Skip to the story | Text edition home | Full site

Reported by us | Fall River

How 'Big Mamie' escaped the scrapyard and found a home in Fall River

Her wartime crew lobbied to save the battleship, and schoolchildren helped pay her way to Fall River.

By the SC360 Community Desk | Published Oct. 28, 2026 | Last verified Oct. 28, 2026, 1:31 p.m. ET

FALL RIVER The battleship that anchors Fall River's waterfront was headed for the scrapyard. The Navy struck USS Massachusetts from its register in 1962 and ordered her sold for scrap, and her wartime crew, who had held a reunion every year since 1945, lobbied to save her as a memorial, according to Battleship Cove, the Fall River museum built around her. With help from Massachusetts schoolchildren, they raised enough money to bring "Big Mamie" to Fall River in June 1965, and she opened to the public two months later.

Her guns now sit trained fore and aft, which the museum calls the posture of peace.

Built in Quincy

Bethlehem Steel built the ship at its Fore River Shipyard in Quincy. Her keel was laid July 20, 1939, she was launched Sept. 23, 1941, and she was commissioned May 12, 1942, according to the National Park Service's 1985 nomination of the ship to the National Register of Historic Places. She was the third of four South Dakota-class battleships, the nomination says, and carried nine 16-inch guns.

The museum says she still holds the record as the heaviest ship ever launched in Quincy and that her crew knew her as Big Mamie. It lists her at 680 feet long. She was designed to carry about 1,800 men but carried nearly 2,300 during the war, the museum says, the same wartime crew figure the park service nomination gives.

From Casablanca to Japan

Her first action came Nov. 8, 1942, in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. Off Casablanca, Morocco, she traded fire with the unfinished French battleship Jean Bart, moored at a pier, and five hits from Big Mamie silenced it, the museum says. It credits her with the first American 16-inch shell fired in anger in World War II, and says her guns also helped sink two destroyers and two merchant ships.

In February 1943 she went through the Panama Canal to the Pacific, where she fought for the rest of the war. The museum lists the invasion of the Gilbert Islands in November 1943, the Marshall Islands in January 1944, carrier strikes on Truk in February 1944 and the shelling of Iwo Jima and Okinawa before the 1945 invasions. By July 1945 she was off Japan with the Third Fleet, bombarding the iron and steel works at Kamaishi, and the museum says she fired the last 16-inch shell of the war there. She earned 11 battle stars, according to the park service nomination.

After the war she sat in the reserve fleet at Norfolk, Virginia. When the Navy struck her in 1962, about 5,000 tons of her equipment was removed for use on other Navy ships, the nomination says.

A fleet at the cove

Battleship Cove, a nonprofit, calls itself America's Fleet Museum. It says it holds five National Historic Landmarks: the battleship, the destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the submarine USS Lionfish and PT boats 617 and 796. It is also an official state and national memorial, with memorials to those lost in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War and the Sept. 11 attacks.

The destroyer, known to her crew as the "Joey P," is named for the eldest child of Joseph P. and Rose Kennedy, a Navy pilot killed in August 1944 when a secret bombing mission went wrong, the museum says. She was built at the same Quincy yard and commissioned Dec. 15, 1945. During the naval blockade of Cuba, on Oct. 26, 1962, she stopped and boarded the Greek freighter Marucla, which was suspected of carrying missile parts, the museum says. Battleship Cove acquired her in 1974, and in the spring of 2000 she was towed to Rhode Island Sound to play herself in the film "Thirteen Days."

Lionfish, a Balao-class submarine, made two war patrols in 1945 and went on permanent display at the cove in 1973. PT-617, the museum says, is the only surviving 80-foot Elco PT boat on display, the same type as the PT-109 John F. Kennedy commanded. PT-796, the last Higgins boat of her type to be built, was painted with the number 109 and towed as a float in President Kennedy's 1961 inaugural parade. She was dedicated at the cove on Aug. 14, 1975, and is shown inside a World War II-era Quonset hut.

Sleeping aboard

Battleship Cove began its Nautical Nights overnights in 1972, and the museum says they have become an annual tradition for many families. Groups sleep in the original enlisted quarters on the second deck, on canvas racks stretched over aluminum frames. The minimum age is 7, and the museum needs at least 75 people to open a private or extra night. New groups start with the inquiry form on the museum's website; returning groups email nautical-nights@battleshipcove.org.

Visiting

Battleship Cove is at 5 Water St. General admission is $25 for adults, $23 for seniors 65 and older, $16 for active military and veterans with ID and $15 for children 4 to 12, and children 3 and under get in free. The ticket includes the Maritime Museum. The ships are open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Dec. 7. From Dec. 8 to March 26, 2027, they open Friday to Sunday, on Monday holidays and during school vacation weeks, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Last admission to the ships is 90 minutes before closing, and the museum is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The phone number is 508-678-1100.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

Notes

Every fact comes from Battleship Cove's own pages on its ships, memorials, overnight program, hours and admission, and the National Park Service's 1985 National Register nomination of USS Massachusetts. The museum's account of the ship's war record is attributed to it. We read them on Oct. 28, 2026. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar.

Corrections

No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.

Sources (10)

  1. Battleship Cove: USS Massachusetts (BB-59)No posted date on the page. Built at Fore River, launched Sept. 23, 1941, heaviest ship launched in Quincy, Big Mamie, Operation Torch Nov. 8, 1942, Jean Bart, first and last 16-inch shells, Pacific service, Kamaishi, reserve fleet at Norfolk, stricken 1962 and ordered scrapped, crew reunions since 1945, schoolchildren, Fall River June 1965, opened two months later, guns fore and aft, 680 feet. Read Oct. 28, 2026.
  2. National Park Service: National Register of Historic Places nomination, USS Massachusetts (BB 59), Harry A. Butowsky, 1985Third of four South Dakota-class battleships, keel July 20, 1939, launched Sept. 23, 1941, commissioned May 12, 1942, nine 16-inch guns, wartime crew 2,300, 5,000 tons of equipment removed in 1962, 11 battle stars. Read Oct. 28, 2026.
  3. Battleship Cove: USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD-850)No posted date on the page. Namesake and the August 1944 mission, Joey P, Fore River, commissioned Dec. 15, 1945, Cuba blockade and the Marucla Oct. 26, 1962, acquired 1974, Thirteen Days in spring 2000. Read Oct. 28, 2026.
  4. Battleship Cove: USS Lionfish (SS-298)No posted date on the page. Balao class, two war patrols in 1945, on display at Battleship Cove in 1973. Read Oct. 28, 2026.
  5. Battleship Cove: PT-617 and PT-796No posted date on the page. PT-617 the sole surviving 80-foot Elco PT boat on display, same type as PT-109; PT-796 last of her type, painted 109 for the 1961 inaugural parade, dedicated Aug. 14, 1975, Quonset hut. Read Oct. 28, 2026.
  6. Battleship Cove: MissionNo posted date on the page. Nonprofit, five National Historic Landmarks, the five vessels, America's Fleet Museum, since 1965, 5 Water St. and phone. Read Oct. 28, 2026.
  7. Battleship Cove: MemorialsNo posted date on the page. Official state and national memorials to those lost in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War and 9/11. Read Oct. 28, 2026.
  8. Battleship Cove: Nautical NightsNo posted date on the page. Started 1972, annual tradition, designed for 1,800 and nearly 2,300 aboard in the war, second deck racks, minimum age 7, 75-person minimum, inquiry form and returning guest email. Read Oct. 28, 2026.
  9. Battleship Cove: Hours and AdmissionNo posted date on the page. Fall hours Oct. 19 to Dec. 7, 2026, winter hours Dec. 8, 2026 to March 26, 2027, last admission 1 1/2 hours before closing, admission rates, Maritime Museum included, holiday closings. Read Oct. 28, 2026.
  10. Library of Congress: Battleship Cove, showing the USS Massachusetts and the USS Joseph P. Kennedy (Carol M. Highsmith)Lead photo: Carol M. Highsmith Archive, LC-DIG-highsm-13499, between 1980 and 2006, no known restrictions on publication. Read Oct. 28, 2026.

This story on the full site