 Early in the morning on 8 November the Naval Battle of Casablanca began . Lying off the city , Massachusetts , the heavy cruisers Tuscaloosa and Wichita and four destroyers , came under fire from four 194 mm ( 7 @.@ 6 in ) and four 138 mm ( 5 @.@ 4 in ) guns in a shore battery at El Hank . The American ships responded by shelling Jean Bart , an incomplete French battleship forced to sail from Saint @-@ Nazaire in May 1940 to escape advancing Axis forces . When engaged , Jean Bart had only one of her two quadruple turrets installed , the other having its guns lost to torpedo attack while in shipment from France . 
