{"id":4634,"date":"2018-07-17T15:23:30","date_gmt":"2018-07-17T19:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/HatchetOnline\/?p=4634"},"modified":"2024-08-16T09:56:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T13:56:22","slug":"the-glorious-story-of-fall-rivers-battleship-cove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/the-glorious-story-of-fall-rivers-battleship-cove\/","title":{"rendered":"The Glorious Story of Fall River\u2019s Battleship Cove"},"content":{"rendered":"

First published in Spring, 2011, Volume 7, Issue 1, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Fall River, Massachusetts, is home to an inlet that proudly bears the appropriate name Battleship Cove because it is the site of a wondrous outdoor naval museum displaying various ships and a submarine that are historically important.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is today the largest naval museum in the world was founded in 1965 when the USS Massachusetts<\/i> was moored at the cove to honor those service people, the vast majority of them men, who gave their lives in World War II in the fight against the aggression of the Axis powers. As Planetware<\/i> relates, \u201cSince then several other ships have joined the Massachusetts including PT torpedo boats 796 and 617, the USS Lionfish<\/i>, a WWII submarine and the USS Destroyer Joseph P. Kennedy<\/i>, which served in Korea, Vietnam and the Cuban Missile Crisis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Visitors to this extraordinary out of doors and on water museum are allowed to walk freely through most parts of these vessels. The Massachusetts Travel Journal<\/i> relates, \u201cThey can peer into a recreation of the captain\u2019s living quarters, see the small cots military personnel would sleep on, and walk through the submarine\u2019s dining area as 1940s music plays in the background.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Each of the vessels at Battleship Cove has its own very special story.<\/span>
\n\u00a0
\nThe USS Massachusetts and the Battle of Casablanca<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

According to the official website of Battleship Cove, the USS Massachusetts<\/i> was built in Quincy, Massachusetts, \u201cand holds the record as the heaviest ship ever launched in Quincy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On 12 May 1942, the USS Massachusetts<\/i> was commissioned. The workers who crafted this vessel apparently held a loyalty to this ship as well as their country since the Battleship Cove website reports, \u201cNearly eight hundred of her builders joined the Navy to serve on the Massachusetts<\/i>.\u201d They fondly called her \u201cBig Mamie.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This new ship had a crew who had to plunge into learning exactly how to maneuver and operate her at a level of professional excellence. In late October, 1942, the Massachusetts<\/i> left the waters of the United States to join the Battleships New York<\/i> and Texas<\/i> off the Atlantic coast of Casablanca, Morocco.<\/span><\/p>\n

These American ships were there to fight the forces of France that were collaborating with Nazi Germany, after the German invasion of France, in order to retain French control of its North African colonies.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Battleship Cove website states that on 8 November 1942, \u201cthe Massachusetts<\/i> fired the first American 16-inch gun salvos of World War II . . . In sixteen minutes she fired nine main battery salvos, scoring five hits.\u201d One French vessel, the Battleship Jean Bart<\/i>, was so damaged that it could no longer fight. The USS Massachusetts<\/i> returned fire on a French gun battery called the El Hank<\/i>. Later, the Massachusetts<\/i> sank the Destroyer Boulonnais<\/i> and helped sink the Destroyer Fougueux<\/i>. The Battery El Hank<\/i> also hit the Massachusetts<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the hard and skillful fighting of the brave crew of the Massachusetts <\/i>contributed to their side\u2019s eventual victory in this bitterly fought battle.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Massachusetts<\/i> returned to the state for which she had been named for fresh supplies and fittings. In February of 1943, she headed west through the Panama Canal to take part in the battles of the Pacific. The ship was extremely busy in furthering the Allied war effort. She participated in combat around the New Guinea-Solomons area, in the invasions of the Gilbert Islands and the Marshall Islands, in strikes against the group of islands then known as Truk, and in several raids against Japanese bases.<\/span><\/p>\n

In May 1944, the Massachusetts <\/i>sailed to Bremerton, Washington, to have some of her parts modernized. She returned to action in September of that same year and participated in the invasion of the Palau Islands as well as in attacks on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Historic Naval Ships Visitors Guide<\/i> notes that the Massachusetts<\/i> has a very special distinction: \u201cShe earned 11 battle stars for her World War II service and never lost a man in combat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After WWII, the Massachusetts<\/i> operated with the United States Pacific Fleet. Years later, she became part of the Reserve Fleet in Norfolk, Virginia. \u00a0The Battleship Cove website reports that the Massachusetts<\/i> \u201cwas stricken in 1962 from the Navy Register and ordered sold for scrap.\u201d This did not sit well with her former crew who had loyally held annual reunions since 1945. These dedicated men were determined that their beloved \u201cBig Mamie\u201d would become a memorial as befitted a ship with her distinguished record of service. Their lobbying efforts and fundraising paid off when the USS Massachusetts<\/i> was brought to Fall River in June 1965.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nDestroyer Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

It is hard to imagine a vessel possessing a richer history than the destroyer called the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.<\/i> That history starts with its very title, being named after the eldest child of the famous family headed by Joseph P. and Rose Kennedy. During World War II, the patriotic young Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., like so many Americans, enlisted in the military and became a Navy pilot. In August, 1944, he volunteered for a vital mission: flying a plane carrying explosives into a German rocket-launching site. According to the Battleship Cove website, \u201cThe mission went tragically awry: The charges detonated prematurely, and Kennedy was killed.\u201d After his death, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. was honored by being awarded both the Air Medal and the Navy Cross.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ship bearing his name was commissioned on 15 December 1945. Her crew soon affectionately called the boat the \u201cJoey P.\u201d For about five years, the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.<\/i> conducted training exercises in various places in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. As part of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, \u201cJoey P\u201d performed peacekeeping duties. The Battleship Cove website relates, \u201cOn February 3, 1951, she joined the carrier task force attacking North Korean positions. In May of that year she stood off Wonsan, North Korea, using her 5\u201d guns for nearly a month of continuous bombardment duty. Kennedy<\/i> left the war zone and arrived back in the States in August 1951, and for the next several years she completed several Sixth Fleet tours of duty, midshipmen cruises, and joint NATO maneuvers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This vessel took on a fresh role in 1961: helping with the first Mercury<\/i> space flights. She returned to the Caribbean Sea to assist in these flights.<\/span><\/p>\n

In September 1962, she served as the ship on which the brother of her namesake, then-President John F. Kennedy, traveled to the America\u2019s Cup Races. During October, she sailed to the Caribbean Sea once again, this time in order to help with the naval blockade of Cuba that had been ordered by the President during the Cuban Missile Crisis. On 26 October 1962, the Kennedy<\/i> stopped the Greek vessel Marucla<\/i> which was suspected of attempting to transport missile parts to Cuba. Crew from the Kennedy<\/i> boarded the Marucla<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later she would again participate in the space program, this time by serving as a recovery ship during its Gemini <\/i>period. Battleship Cove acquired the Kennedy<\/i> in 1974. The ship participated in the making of the motion picture Thirteen Days<\/i> in 2000, \u201cacting\u201d as herself.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe Hiddensee<\/i>, a Lionfish<\/i> \u2013 and the Fall River<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Built by the Soviet Union and commissioned by East Germany, the Hiddensee <\/i>is what is called a \u201cmissile corvette.\u201d The Battleship Cove website states that it was \u201cdesigned to oppose any naval threat to the East German Coast\u201d and that it carried \u201canti-ship missiles and an array of defensive weapons designed to ensure her own survivability.\u201d After West and East Germany reunified into a single country, that country\u2019s Navy used the Hiddensee<\/i> until April 1991. Shortly afterward, the German government transferred this vessel to the United States and she became part of our Navy. She was used in various capacities and often in research operations. Battleship Cove acquired the Hiddensee<\/i> in 1997.<\/span><\/p>\n

Battleship Cove is home to a submarine named the USS Lionfish<\/i> that is one of Battleship Cove\u2019s most popular exhibits. Commissioned on 1 November 1944, she served America in Japanese waters. An enemy submarine fired two torpedoes at the USS Lionfish<\/i> but both of them missed. On 1 May 1945, the firepower of the deck guns of the Lionfish<\/i> demolished a Japanese schooner. The Battleship Cove website states,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

After a rendezvous with the submarine Ray<\/i>, she transported B-29 survivors to Saipan and then made her way to Midway Island for replenishment. On 2 June she started her second war patrol, and on 10 July she fired torpedoes at a surfaced Japanese submarine, after which Lionfish\u2019s crew heard explosions and observed smoke through their periscope. She subsequently fired on two more Japanese submarines and ended her second and last war patrol performing lifeguard duty (the rescue of downed fliers) off the coast of Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was decommissioned and then re-commissioned on 31 January 1951, to play a part in NATO training exercises. She was again decommissioned and again re-commissioned. As the Battleship Cove website elaborates, she served \u201cas a reserve training submarine at Providence, Rhode Island.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The USS Lionfish <\/i>joined Battleship Cove in 1973.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps no vessel that is harbored at the naval museum is more suitably named than the one that was named after the town itself, the USS Fall River<\/i>. The Battleship Cove website reports that this ship \u201cwas launched on August 13, 1944 by New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey. The ship was sponsored by Mrs. Alexander C. Murray, wife of the mayor of Fall River.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This vessel was commissioned on 1 July 1945. The ship was used in a variety of experimental operations including the tests of atomic weapons that took place in the Marshall Islands in 1946. The Fall River<\/i> was a flagship in the Pacific from 12 January 1947 to 17 June 1947. The Battleship Cove website elaborates, \u201cShe returned to Puget Sound Navy Yard, where she was placed out of commission in reserve on October 31, 1947.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Visitors to Battleship Cove are welcomed at the entrance by the bow of the USS Fall River<\/i>.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nProudly keeping the PT history alive<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Battleship Cove also boasts the PT Boat Museum and Library that is maintained by PT Boats, Inc., an organization headquartered in a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. \u201cPT Boats\u201d are \u201cPatrol Torpedo Boats.\u201d The official website of PT Boats, Inc. describes the organization as \u201cestablished by veterans of WWII PT service to preserve the history of Patrol Torpedo Boats, their shore bases and tenders ships, and the men who manned them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The website continues that Battleship Cove devotes no less that 4,000 square feet to the exhibitions of two restored PT Boats as well as artifacts and information about many commissioned squadrons, bases and tender ships.<\/span><\/p>\n

The two PT boats at Battleship Cove are the Higgins-built PT 796 and the Elco-built PT 617. Both boats have the distinction of having won recognition by the United States government as National Historical Landmarks. The PT 796 is inside the WWII Quonset hut at Battleship Cove and the <\/i>PT 617 is inside its main building. Memorabilia and artifacts from all forty-five WWII PT squadrons are exhibited inside the USS Massachusetts<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the PT Boats, Inc. website, the PT 796 was nicknamed \u201cTail Ender.\u201d After WWII ended, the vessel \u201cwas temporarily part of Post War Squadron 1.\u201d At first, the armament remained on her. Later, as her assignments altered, the armament was taken off. During the Vietnam War, PT 796 performed towing work at Panama City, Florida, to help with the development of special equipment to be used during that conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n

Interestingly, the PT 796 served with the Destroyer Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. <\/i>on a very non-violent assignment. The two ships, now together at Battleship Cove, participated in the 1961 inauguration of John F. Kennedy as President of the United States. The PT 796 was towed as a float in the President\u2019s inaugural parade. The PT 796 was decommissioned in 1970 and turned over to the founder of PT Boats, Inc., J.M. \u201cBoats\u201d Newberry. After being restored by PT Boats, Inc., she was brought to Battleship Cove on 14 August 1975.<\/span><\/p>\n

The PT Boats, Inc. website relates, \u201cPT 617 was assigned to Patrol Torpedo Squadron 42, the only squadron commissioned after World War II. PT 617 participated in the Victory Loan Bond Drive in October and November 1945.\u201d Later, she was sold to civilians and served in various capacities as yacht, salvage boat, and platform for divers. PT Boats, Inc. purchased her in 1979 and restored her to what she had once looked like. She became a Battleship Cove exhibit on 1 September 1985.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nWhat is thought of Battleship Cove?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

As of this writing, several people have left reviews of Battleship Cove at Tripadvisor.com<\/i>. All of the reviews are glowingly positive. One reviewer wrote, \u201cIt was so much fun to tour all of the ships! You get to go almost everywhere in them.\u201d She added a piece of worthwhile advice to other potential visitors: \u201cWear good shoes and be prepared to walk a lot.\u201d Another reviewer stated, \u201cWe visited Battleship Cove during our stay in New England. I found it very interesting, particularly seeing the Russian ship alongside all the American ones.\u201d Another said, \u201cWe fully enjoyed our stop at the Battleship Cove. I thought we would be a bit more limited while visiting, but was pleasantly surprised we could venture in the sub and ships as we wanted. Took many many pictures, there are no restrictions!\u201d Still another pertinently commented, \u201cIt was interesting to [be] able to actually go in the bowels of the ships and submarine and to imagine what our war heroes had to endure at sea.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Home\/Travel section of an issue of the Boston Globe<\/i>, writer Robert Preer effusively praises Battleship Cove. Preer writes, \u201cIt\u2019s a year-round attraction on the Fall River waterfront . . . To say you can\u2019t miss it is no exaggeration. The big roads through the city, Interstate 195 and state routes 138 and 79, get so close that you can almost feel heat from the big guns pointed at you. History and military buffs, as well as those fascinated by the authentic stuff of battle, should follow their impulses and pull over.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Preer singles out the USS Massachusetts<\/i> for special accolades, speculating that this is the exhibit \u201cwhere visitors will want to spend the most time. . .\u201d Obviously highly impressed, Preer continues, \u201cIt does not take much imagination to get caught up in Big Mamie\u2019s history.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Later Preer states, \u201cBecause the rooms are well-preserved and maintained, visitors get a true feel for what life was like on the ship in wartime. All spaces are labeled and most have interpretive signs or audio-visual presentations that provide plenty of detail. The history comes alive even more through recorded recollections of crew members played on television monitors placed around the ship.\u201d However, Preer warns, \u201cThe bunk areas are not for the claustrophobic. Canvas-and-steel cots are packed tight and stacked in rows of three. The largest sleeping area held 183 men.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Fall River Carousel: An exhibit for landlubbers<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

There is a major exhibit at Battleship Cove that has always been on dry land\u2014and has never been in battle. That exhibit is the colorful Fall River Carousel. This beautiful carousel was created in 1920 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. It was a popular ride at the Lincoln Amusement Park in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts for 70 years. The Lincoln Amusement Park was known far and wide as a place of wholesome and often high-spirited entertainment for people of all ages. Many famous individuals, including Eleanor Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, visited the park.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1991, the Lincoln Amusement Park ran into financial difficulty. The Battleship Cove website relates that \u201ca group of Fall River business leaders lobbied to bring the carousel to Battleship Cove. . . . the community rallied around the carousel and refurbished it at a cost of $250,000. A majestic Victorian pavilion was constructed to house the attraction.\u201d <\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nOral histories and other Battleship Cove doings<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Battleship Cove does much to preserve truths about our military heritage. In addition to the ships themselves, there is the Veterans\u2019 Voices Oral History Project at Battleship Cove. According to the Battleship Cove website, the project \u201ccollects and preserves the life experiences of veterans as a growing, living record of American culture.\u201d One of the \u201cmost ambitious\u201d and \u201clargest veterans\u2019 oral history archives\u201d in New England, it includes the recorded remembrances of United States Senator and former Presidential candidate John S. McCain III.<\/span><\/p>\n

Battleship Cove Community Boating (BCCB) is a program that holds classes for both youth and adults in sailing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Committed to educating youngsters about naval history, Battleship Cove has its own Education Department that offers a wide variety of learning programs.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of those educational programs is \u201cNautical Nights\u201d in which children, accompanied by a parent or guardian, spend the night aboard a Battleship Cove vessel. This program started in 1972 when the leader of a Boy Scout troop asked the Executive Director of Battleship Cove at that time, Paul Vaitses, \u201cIs it possible for my scout group to spend a night aboard?\u201d and Vaitses enthusiastically answered, \u201cAbsolutely.\u201d The Battleship Cove website states, \u201cIt is not uncommon to see a father, who as a boy spent a night aboard the battleship, return with his son to repeat the experience. They trudge up the gangway carrying sleeping bags, pillows, backpacks (and an occasional teddy bear).\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Children and adolescents are inevitably impressed by what they see, the website elaborates:\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The awesome size of the ship dazzles them. They gaze at the masts where the U.S. flag and an array of signal flags flutter proudly. They marvel at the 16\u201d guns, the 40 MM mounts, the turrets and the superstructure. . . . After stowing their gear, campers wander in wonder at everything Battleship Cove has to offer. The look of amazement turns to glee when they climb on the 40 MM mounts and crank the handwheels. With imaginary shells bursting all around they fight off the enemy and save their proud ship. They scamper about, investigating the guns, ducking into the turrets, climbing on the mounts, sprinting up the ladders . . . exploring everywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

Visiting Battleship Cove is also certain to bring home to those of us who have not served our country in the military just how much our soldiers sacrifice\u2014and remind us to be grateful for all that they have done and will do to preserve our freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAbout Our Organization.\u201d PT Boats.<\/i> Web. 12 May 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

Battleship Cove: The World\u2019s Largest Naval Ship Museum<\/i>. U.S.S. Massachusetts<\/i> Memorial Committee. Web. 12 May 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBattleship Cove.\u201d TripAdvisor<\/i>. Web. 12 May 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFall River \u2013 Battleship Cove.\u201d Planetware.<\/i> Web. 12 May 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMilitary History at Battleship Cove in Fall River.\u201d \u00a0Massachusetts<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Travel Journal.<\/i> Web. 12 May 2011.<\/span>
\nPreer, Robert. \u201cOld ships fight their loss to memory.\u201d Boston\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Globe<\/i>. 1\/9\/2005. Web. 12 May 2011.<\/span>
\n\u201cPT Boat Museum.\u201d PT Boats, Inc.-Museum<\/i>. Web. 12 May 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUSS Massachusetts.\u201d Historic Naval Ships Visitors Guide<\/i>. Web. 12 May 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is hard to imagine a vessel possessing a richer history than the destroyer called the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":5077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-denise-noes-lizzie-whittlings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4634"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5136,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4634\/revisions\/5136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lizzieandrewborden.com\/hatchetonline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}