Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast Episode 405 - The USS Massachusetts, America's Dumbest Battleship
Mar 16, 2026
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Political Compromise Forced Flawed Ship Role Change
- Budget cuts shrank Tracy's grand plan down to three Indiana class ships intended for coastal defense rather than a full 35-ship navy.
- Political compromise forced repurposing coastal-defense designs into first-rate battleships without redesign.
Monitor Heritage Created Dangerous Low Freeboard
- Designers recycled monitor-style low-freeboard hulls for the Indiana class, assuming coastal use and ignoring open-ocean stability.
- That low freeboard later caused severe seakeeping and habitability problems in any but the calmest waters.
Overgunned Small Hull Caused Major Stability Failure
- The Massachusetts packed enormous armament (four 13-inch guns plus many secondary weapons) into a small hull, ballooning displacement 25%.
- Shipbuilders installed heavy guns and armor without redesigning buoyancy or stability, producing an unstable vessel.