Battleship Cove

A couple years ago, while scouring the Internet for something fun to do in New England that we hadn't already done, we came across an attraction in Fall River, Massachusetts called Battleship Cove.  Their brochure boasts the world's largest naval ship exhibit, and sure enough they lived up to their promise.  You could tour four old naval vessels including the battleship Massachusetts, destroyer Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., the submarine Lionfish, and a missile corvette Hiddensee.

Apparently, the name Fall River was derived from the Wampanoag word Quequechan which means "falling river."  I assume that since Fall River is easier to pronounce than Quequechan, the name stuck.  What was once a thriving textile mill city is now blossoming as a tourist destination, and one of its star attractions is Battleship Cove.

We arrived early on Monday, Patriot's Day, and found a parking spot right away.  From the parking lot we could see the battleship U.S.S. Massachusetts whose towering gray mass rose ominously from the harbor.  We paid our $35.50 entrance fee for two adults and one child (thanks to some $2 off coupons my wife found in a brochure rack) and headed for the gangplank of this floating piece of history.

Ashton standing below the 16" guns.

Once on the deck, you are immediately struck by the size of the 16 inch guns and the enormity of the ship.  As I was taking pictures, my son urged me along, like any 10-year-old boy intrigued by what lies below the deck of this massive vessel.   Ok, I admit it.  I wanted to get inside too.

Mess deck on the U.S.S. Massachusetts

The tours are self-guided, so we went to the first entrance we could find to go below deck.  One of the first rooms we came to was the mess deck.  Given that this ship would have a crew of about 2,000, I'm sure the guys who worked here kept extremely busy.

Barber Shop on U.S.S. Massachusetts

For nearly two hours, we explored every nook and cranny on this ship.  I was fascinated by the number of services on board.  We saw a print shop, shoe shop, clothing shop, laundry, and barber shop, among others.  The thing that surprised me most was the size of the barber shop.  I believe there were six barber chairs in it.  I grew up in Montpelier, Vermont and the most barber chairs I ever saw in one place in that town of 8,000 was three.

On the bridge of the U.S.S Massachusetts

We continued wandering aimlessly from deck to deck, going up ladders and down ladders.  And when we thought we'd seen all of the ship, we discovered another place we hadn't yet explored.

Eventually we wound our way back up to the deck and out into the fresh air because we were supposed to meet some friends who were on their way back from Mystic, Connecticut.  After hooking up with them, we opted to check out the submarine.

If the battleship was the sprawling university, the submarine was the one-room schoolhouse.  When operational, it was manned by a crew of 85, and I'll be darned if I could figure out how that many people fit on this sub. 

It didn't take us long to go through this and then it was on to the Hiddensee.  One thing that struck us while touring this ship was that instructions were written in both English and Russian.  This puzzled us until we found out that this vessel was built in St. Petersburg, Russia for the East German Navy.  It was decommissioned in 1991 and somehow got recommissioned in the U.S.  Okay, I'm still puzzled, but at least we know why it had Russian writing.

Shells in U.S.S. Massachusetts

We had a picnic lunch at Fall River Heritage State Park, overlooking Battleship Cove before touring the last vessel, the U.S.S. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.

By about two-o'clock we called it a day.  Had we spent time reading the exhibits more carefully, this could easily have been a full day affair.  They also run a show entitled "The Pearl Harbor Experience" on an outdoor screen that includes sound effects, giving you the feeling of experiencing the invasion first-hand.

On the way out, we let the kids take a ride on the old Fall River Carousel, an antique ride that was built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company.  For one dollar, you can ride one of the four dozen wooden horses on this beautiful piece of historic entertainment.

Fall River Carousel

View of Fall River from Battleship Cove

As we left Battleship Cove, we drove past the Old Colony & Fall River Railroad Museum and the Marine Museum at Fall River, giving us at least two reasons to perhaps visit another day.