South Boston Naval Annex and South Boston Army Base, circa 1958

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 The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense of the United States of America. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April ...

in 1798. After 175 years of military service, it was decommissioned as a naval installation on 1 July 1974. The property is administered by the National Park Service, becoming part of

Boston National Historical Park The Boston National Historical Park is an association of sites that showcase Boston's role in the American Revolution and other parts of history. It was designated a national park on October 1, 1974. Seven of the eight sites are connected by the ...

. 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 and afloat in the world. , a 1943 World War II-era ''Fletcher''-class

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

serving as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

, is also berthed here. The museum area includes a dock which is a stop on the

MBTA Boat The MBTA boat or MBTA ferry system is a public boat service providing water transportation in Boston Harbor. It is operated by Boston Harbor Cruises (BHC) under contract to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). In , the system h ...

water transport system. Among local people in the area and the National Park Service, it is still known as the Charlestown Navy Yard. The

South Boston Naval Annex The South Boston Naval Annex was a United States Navy shipyard annex located in South Boston. It was the annex of the Boston Navy Yard, and was operational from the 1920 to 1974, when it was closed along with the main shipyard. The annex is also ...

was located along the waterfront in South Boston, an annex of the Navy Yard from 1920 to 1974. Other annexes of the Navy Yard during World War II were the Chelsea Naval Annex (formerly the Green Shipyard, now the Fitzgerald Shipyard), East Boston Naval Annex, and Boston Naval Yard Fuel Depot Annex.

History

The earliest naval shipbuilding activities in

Charlestown, Massachusetts Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Originally called Mishawum by the Massachusett tribe, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Boston, and also adjoins t ...

across the Charles River and Boston harbor to the north from the city of Boston, began during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). The Charlestown Arsenal of United States Army was established in 1794. Shortly thereafter, in 1800, the land for the Charlestown Navy Yard was purchased by the United States government and the yard itself was established. The yard built the first U.S.

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

, in 1814, and at least twelve small vessels for the American Civil War, 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 Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was an American military officer, politician, and statesman. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He w ...

, Secretary of the Navy

Levi Woodbury Levi Woodbury (December 22, 1789September 4, 1851) was an American attorney, jurist, and Democratic politician from New Hampshire. During a four-decade career in public office, Woodbury served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U ...

, and many Massachusetts officials, witnessed "one of the great events of American naval history": the early United States

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

was inaugurating the first naval

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

in New England designed by prominent civil engineer

Loammi Baldwin, Jr. Loammi Baldwin Jr. (May 16, 1780 – June 30, 1838) was an American civil engineer. His father was Col. Loammi Baldwin, a prominent civil engineer. Biography Baldwin was born at North Woburn, Massachusetts living at Baldwin House aka "The Baldw ...

Historic Naval Ships Association
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. 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

s, USS ''Cowie'' and the USS ''Knight''. Even before the U.S. entered the Second World War after the Pearl Harbor attack on 7 December 1941, a month before in November, Boston was one of four United States naval shipyards selected to build s under the

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

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. In the post war period, the shipyard modified World War II ships for

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

(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. The Yard closed after the Vietnam War. It was also the location of the Marine Barracks Boston.

Dry Docks and Slipways

Ships built at Boston Navy Yard

Current use

When ideas were floated for redevelopment of the yard, one of the people's popular idea was to have the yard turned into a construction yard for oil tankers. Ultimately, these plans fell through, and the site became part of the

. Its mission is, "to interpret the art and history of naval shipbuilding".Charlestown Navy Yard: The Shipyard on the Charles
The Boston Navy Yard hosts many attractions, including

Charlestown Naval Shipyard Park Charlestown Naval Shipyard Park is an park in Charlestown's Boston Navy Yard, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' Eng ...

. The fully commissioned and the

are tied up at Pier 1 and open to the public. The Navy Yard also hosts the USS ''Constitution'' Museum. Dry Dock No. 1 is still used for ship maintenance for ''Constitution'' and ''Cassin Young''. In May 2015, ''Constitution'' entered the dry dock for three years of repairs. The Yard is toward the north end of the Freedom Trail. The

stops at nearby Pier 4, providing easy visitor access to the Yard. The campus of the

MGH Institute of Health Professions The MGH Institute of Health Professions (The MGH Institute) is a private university focused on the health sciences and located in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded by Massachusetts General Hospital in 1977 and is accredited by the New England ...

occupies seven buildings in the Yard, including classroom, office, and clinical space. Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and multiple Massachusetts General Hospital research laboratories occupy the perimeter.

Gallery

Image:USS Cassin Young 2007.jpg, USS ''Cassin Young'' berthed at the Boston Navy Yard File:Dry Dock 1.JPG, A view of the dry dock without water File:Boston Dry Dock.JPG, ''Cassin Young'' in drydock File:USS Cassin Young in Dry Dock.JPG, ''Cassin Young'' in dry dock at night

References

External links

Charlestown Navy Yard – Boston National Historical Park

{{Authority control Navy Yards of the United States Navy Historic districts in Suffolk County, Massachusetts Navy Yard, Boston National Historic Landmarks in Boston Navy Yard, Boston Manufacturing companies based in Boston Navy Yard, Boston Maritime museums in Massachusetts Military and war museums in Massachusetts Naval museums in the United States Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Boston National Historical Park 1800 establishments in Massachusetts Shipyards on the National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Boston Military installations established in 1800 Military installations closed in 1974 Closed installations of the United States Navy Shipyards building World War II warships