, the more complex mechanically scanned polyrod array, mounted on top of her large Mk.38 Main Battery Director One with its 26.5 ft stereo (Mk.48) rangefinder. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 69k | Above it, the SK-2, with its 17ft dish antenna for long range radar detection of aircraft. Right behind it, the "SG" surface search radar is visible. Barely visible inside the SK-2 dish, the BM interrogator of the Mk.III IFF system without which controllers would be unable to distinguish friendly from enemy aircraft. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 32k | On her maintop "SR", a back-up against failure of the SK-2 with its 15ft x 6ft air search antenna. Mounted on a new mast, a second "SG" surface search radar. In front of her tower, directly above a (now removed 36-Inch searchlight), the back-to-back antenna arrangement of her large TDY jammer, covering both low-and high bands, for force screening which proved very useful in the latter part of WWII against both sea and airborne targets. Behind it on both sides of the fire control tower, another pair (P. /S.) of TDY jammers are visible. On her House Top level, a Mk.12 antenna, mounted on top of a here not visible Mk.37 Secondary Battery Director, which is a replacement for the earlier Mk.4, a fire control radar for the dual purpose, rapid firing, tray loading, 5-Inch/38 Twin Mounts(Mk.28) of the ship. Breech action of this weapon was semi-automatic with power rammers, which permitted loading at any angle of elevation. These mounts had power driven train, elevation and ammunition hoisting, with alternate manual operation. The MK.12 radar proved very successful but ineffective against low-flying aircraft such as Japanese torpedo bombers. A parabolic height-finder, Mk.22 ("Orange Peel"), was therefore mounted alongside (right-hand side) Mk.12. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 70k | Visible just under the Mk.12 is the Mk.29 radar dish for use with the GFCS (Gun Fire Control System) Mk.57 (this image and below), a 40mm primary control system. It could also be used to deliver 5-Inch/38Cal. gun orders instead of 40mm gun orders by throwing several ballistic switches in the equipment. Early Mk.57 director installations, lacking a fuze computer and parallax corrector, were used for 40mm gun control only. GFCS Mk.57 used manual tracking and radar range. "Blind" tracking was aided by a "smoothing control", damping the lead angles measured by the computer (Mk.17). In front of the Mk.12/22, a short-range ship-to-ship whip antenna. The small antenna mounted centrally in front of the main antenna was used for Side lobe suppression. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 125k | Stern view of Massachusetts (BB-59) backing into South Boston dry-dock, 1998. | Photograph courtesy of Pieter Bakels. | |
 | 72k | Stern view, port side. Boston, 1998. | Courtesy of Brian J. Johnson, Franklin, MA. | |
 | 98k | Stern view, starboard side. Boston, 1998. | Courtesy of Brian J. Johnson, Franklin, MA. | |
 | 72k | View of the secondary batteries. | Courtesy of Brian J. Johnson, Franklin, MA. | |
 | 107k | Port side ammunition handling room. | Courtesy of Brian J. Johnson, Franklin, MA. | |
 | 93k | Galley area, showing some of the seats around the base of the aft 16" guns. | Courtesy of Brian J. Johnson, Franklin, MA. | |
 | 87k | Get out of jail free card used here. | Courtesy of Brian J. Johnson, Franklin, MA. | |
 | 110k | The engine room. | Courtesy of Brian J. Johnson, Franklin, MA. | |
 | 93k | Stern turbines, engine room. | Courtesy of Brian J. Johnson, Franklin, MA. | |
 | 376k | A guest studies a painting depicting the history of battleships. The artwork was painted by George Skybeck and presented to the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association during their annual banquet at Honolulu, Hawaii, on 8 Dec 1991. | USN photo # DN-SC-92-05391, by PHC Carolyn Harris, courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil, Defense Visual Information Center. | |
 | 371k | A quote made by Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz is inscribed on a granite wall at the National World War II Memorial located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Fleet Adm. Nimitz was the United States signatory to the surrender terms aboard the battleship Missouri (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay, Japan on 2 Sept. 1945, thus ending World War II. Established by the American Battle Monuments Commission, the memorial honors all military veterans of World War II, the citizens on the home front, the nation at large, and the high moral purpose and idealism that motivated the nation's call to arms. On 29 May 2004, the memorial will be formally dedicated with an estimated 200,000 people expected to attend, and includes 100,000 visiting veterans of all wars. | U.S. Navy photo # N-0295M-011 by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Daniel J. McLain, courtesy of news.navy.mil. | |
 | 87k | Starboard side view of the Massachusetts (BB-59) at Fall River Massachusetts, 2006. | Photograph courtesy of Robert M. Cieri. | |
The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.
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