USS Massachusetts (BB-59) was a South Dakota–class battleship that had fought from the first days of America’s entry into World War II, opening fire on the Vichy French fleet at Casablanca during Operation Torch in November 1942. By the summer of 1945, with the war reaching its climax, she was operating with Admiral Halsey’s Third Fleet as it brought the war directly to the Japanese home islands. In late July and early August 1945, U.S. battleships and cruisers closed to within gun range of Japan itself, bombarding steel mills, industrial plants, and military installations along the coast — the first naval gunfire to strike the Japanese mainland. The August 1945 Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin covered Massachusetts’ part in these historic bombardments in four pages, documenting one of the final acts of American naval power in the Pacific War.
Click to enlarge
