Battleship Cove Fall River

I thought Patton grew up in Hamilton MA? As part of a WW2 commeration my dad got to see the family property. He met the General's grand daughter. She actually drove him around in a cart (my dad is on o2).
 
And, if you believe in that stuff, it is supposedly haunted.


Oh the USS Salem is a hoot. Ask about the chief. He has to be experienced to be believed lol. Cool ship, built for the invasion of Japan. Interior is pretty well kept. Radar room is awsome. Outside is a hot mess. Flaking paint etc. there was some bad blood between the GM and a ham group that would broadcast from there. Don't know the whole story.
 
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I haven't visited there since a field trip in grammar school... and its literally 15 minutes away from me
 
I thought Patton grew up in Hamilton MA? As part of a WW2 commeration my dad got to see the family property. He met the General's grand daughter. She actually drove him around in a cart (my dad is on o2).
As Bob P said, he grew up in CA, then attended VMI for a year before transferring to USMA: two prior generations had attended VMI. His grandfather was a Confederate officer killed during the Civil War.

Patton's son MG George Smith Patton, IV was born and died in S. Hamilton.

A post-battle account by Captain Frank Dailey:

The 16th. On our usual 180 degrees, 000 degrees patrol outside Casablanca. Early this afternoon we went into the harbor and refueled. Boy, what havoc we raised in that place during the bombardment. About 10 ships are full of holes and resting on the bottom, including at least 2 cruisers and 4 destroyers. Other destroyers were sunk by us on the outside. The Edison had a pretty good hand in sinking three, one almost single handed. The battleship Jean Bart is resting on the bottom.

Wiki
She was hit and moderately damaged by U.S. dive bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. She was silenced by the fifth hit from the 16" guns of the USS Massachusetts, which jammed the rotating mechanism of the one working turret. The first of the seven 406 mm (16.0 in) shells which hit her, and the only one which pierced the upper armoured deck, had exploded in a magazine of 152 mm (6.0 in) turret, which was empty as these turrets had not been installed. In normal war circumstances, this event would have had catastrophic consequences. The weakness of the armor of these magazines was known, and was to be corrected on the Gascogne.

The 380 mm (15 in) turret was quickly repaired. On 10 November, Jean Bart opened fire again, and almost hit the USS Augusta, the Task Force 34 flagship. Bombers from Ranger soon inflicted severe damage on her, two heavy bombs hitting the bow and the stern, and she sank into the harbor mud with decks awash.[33][34]

Jean Bart's commanding officer, Captain Barthes, was promoted to Rear Admiral on 18 November 1942. During the three days of the 'Battle of Casablanca', Jean Bart fired twenty-five 380 mm rounds; twenty-two of her seamen were killed.
 
I really like the SD class ships. They were only 6 knots slower than the Iowa class, just as potent an AAA platform and they actually fought battleship duels while the Iowas came on too late for that.
 
Grew up not too far from the Massachusetts.. and have visited various times, including sleepovers with the scouts. Also did the Salem overnight. Both are great experiences for the scouts. The chief on the Salem was a hoot.

Some of the scout dads had a problem with the Salem experience, as they did not appreciate it being day 1 of boot camp. I thought the chief really made the show, especially when we got the trash can alarm clock at 0630. When the somebody complained that the Chief told us the night before that wakeup was at 0700, he replied "I lied!". And when he told the group that they had 15 minutes to square away the sleeping berth, those boys scurried around like ants on fire. Same was true when we had to clean the mess area. You could hear the boys warn, "Hurry up, the Chief's coming!".. Plus, he really got the cub scouts attention when they boys kept talking in the engine room. He dropped a huge wrench on the deck.. BAM!.. there was no more talking after that..

Both have excellent museums. Salem has firearms I've only read about and had never seen such as an actual Liberty, and various Vietnam-era weapons. Massachusetts has lots of weapons, and relics from WWII, plus the PT boats. Down the street from the Massachusetts is the Cinderella bakery and some of the best Portuguese sweet bread and hard rolls the area has to offer. The linguica rolls there are awesome too..

You can't go wrong with either museum.
 
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Visited here this past weekend with the cub scouts, great time. We did the sleepover, we got home and we noticed that everything smells like the ship, which I guess would be an odor of fuel oil.

I like it, my wife, not so much. [laugh]

There is a room (I think it's called the ordinance room) they displayed some shells, mines, and torpedoes. That room smelled awesome.... like gun oil, but somehow better.
 
i did the sleepover as a boy scout also.... and countless school field trips, one thing that always stuck with me was a fact about those 16/45s, that they could shoot a Volkswagen bug 20 miles.....

AP rounds at 2700lbs full powder load muzzle velocity of 2300fps

range, 21miles.....
from the taunton river she can shell new bedford harbor, newport and providence....
 
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I was chatting with one of the caretakers the last time I was there. Only one of the engine rooms is restored (the one you can go in of course). The others are in such bad shape it would be dangerous to walk around in them. Too bad thought it would be pretty cool to see.
 
i did the sleepover as a boy scout also.... and countless school field trips, one thing that always stuck with me was a fact about those 16/45s, that they could shoot a Volkswagen bug 20 miles.....

AP rounds at 2700lbs full powder load muzzle velocity of 2300fps

range, 21miles.....
from the taunton river she can shell new bedford harbor, newport and providence....

I can't remember right now if the ones at ft tabor in new Bedford where 16" or 12" but u did a range map once for all the ordnance there and they could reach out to Martha's vineyard.

Also remember an exhibit at the USS nj that had a ww2 Japanese shell that had a special shape to make the shells level out under the surface of the water if they fell short and hit under the belt armor
 
Yup. Got to stay overnight on that ship as well, not with Scouts, but Civil Air Patrol (ok, sorta like scouts). We got to do the retirement of the colors at night, and a wreath ceremony the next day. Eveyone on the ship thaught we were part of it because I was always in uniform...
 
FYI... for those in Scouting, my cub scouts are overnight camping at Fort Adams in May. This is a new one for us.. should be fun.

http://www.fortadams.org/bDiscoverbTheFortress/FortAdamsHistory/FullHistory.aspx

that looks awesome, let us know how it works out. We keep doing the same things in a rotation, it'd be nice to have other options.

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I have many of my airplane models on display in the lower level in the display cases. Battleship Cove is always a good take.

some of those are yours? You have a heck of a collection.
 
i did the sleepover as a boy scout also.... and countless school field trips, one thing that always stuck with me was a fact about those 16/45s, that they could shoot a Volkswagen bug 20 miles.....

AP rounds at 2700lbs full powder load muzzle velocity of 2300fps

range, 21miles.....
from the taunton river she can shell new bedford harbor, newport and providence....
I believe that is 2.2196e+8 ft lbs of engergy...pretty crazy.

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If you ever find yourself in Mobile, the Alabama is an outstanding visit. The ship was turned over to the museum directly from the Navy Reserve, who was using it as a training ship. The museum had a much less challenging restoration than the Massachusetts, since it was still working when they got it.

Must be 20 years since I was at Battleship Cove last - I might be due a visit.
 
Went a few years ago and loved it - could have spent a couple more hours crawling around the Massachusetts.

There are few places like the lower decks of a battleship. Decommissioned, as it is, with various exit points welded-up, and others chained shut, just retracing your steps can be a challenge. As a child, I gave it no thought. Twenty-something years later I saw it all again, but through adult eyes, and with a different kind of wonder. I remember realizing that - here - there was no natural light (and), dependent upon the electric lighting I was; if there were a fire, if the lights went dark, I would never make it out alive. Since that second visit to Battleship Cove I've made a point of ALWAYS carrying a flashlight.
 
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I use do shoot at my local club with two plank owners of the Massachusetts. went down with one of them to tour the ship. the plank owners were treated like gold and since I had never been before, my buddy opted for the offered private tour. he reminisced all day, the guide was in awe of his stories and experiences as was I. sadly, he passed away a while back but it was a day i'll remember until I die. well worth going to see, battleship cove.
 
We did the sleepover there when my son was in cub scouts. Was a great experience. There is a ton to see, but the best part was when we got to listen to an original crew member tell his story. That was probably 10 years ago, so I'm not sure there are many crew members left.

Less impressive as a museum, but a better sleepover experience was the USS Salem in Quincy. The ship did not have as many finished spaces to explore, but the activities for the kids seemed like a lot more fun.

Both places are great.

I had a patient a few months ago that served on the Massachusetts.
 
USS Massachusetts (BB-59), known as "Big Mamie" to her crewmembers during World War II, was a battleship of the second South Dakota class. She was the seventh ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the sixth state, and one of two ships of her class (along with her sister Alabama) to be donated for use as a museum ship. Massachusetts has the distinction of having fired the US Navy's first and last 16-in (406 mm) shells of the war.[SUP][3][/SUP]

Fired the first, in the Torch landings against the Vichy French battleship Jean Bart (many of the shells dating from WWI).

Of the five shells that hit Jean Bart,two, perhaps three, failed to explode. The two that exploded hit in the "nothing" sections of an "all or nothing" designed battleship. These two wrecked large parts of the ship, but parts that contained no vital equipment.

The two hits which definitely did not explode hit the hard armor of the primary turrets. In both cases, the fuse mechanism broke off. In one case, the inert shell - weighing 2,700 pounds, moving at 1,520 feet per second, falling at a 25 degree angle - crippled the target even without exploding. The one operational turret was jammed in position by impact damage to the barbette. For three hours, the Jean Bart could not traverse the forward turret to bring her guns to bear on target.

The fifth shell to hit entered the funnel, and passed easily through several light internal partitions. The first heavy deck encountered by the shell was the hull, just below the water line. As designed, the AP shell went right through this armor, and delayed for 0.033 seconds before detonating. Maybe. They were not able to determine if this shell went off. At the point it should have detonated, it was well clear of the ship and underwater.

USS MA was also the flagship for the Army commander, some guy named Patton. Patton's wife was from MA.
 
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The museum is hosting a clam boil fundraiser on the fantail of the USS Massachusetts to benefit the restoration of the Huey Helicopter on Sunday, June 26, from 5:30-7:30pm!
The UH-1m (Huey) on display at Battleship Cove was manufactured in 1966, and served two tours in Vietnam was assigned to the 14th Aviation Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Division. She was hit by hostile fire in 1969 – the battle damage still visible today. The Huey was dedicated at the museum on May 30, 1993, and is an important part of this country’s history.
Guests will enjoy waterfront seating, and a classic clam boil with all the fixings.
2 Qts of clams
Half a link of chourico
2 Sausage links
1 Hot dog
1 White potato
1 Sweet potato
1 Onion
1 Ear of corn
Melted butter and broth
Meal is served with iced tea and lemonade and chocolate brownie trifles for dessert.
Space is very limited and reservations are required.
$40 Adults, Veterans $35.00, $18.00 Children 12 and under. Reservations are required. Please call 508-678-1100 ext. 101/102 to reserve your tickets today.
For more information regarding the Huey Helicopter restoration, please email Elizabeth York at [email protected].

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It's been a long time since I've been back down there. As a kid I stayed on her for two nights as part of the Boy Scouts. It was a ton of fun running around the ship at all hours of the night. Need to head back down one of these days.
I slept aboard her with the JCC, my boy scout troop didn't go there when I was in [sad].
 
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