Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 10, 2023
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USS Massachusetts was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Indiana class. Authorized in 1890, she launched on June 10, 1893. Massachusetts served in the Spanish–American War and took part in the blockades of Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba. After the war, she served with the North Atlantic Squadron where she suffered an explosion in a gun turret and ran aground twice. She was recommissioned in 1910 for annual cruises for midshipmen, and in 1917 she served as a training ship for gun crews for World War I. Her final decommission was in March 1919 under the name Coast Battleship Number 2 so her name could be reused for USS Massachusetts (BB-54). In 1921, she was scuttled in shallow water near Pensacola, Florida, and used as a target for experimental artillery. The wreck was declared the property of the State of Florida in 1956. In 1993 it became a Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve. In 2001, it was included in the National Register of Historic Places. (Full article...)