Episode 405 - The USS Massachusetts, America's Dumbest Battleship

Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast

Lions Led By Donkeys

Comedy

4.6 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2026

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

PREORDER JOE'S NEW FANTASY NOVEL: https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Foundling-Brigade-Saga-ebook/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=28PYNNVKMAELT&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vJU8q9bT2skMPocB8TLK3SQaS00llqP5djabrgGlb6PbohI3eXCKx4PBd_estyu1sKcrRFhwYBND4TTpbK29TKTSRPPQXAMm0YtWlJsX-8frRQT5ljLnsOplutHcSx-MyYKJWlUWmYxAem3R0vVpZ8eSLhuzHTNiTAIai0QTTHfC-O75kLfjAbf_0Vq_CjuTDU0Oof4mWclUz3aM9Fx0vCHuzb_9WzwH8c2xEjgOUN8.W_JOGgoCzfIALrWzYBC1ie5Bg9oW9Axq6Ok6Wo3Pv28&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+highlands+burn&qid=1773646095&sprefix=%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-1 SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys In a time before US Naval dominance, the not-quite-yet imperial power decided to modernize its Navy to a level that might enable it to compete with its European counterparts. Instead, they created the USS Massachusetts and the Indiana Class. A battleship that was not a battleship, with guns so large they were more hazardous to the ship itself than any enemy, and so impossible to control the Navy kept crashing it into rocks. There are two battleships named the USS Massachusetts. This is the BB-2. The one that fought in WWII is the BB-59 Sources: Gardiner, Robert; Lambert, Andrew D. (1992). Steam, Steel & Shellfire: The Steam Warship 1815–1905 https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2016/07/diving_the_worst_battleship_ev.html https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2020/june/race-uss-oregon https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/uss-massachusetts-why-worst-us-navy-battleship-ever-210474 https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/the-epic-journey-of-uss-oregon-during-the-spanish-american-war/ https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/03/26/117958746.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/08/24/105058393.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/12/16/120273752.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1911/12/02/104844371.pdf

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everyone, it's Joe. If you like what we do here on the show, consider supporting us on Patreon.
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0:33.9	and join the Legion of the Old Crow today.
0:36.5	Music Donkeys and join the Legion of the Old Crow today.
0:38.3	Hey everyone and welcome to the Lions at Buy Donkey's podcast, the world's only military history podcast.
1:03.3	I'm Joe and with me.
1:05.1	It's Tom and Nate, Nate, it's good to have you back from your mixtape recording.
1:11.1	I've insisted at a calling it a mixtape.
1:13.0	I don't know why I find it funny.
1:15.0	I mean, so people may not be aware of this because I definitely wasn't, but like in the
1:20.1	sort of way you conceive of having a record mastered, actually like the mastering is a relatively
1:24.7	minor process, but mixing it is a huge process. And that's where
1:28.8	like basically all of the sound gets nailed down. I mean, you have the stuff you've recorded.
1:33.5	And so we recorded this record in November. It was 11 days or 10 days in studio. And we went up
1:40.0	with nine songs. And I was in the same studio for seven days mixing and let me tell you,
	...

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