Atlantic Operations
After a shakedown cruise, Massachusetts set sail from the United States on 24 October 1942. Four days later she joined a task force forming to support the invasion of North Africa, where she served as the flagship for Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt during Operation Torch.
Early in the morning on 8 November the Naval Battle of Casablanca began. Lying off the city, Massachusetts, the heavy cruisers Tuscaloosa and Wichita and four destroyers, came under fire from four 194 mm (7.6 in) and four 138 mm (5.4 in) guns in a shore battery at El Hank. The American ships responded by shelling Jean Bart, an incomplete French battleship forced to sail from Saint-Nazaire in May 1940 to escape advancing Nazi forces. When engaged, Jean Bart had only one of her two quadruple turrets installed, the other and half its guns had been lost to torpedo attack while in shipment from France.
Massachusetts began firing at 07:04 at a range of 22,000 m (72,000 ft); she continued until 08:33 with a seven-minute halt from 07:40 to 07:47. A total of nine full broadsides and thirty-eight volleys varying between three and six guns were fired, five rounds hit Jean Bart. One, at 08:06, disabled her operational turret, others struck docks and merchant ships, sinking two.
With the help of the heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa, Massachusetts next targeted French destroyers in the fray, sinking Fougueux and Boulonnais as well as the light cruiser Primauguet. Along with shore batteries, she shelled an ammunition dump. Massachusetts was hit twice by the battery at El Hank, but sustained only superficial damage. By the end of the engagement she had fired 786 of the 800 rounds of 16 inch ammunition she carried, or 98% of her complement.
After a cease-fire, she headed for the United States on 12 November and prepared for deployment to the Pacific.
Read more about this topic: USS Massachusetts (BB-59)
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