80 Years ago, BIG MAMIE was helping the US fleet defend against the most massive Kamikaze onslaught of WW2 that saw many ships lost. BB-59 shot down many aircraft during these engagements that helped save American lives and those of our Allies. Now we ask you to help her and please consider donating to help us undertake important preservation efforts to the Superstructure of USS Massachusetts BB-59! For those who may wish to send a check, please mail the check to Battleship Cove, ATTN Chris Nardi, 5 Water St., Fall River, MA 02721. Checks should be made out to USS Massachusetts Memorial Committee Inc with superstructure on the memo field! We appreciate donations of any size in the effort to preserve USS Massachusetts BB-59! (fb)

80 Year ago on 6 April 1945- One of the largest Kamikaze attacks in history is recorded and USS Massachusetts is protecting carriers in Task Group 58.1 which is providing direct air support to the landing at Okinawa. It happened hundreds of times during WW2... US ships fought desperately to protect and defend their fellow countrymen from death by putting up a rain of anti-aircraft fire at diving suicide planes. On 6 April, USS Massachusetts saved potentially hundreds of lives on USS San Jacinto CVL-30 as her gunners shoot down a Japanese Kamikaze diving on SANJAC. Our recent research of the National Archives plus the deck logs from BIG MAMIE herself, provide the sight. This photograph shows the Japanese plane already hit and about to crash into the sea all too close to USS San Jacinto. BIG MAMIE's crew records this in the log: "At 1332, an enemy plane thought to be a 'VAL", dove out of a cloud toward USS SAN JACINTO. Our 20mm and 40mm machine gun battery hit the plane, knocking a wheel off, and set it afire. It crashed into the sea just forward of SAN JACINTO's bow. Part of the plane wreckage caused slight damage to the bow of SANJAC." The video can be seen on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thoLvKcJIHE Interestingly, this is only one of multiple Japanese aircraft shot down by USS Massachusetts this day in attempts to defend the Task Group along with the other heroic US ships. (fb)