 Massachusetts sailed on 1 July from Leyte Gulf to join the Third Fleet 's final offensive against Japan . After protecting carriers that launched strikes against Tokyo , she formed part of a force that , on 14 July , shelled Kamaishi , Honshū , Japan 's second largest iron and steel center . Two weeks later , she bombarded the industrial complex at Hamamatsu before she returned to blast Kamaishi on 9 August . It was here that Massachusetts fired what was probably the last 16 in ( 410 mm ) shell fired in combat in World War II . 
