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Sixty years ago, thousands of spectators in Quincy,
MA, gasped as one of the world’s most lethal fighting vessels emerged from
Bethlehem Steel’s Fore River Ship Yard. As the grey leviathan lumbered down
the ways, Mrs. Charles Francis Adams christened her, “Massachusetts.”
On Mother’s Day, May 12, 2002, Ms. Alison Adams Hagan (above) commemorated
her grandmother’s historic actions along with a crowd of 750 others at Battleship
Cove in a weeklong celebration that included the battleship’s symbolic rechristening
and recommisioning, the BB59 crewmembers’ reunion, and the dedication of
the newly restored Admiral’s Quarters. A
number of distinguished guests attended the event to pay homage to the vessel
that fired the first and last American 16” shells in battle during World
War II. Honored speakers included: Ambassador J. William Middendorf, former Secretary
of the Navy; Mr. Daniel Burnham, Chairman of Raytheon Co., the event’s sponsor;
RADM Rodney P. Rempt, President of the Naval War College; and CAPT Alan Slaff,
a former administrative dean of Harvard Business School who commanded the guided
missile cruiser Albany and served as an officer on BB59 during WWII. Other
notable guests included: LCDR Benjamin D. Schulman, the former Massachusetts officer
who funded the Admiral’s Quarters restoration project; William Saltonstall,
who attended the Massachusetts’ 1941 launch as the son of then-governor
Leverett Saltonstall; and many of the direct descendants of the battleship’s
original commanding officers and crew. Following
the program, which included a wreath casting, a twenty-one gun salute, and musical
selections by the New England Navy Musicians, guests adjourned from the fantail
to the wardroom to enjoy a sumptuous reception. Subsequently, Robert E. Haley,
the museum’s former president, and LCDR Schulman shared the ribbon-cutting
duties while unveiling the restored Admiral’s Quarters. |
