USS Massachusetts (BB-59) - Pacific War

Pacific War

Massachusetts arrived at Nouméa, New Caledonia on 4 March 1943. For the next few months, she operated in the South Pacific, protecting convoy lanes and supporting operations in the Solomon Islands. From 19–21 November, she sailed with an aircraft carrier group striking Makin, Tarawa, and Abemama in the Gilbert Islands; on 8 December, she shelled Japanese positions on Nauru.

The Navy now drove steadily across the Pacific. On 30 January 1944, Massachusetts bombarded Kwajalein, and she covered the landings there on 1 February. With a carrier group she struck against the Japanese stronghold at Truk on 17 February. That raid not only inflicted heavy damage on Japanese aircraft and naval forces, but also proved to be a stunning blow to enemy morale. On 21–22 February, Massachusetts helped fight off a heavy air attack on her task group while it made raids on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. She took part in the attack on the Caroline Islands in late March and participated in the landing of US troops at Hollandia on 22 April. Upon retiring from Hollandia, Massachusetts and the other ships of Task Force 38 (TF 38) staged another attack on Truk.

Massachusetts shelled Ponape Island on 1 May, her last mission before sailing to Puget Sound to overhaul and reline her gun barrels, now well-worn. On 1 August, she left Pearl Harbor to resume operations in the Pacific war zone. She departed the Marshall Islands on 6 October, sailing to support the landings in Leyte Gulf. In an effort to block Japanese air attacks in the Leyte conflict, she participated in a fleet strike against Okinawa on 10 October. From 12–14 October she screened Allied forces while they struck Formosa. While part of Task Group 38.3 (TG 38.3) she took part in the Battle for Leyte Gulf from 22–27 October, during which planes from her group sank four Japanese carriers off Cape Engaño. After having stopped briefly at Ulithi, Massachusetts returned to the Philippines as part of TF 38 which struck Manila on 14 December.

On 18 December 1944 Massachusetts and the other ships of TF 38 unexpectedly found themselves in a fight for their lives when Typhoon Cobra overtook the force. At the time of the typhoon Massachusetts was sailing with the Third Fleet's Task Group 38.1 and reported one injured sailor and two planes lost as a result of the typhoon.

From 30 December–23 January 1945, she sailed as part of TF 38, which struck Formosa and supported the landing at Lingayen. During that time she turned into the South China Sea, where TF 38 destroyed shipping from Saigon to Hong Kong; the operation concluded with air strikes on Formosa and Okinawa.

From 10 February – 3 March, with the 5th Fleet, Massachusetts guarded carriers during raids on Honshū. Her group also struck Iwo Jima by air for the invasion of that island. On 17 March, the carriers launched strikes against Kyūshū while Massachusetts fired in repelling enemy attacks, splashing several planes. Seven days later, she bombarded Okinawa. She spent most of April fighting off air attacks, while engaged in the operations at Okinawa, returning to the area in June, when she passed through the eye of a typhoon with 100 knots (190 km/h; 120 mph) winds on 5 June. She bombarded Minami Daito Jima in the Ryukyu Islands on 10 June.

Massachusetts sailed on 1 July from Leyte Gulf to join the Third Fleet's final offensive against Japan. After protecting carriers that launched strikes against Tokyo, she formed part of a force that, on 14 July, shelled Kamaishi, Honshū, Japan's second largest iron and steel center. Two weeks later, she bombarded the industrial complex at Hamamatsu before she returned to blast Kamaishi on 9 August. It was here that Massachusetts fired what was probably the last 16 in (410 mm) shell fired in combat in World War II.