Boston Navy Yard

Boston Naval Shipyard
1912 Map of the Charlestown Navy Yard and Mystic Wharf
Location Southeast of Chelsea Street, Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°22′34″N 71°3′9″W / 42.37611°N 71.05250°W / 42.37611; -71.05250Coordinates: 42°22′34″N 71°3′9″W / 42.37611°N 71.05250°W / 42.37611; -71.05250
Built 1800
Architect Alexander Parris, et al.
NRHP reference # 66000134[1]
Added to NRHP 15 November 1966
Boston Navy Shipyard
Boston, Massachusetts
Type Shipyard
Site information
Controlled by United States Navy
Site history
Built 1800
In use 1801–1975

The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of the new U.S. Department of the Navy in 1798. After 175 years of military service, it was decommissioned as a naval installation on 1 July 1974.

The 30-acre (12 ha) property is administered by the National Park Service, becoming part of Boston National Historical Park. Enough of the yard remains in operation to support the moored USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") of 1797, built as one of the original six heavy frigates for the revived American navy, and the oldest warship still commissioned in the United States Navy. USS Cassin Young (DD-793), a 1943 World War II-era Fletcher-class destroyer serving as a museum ship, is also berthed here. The museum area includes a dock which is a stop on the MBTA Boat water transport system. Among local people in the area and the National Park Service, it is still known as the Charlestown Navy Yard.[2]

The South Boston Naval Annex was located along the waterfront in South Boston.

History

The earliest naval shipbuilding activities in Charlestown, Massachusetts across the Charles River and Boston harbor to the north from the city of Boston, began during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). The land for the Charlestown Navy Yard was purchased by the United States government in 1800 and the yard itself established shortly thereafter. The yard built the first U.S. ship of the line, "USS Independence", but was primarily a repair and storage facility until the 1890s, when it started to build steel ships for the "New Navy". By then, it was called the Boston Navy Yard.

On 24 June 1833, the staff and dignitaries including then Vice President Martin Van Buren, Secretary of War Lewis Cass, Secretary of the Navy Levi Woodbury, and many Massachusetts officials, witnessed "one of the great events of American naval history": the early United States frigate Constitution was inaugurating the first naval drydock in New England designed by prominent civil engineer Loammi Baldwin, Jr.[3]

The ropewalk supplied cordage used in the Navy from the time it opened in 1837 until the Yard closed in 1975. After the Civil War (1861-1865), the Yard was downgraded to an Equipment and Recruit Facility.[4]

In the late 1880s and 1890s, the Navy began expanding again bringing into service new modern steel hulled steam-powered warships and that brought new life to the Yard. In the first years of the 20th century, a second drydock was added. During World War II (1939/1941-1945), it worked to fix British Royal Navy warships and merchant transports damaged by the Nazi Germans when crossing the North Atlantic Ocean. On 27 September 1941—Liberty Fleet Day—Boston launched two destroyers, the USS Cowie and the USS Knight. Even before the U.S. entered the Second World War after the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7th, 1941, a month before in November, Boston was one of four United States naval shipyards selected to build Captain class frigates under the Lend-Lease military assistance program for the Royal Navy. Since the United States was at war when these ships were finally completed, some were later requisitioned and used by the United States Navy as destroyer escorts.[5] In the post war period, the shipyard modified World War II ships for Cold War (1945-1991) service through Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM). The Korean War (1950-1953), and Vietnam War (1964-1975) did not bring much work to the Yard since it was so far from the fighting.

Ships built at Boston Navy Yard

Aerial view of the Boston Navy Yard in April 1960.
The South Boston Naval Annex, circa 1958

Current use

The Yard closed after the Vietnam War. When ideas were floated for redevelopment of the yard, one popular idea was to have the yard turned into a construction yard for oil tankers.[53] Ultimately, these plans fell through, and the site became part of the Boston National Historical Park. Its mission is, "to interpret the art and history of naval shipbuilding".[4]

The Boston Navy Yard hosts many attractions. The fully commissioned USS Constitution and the museum ship USS Cassin Young (DD-793) are tied up at Pier 1 and open to the public.[54] The Navy Yard also hosts the USS Constitution Museum. Dry Dock No. 1 is still used for ship maintenance for the Constitution and the Cassin Young.[55] In May 2015, the Constitution entered the dry dock for three years of repairs.[56]

The Yard is toward the north end of the Freedom Trail and is seen by thousands every year. The MBTA Boat stops at nearby Pier 4, providing easy visitor access to the Yard.

The campus of the MGH Institute of Health Professions occupies seven buildings in the Yard, including classroom, office, and clinical space.

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Charlestown Navy Yard, National Park Service Archived 7 December 2004 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Historic Naval Ships Association Archived 1 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. 1 2 Charlestown Navy Yard: The Shipyard on the Charles Archived 1 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Franklin, Bruce Hampton (1999) The Buckley-class Destroyer Escorts Naval Institute Press ISBN 1-55750-280-3 p.7
  6. ↑ "Independence". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "Boston". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 24 July 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "Warren". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  9. ↑ "Falmouth". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  10. ↑ "Cyane". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 13 March 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  11. ↑ "Marion". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 14 March 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "Cumberland". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  13. ↑ "Plymouth". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  14. ↑ "Vermont". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  15. ↑ "Hartford". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  16. ↑ "Narragansett". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 17 March 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  17. ↑ "Wachusett". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  18. ↑ "Housatonic". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  19. ↑ "Maratanza". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  20. ↑ "Canandaigua". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 15 March 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  21. ↑ "Tioga". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  22. ↑ "Genesee". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 21 June 2004. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  23. ↑ "Monadnock". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 29 March 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  24. ↑ "Pequot". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 30 September 2004. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  25. ↑ "Saco". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 16 March 2004. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  26. ↑ "Winooski". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  27. ↑ "Ammonoosuc". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 25 February 2004. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  28. ↑ "Guerriere". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 14 March 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  29. ↑ "Worcester". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  30. ↑ "Nantasket". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 15 March 2004. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  31. ↑ "Alaska". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  32. ↑ "Vandalia". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  33. ↑ "Bridge". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 24 July 2006. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  34. ↑ "Brazos". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  35. ↑ "Neches". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 29 March 2004. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  36. ↑ "Pecos". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  37. 1 2 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.114
  38. 1 2 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.118
  39. 1 2 3 4 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.124
  40. 1 2 3 4 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.126
  41. 1 2 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.129
  42. 1 2 3 4 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.132
  43. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.135
  44. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.140
  45. 1 2 3 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.141
  46. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Lenton, H.T. & Colledge, J.J. (1968) British and Dominion Warships of World War II Doubleday pp.242–245
  47. 1 2 3 4 5 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.153
  48. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.155
  49. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.157
  50. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company p.175
  51. 1 2 3 4 Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 281. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
  52. 1 2 3 4 Silverstone, Paul H. U.S. Warships of World War II (1968) Doubleday & Company pp.263&266
  53. ↑ "NEW ENGLAND: Bases for Sale". New England: Time, Inc. 1 July 1974. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  54. ↑ As Constitution is a US Navy ship, consult her official website Archived 13 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine. before visiting.
  55. ↑ http://archive.hnsa.org/conf2004/papers/carlson.htm
  56. ↑ http://news.usni.org/2015/05/19/uss-constitution-enters-dry-dock-for-three-years-of-repairs
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.