David Doyle Books Review - USS Massachusetts BB-59

Legends of Warfare
USS Massachusetts (BB-59)
by David Doyle

Reviewed by Martin J Quinn
January 2025

David Doyle Books has released a new title. This one covers the USS Massachusetts, (BB-59), a South Dakota-class battleship, which served during World War II, and is now a museum ship. This book is 176 pages long, and includes a history of the Massachusetts, from keel laying through her current service as a museum ship. There are nearly 400 photos, including some in original color.

This book is laid out with an introduction and six subsequent chapters:

- Chapter 1 - The Birth of a Battleship
- Chapter 2 - To War in the Atlantic
- Chapter 3 - Massachusetts Moves to the Pacific
- Chapter 4 - Taking the War to Japan
- Chapter 5 - Stateside!
- Chapter 6 - Massachusetts Today

While the book is broken into six chapters, the page count is almost evenly divided between her service with the fleet and her service as a memorial. The book is full of great photographs, including many pictures that I have not seen before. While there are lots of photos showing her during her wartime service, almost 2/3 of the photos in this book are of Massachusetts as a museum ship. These latter photos provide lots of details of the ship and her equipment. Of interest are photos of her single "Thunderbolt" quad 20mm AA mount she received during a 1944 refit.

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Conclusions:

Once again, David Doyle has released another high quality, hardcover book for ship modelers and naval enthusiasts. It has good info and tons of fine pictures, including a few original World War II color photos. As with earlier volumes, I think both naval history buffs and modelers will really like this book on the "Big Mamie". For modelers, there are lots and lots of detail shots for those wishing to build a model of Massachusetts. Highly recommended.

This is USS Massachusetts, BB-59 - Legends of Warfare, by David Doyle. Published by Schiffer Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7643-6887-5. The book retails for $29.99, and is available to order directly from David's website. Thanks to David Doyle Books for the review sample.