USS Massachusetts, third of the class, was commissioned in May 1942, and five months later joined Operation Torch, the U.S. invasion of French North Africa. With the French subdued and the threats from the German and Italian fleets in decline, USS Massachusetts was dispatched to the Pacific, arriving in March 1943. USS Massachusetts returned to the United States after the war, and decommissioned in 1947. The slow speed of Massachusetts and its sisters (relative to the Iowa class) precluded their reactivation for the Korean War. Its sister, USS Alabama, was preserved at Mobile Bay, and its cousin, USS North Carolina, at Wilmington.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 18, 2019 07:52 UTC