Duxbury Bay is a bay on the coast of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The west shore of the bay is the town of

Duxbury, Massachusetts Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a historic seaside town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore approximately to the southeast of Boston, the population was 16,090 at the 20 ...

; and the bay is formed by a

sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. ...

called The Gurnet extending southeasterly from

Marshfield, Massachusetts Marshfield is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Massachusetts's South Shore. The population was 25,825 at the 2020 census. It includes the census-designated places (CDPs) of Marshfield, Marshfield Hills, Ocean Bluf ...

into

Cape Cod Bay A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

. The town of Marshfield was named for the estuarine

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

at the north end of the bay. The bay opens southerly toward Plymouth, Massachusetts between Captains Hill to the west and Saquish Head to the east.

Navigation

Myles Standish monument in Duxbury, Mass

The bay is approximately three miles long from north to south with an average width of two miles. The bottom is mostly shallow sand and mud flats exposed at low water with a few winding channels. Several of these channels converge west of Clarks Island to form a small craft anchorage called the Cowyard approximately wide with a depth of . There is clearance under a fixed span in the Powder Point Bridge to access the northern end of the bay. In 1908 The

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

dredged a channel to the Duxbury wharves. A 21-acre anchorage was dredged to in 1960, and the channel is maintained at that depth and a width of .

Namesake

The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

seaplane tender USS ''Duxbury Bay'', in commission from 1944 to 1966, was named for Duxbury Bay.'' Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/d6/duxbury_bay.htm; see ship namesake paragraph.

Notes

References

* (See ship namesake paragraph.) Bays of Massachusetts Bays of Plymouth County, Massachusetts {{PlymouthCountyMA-geo-stub