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. Her keel was laid down in July 1939 at the Fore River Shipyard of Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched in September 1941 and sponsored by Mrs. Charles Francis Adams, wife of the Secretary of the Navy, and commissioned in May 1942 at Boston, Massachusetts with Captain Francis E.M. Whiting in command. The ship, which saw action throughout World War II, is believed to have fired the U.S. Navy's first and last 16-inch shells of the war. BB-59 is currently a museum ship, the focal point of Battleship Cove at Fall River, Massachusetts.
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