USS Massachusetts
Battleship · United States · Lost 1921 · The Gulf of Mexico
An 1896 Indiana-class battleship, a Spanish-American War veteran, later sunk as a Navy target ship off Pensacola with her gun turrets still breaking the surface.
The Vessel and Her Loss
USS Massachusetts was one of the first steel battleships built for the U.S. Navy, commissioned in 1896 alongside sister ships Indiana and Oregon, and saw service in the Spanish-American War. Decommissioned in 1919, she was sunk in 1921 as a target ship during Navy experimental artillery trials off Pensacola, Florida. Two of her 13-inch gun turrets still rise above the water today. The wreck is preserved as a Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve.
Vessel
- 1896
- BB-2
- Not established
- Not established
- Steel
- 350 ft
- 69 ft
- Not established
- Steam, twin screw
- United States Navy
Loss
- January 1, 1921
- Intentional sinking
- Just outside Pensacola Pass, southwest of Fort Pickens, Florida
- Gulf of Mexico
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Two of her 13-inch gun turrets remain visible above the waterline.
- Not established
- Not established
- Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve; National Register of Historic Places
Position
- 30.30° N 87.31° W
- Approximate position
- Pensacola, Florida
Approximate position published for the wreck, which lies within a Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve off Pensacola Pass.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (88/100)
Build details, service history, sinking as target ship.
Florida's Museums in the Sea (Florida Division of Historical Resources)
Preserve designation and dive site description.
Florida Scuba Diving (dive-site reference)
Published GPS coordinates for the wreck site.
