USS Massachusetts

Pensacola, Florida

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Wreck

One of the best small boat dives in the Pensacola area. The wreck is mainly intact, but some sections are covered by sand.

USS Massachusetts (BB-2), an Indiana-class battleship, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the sixth state. She was launched on 10 June 1893.

Scuttled off Pensacola Bay, Florida, on 6 January 1921, the hulk was bombarded by batteries from Fort Pickens for four years!

On 15 November 1956, the ship was declared the property of the state of Florida. In 1993, the site was dedicated as an underwater archaeological preserve by the state of Florida, designed to become an artificial reef.

Characteristics:

Displacement: 10,288 t

Length: 350.9 ft

Beam: 69.3 ft

Draft: 24 ft

Speed: 16.21 knots

Complement: 586 officers and men

Armament: 4 x 13-inch guns, 8 x 8-inch guns, 4 x 6-inch guns, 2 x 3-inch guns, 20 x 6-pounders, 6 x 1-pounders, 6 x 18-inch torpedo tubes

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Massachusetts_%28BB-2%29 for more information about the history of this wreck.

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Reviews (1)

Jerry December 9th, 2016 - 6:11:

Massachusetts is one of the wrecks I'd wanted to explore since earning my 'C' card in 1997. Shortly after buying my boat, B' Wid a 'Tude in 2004, and when things settled down again after Hurricane Ivan, I anchored near her, set out my flag and went in. I had bad tidal info, so the dive quickly turned crazy, with a current trying hard to sweep me away. But being a firm believer in the adage "Plan your dive, and dive your plan", I stuck it out. I latched on to the nearest firm-looking piece of solid metal and hung on for dear life. The surprise was the variety of tropical fish on the wreck, veritible herds, groups, legions of tropical fish! I was at 24 feet depth, so my air should have lasted at least an hour, but the exertion of getting onto the wreck and hanging on caused me to go through my air quicker'n Shelley Winters on the Poseidon, and it was time to say goodbye. I highly recommend the old 'Mass', but hopefully you'll get to see her on a slack tide.

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More about diving Pensacola

Information about USS Massachusetts: Access: By boat; Quality: Good; Difficulty: CMAS * / OW; Highlights: Interesting; Avg Depth: 6 m / 19.7 ft; Max Depth: 14 m / 45.9 ft; Currents: Strong ( > 2 knots); Visibility: Medium ( 5 - 10 m)