A requirement to be armored against the same caliber of guns as they carried, combined with the displacement restriction, resulted in cramped ships, a problem that was exacerbated by wartime modifications that considerably strengthened their anti-aircraft batteries and significantly increased their crews.

Later in 1945, the ship supported Allied forces during the Battle of Okinawa and thereafter participated in attacks on Japan, including bombarding industrial targets on Honshu in July and August.

The South Dakota class was ordered in the context of global naval rearmament during the breakdown of the Washington treaty system that had controlled battleship construction during the 1920s and early 1930s.

[2] Massachusetts received a series of modifications through her wartime career, consisting primarily of additions to anti-aircraft battery and various types of radar sets.

The first addition was the installation of SC air search radar in 1941, fitted in the foremast, which was later replaced with an SK type set.

She then conducted her shakedown cruise before moving to Casco Bay, Maine; from there, she was assigned to the Western Naval Task Force, which was to support Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa.

She became the flagship of Rear Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt,[6] part of Task Group (TG) 34.1, which also included the heavy cruisers Wichita and Tuscaloosa and four destroyers.

The ships rendezvoused with the rest of the invasion fleet on 28 October some 450 nmi (830 km; 520 mi) southeast of Cape Race and proceeded across the Atlantic.

The ships were tasked with neutralizing the primary French defenses, which included coastal guns on El Hank, several submarines, and the incomplete battleship Jean Bart which lay at anchor in the harbor with only half of its main battery installed.

[6] On 30 June, she provided cover for an amphibious assault on New Georgia, part of Operation Cartwheel; at the time, she was assigned to the battleship group for TF 36.3, which included her sister ship Indiana and North Carolina.

For the operation, she was detached to form TG 50.8 under the command of Rear Admiral Willis Lee, along with North Carolina, Indiana, South Dakota, and Washington and several escorting destroyers.

The fleet continued on to conduct a series of strikes on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam, which provoked heavy Japanese air attacks in response.

Accordingly, she joined TG 38.3 on reaching the fleet and escorted carriers that made a series of strikes in late August and early September in preparation of the landings at Morotai and Peleliu.

The first operation was a major strike on Japanese air bases on the island of Okinawa on 10 October, part of an effort to reduce Japan's ability to interfere with the landings from airbases in the region.

From 12 to 14 October, the fast carrier task force struck bases on Formosa (Taiwan), before returning to the invasion fleet off Leyte, the initial target.

Ozawa's carriers, by now depleted of most of their aircraft, were to serve as a decoy for Kurita's and Nishimura's battleships, which were to use the distraction to attack the invasion fleet directly.

Unknown to Halsey and Mitscher, Kurita had resumed his approach through the San Bernardino Strait late on 24 October and passed into Leyte Gulf the next morning.

[25] Heavy resistance from Taffy 3 threw Kurita's battleships and cruisers into disarray and led him to break off the attack before Massachusetts and the rest of TF 34 could arrive.

[24] Halsey detached the battleships Iowa and New Jersey as TG 34.5 to pursue Kurita through the San Bernardino Strait while Lee took the rest of his ships further southwest to try to cut off his escape, but both groups arrived too late.

[26] The fleet withdrew to Ulithi to replenish fuel and ammunition before embarking on a series of raids on Japanese airfields and other facilities on Luzon as the amphibious force prepared for its next landing on the island of Mindoro in the western Philippines.

[28][29] From 30 December to 23 January 1945, Massachusetts operated with the carriers of TF 38, which made a series of raids on Formosa and Okinawa, to support the invasion of Lingayen Gulf in the northern Philippines.

The ship carried on in her role as an escort for the fleet carriers during a series of strikes on Honshu; these were made to support the upcoming invasion of Iwo Jima.

Two days later, the carriers began another series of attacks on mainland Japan, starting with targets on the island of Kyushu to weaken Japanese forces before the invasion of Okinawa in April.

A large counter-attack consisting of 48 kamikazes hit the fleet, but the attacks were concentrated on TG 58.4 and as a result Massachusetts was not heavily engaged.

The next day, during raids on the Kure area, Japanese bombers attacked the fleet and badly damaged the carrier Wasp, part of TG 58.1, though Massachusetts was not hit.

Heavy damage inflicted on other units by bombers and kamikazes prompted Mitscher, the commander of TF 58, to withdraw his fleet and reorganize it.

The work lasted until 28 January 1946, when she sailed south to San Francisco, California before proceeding on to Hampton Roads, Virginia, which she reached on 22 April.

In March 1954, a program to equip the four ships with secondary batteries consisting of ten twin 3-inch (76 mm) guns were proposed, but the plan came to nothing.

[6] While she was in reserve, the Navy removed approximately 5,000 tons of equipment for use on other naval vessels, including both of the explosive-driven catapults used to launch float planes.

In addition, the survey also located leaking rivets and identified a need to remove two of the battleship's propellers for repair purposes.