By Steve Forand
Many if not all have been onboard the Battleship Massachusetts in Fall River. It is difficult to miss the ship as you are crossing eastbound on the Braga Bridge. It has been a fixture for so long that many of us ride by and don’t give it a second thought. However, the war memorial is an important and fascinating piece of our nations’ World War II history. Before I discuss the reasons for building the ship, here are several interesting details of the “Big Mamie”
A common question is how does this differ from the Iowa Class battleships? It is all about size and more importantly, speed. The Iowa class was built to accompany the fast attack carrier forces. The aircraft carriers were built for speed to generate wind across the flight deck as there were no catapults to launch aircraft. Wind was critical to launch heavy fighter, dive bomber, torpedo bomber aircraft. Consequently, the Iowa class was envisioned to accompany and protect these naval attack forces.
The Iowa Class included the battleships Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri and Wisconsin
- 58,460 tons (fully loaded)
- Length: 860 ft
- Beam: 108.2 ft
- Draft: 37 ft
- Speed 33 kts
- Complement: 151 officers and 2637 men
- Armor: 12.1 inch belt
The 16 inch naval guns or rifles were standard for the modern U.S. Navy battleship. As ships became more heavily armored it required a heavier projectile to inflict damage and sink other ships of similar size. Additionally, the range of these guns depended upon the type of shell, but in the range of 21 – 24 miles. However most naval engagements were roughly 11 miles, with some under 2 miles! (Guadalcanal).
The other use of the large naval guns was shore bombardment. Sitting offshore, naval guns can hit targets along the shore as well as inland. A large ship at sea can see approximately 10-12 miles, depending on the height of the signal bridge above the water. To assist in identifying targets and correcting long range shots, battleships carried spotting aircraft onboard. Three aircraft was the usual compliment. They were carried on the stern and in the case of a ship to ship battle, most were launched or pushed into the sea as the aviation fuel in their tanks was highly explosive/flammable!
To begin the question of why the US Navy built this type of battleship, we have to go back and examine a key naval battle of World War I. On 31 May 1916, the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet met in the North Sea at the battle of Jutland. At 3:45pm the British and German battle cruiser squadrons opened fire, ship to ship, as in the days of sail. During this battle of modern naval warfare, the ships were armored steel, speeds up to twenty-six knots, large naval guns and long engagement ranges. By 1 June after three main engagements, the battle was over and the British Navy had lost 14 ships including three battle cruisers and 6000 men killed. German losses were significantly less with 11 ships lost and over 2500 men killed. This battle became a watershed for the construction of future naval combatants. Ship designers went back to the drawing board. Consequently, most major navies began the construction of larger, faster and more heavily gunned and armored (especially the deck).
The US was not yet in the war and the majority of shipbuilding during the war years 1917 and 1918 was focused on transport ships and destroyers. However, by the end of the war, big ship building resumed. There were several US battleship programs in 1914, 1915 and 1916. In 1916 ten battleships and six battlecruisers were ordered. In 1920 the first five of these battleships with 16 inch guns were laid down as well four of the battle cruisers. In Japan, in 1920-21 the Japanese Navy built two large battleships with 16 inch guns and embarked upon a 16 ship program including eight battleships and eight battlecruisers, all with 16 inch guns!
These ship building programs were expensive requiring years of funding to complete. Great Britain was both exhausted and near bankruptcy by the end of WWI. They could not keep up financially to new shipbuilding and public sentiment after fighting the “war to end all wars” this was not where treasure should be spent. In 1921 Britain and the US announced an arms limitation conference to be convened in Washington. In 1922 the Washington Naval Disarmament treaty was signed by the US Britain, Japan, France and Italy. It imposed a ten-year holiday on battleship construction. Modifications to the treaty in 1930 added five more years to the building holiday. The treaty required many pre-Jutland ships, and most new ships under construction be scrapped. It also included a carefully organized scheme to replace aging ships beginning on 31 December,1936.
Several interesting points in the treaty included limiting the displacement of future battleships to 35,000 tons (minus the fuel). It also imposed a 5:5:3 ratio which most states felt unfair, especially Japan. This ration allowed the US and Britain to have total tonnage of battleship and battlecruiser fleet to between 500,000 to 525,000 tons max. Japan was allowed 300,000 to 315,000 tons max. France and Italy was allowed 175,000 tons max.
There was a provision in the treaty that allowed a nation to withdraw from the treaty after giving sufficient notice. On 29 Dec, 1934, Japan, never happy with the treaty, issued a two year notice of her intention to withdraw in 1936. After Japan’s withdrawal a new treaty in 1936 contained a provision of the “escalator clause” which allowed a signatory nation to increase maximum gun size from 14 to 16 inches should another nation decline to ratify. Japan declined to ratify because of the international criticism of her actions in Manchuria. Italy also declined in protest to objections of her 1935 invasion of Ethiopia.
During the interwar years the growing capabilities of the aircraft drew the attention of all navies. In 1921 Brigadier Billy Mitchell US Army Air Corps organized and led the first planned demonstration that sank a real battleship, the captured German battleship SMS Ostfriesland. Planes attacking anchored obsolete ships proved that they could be destroyed by aerial bombs. This demonstration alerted navies that additional weapons would be required for self-defense. More weapons meant more weight requiring a tradeoff in either armor or other weapons or ship machinery to stay within the treaty limitations of 35,000 tons.
A rapidly deteriorating situation in Europe and Asia led to massive naval expenditures in 1938. As the situation worsened, more ships were ordered and the tonnage limits set by the 1922 and 1930 treaties were set aside. Ships operating in the Pacific would be required to carry additional fuel to cover the great distances. In addition, the concern over air attacks from both land based and carrier based air, required heavy anti-aircraft weapons including numerous 40 and 20mm guns.
Strafford Morss
Warship International, Vol. 43, No. 3 (2006), pp. 273-309 (37 pages)
