Boston Navy Yard
| Type | 12 Shipyard | |
| Historical Name of Location | Boston, Massachusetts, United States | |
| Coordinates | 42.376111000, -71.052500000 |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseThe Charlestown Navy Yard was originally established in 1801, and it launched the very first domestically built warship, USS Independence. By the turn of the century, expanded to two drydocks, the facility had been renamed Boston Navy Yard. Boston Navy Yard built several US and British destroyers, destroyer escorts, frigates, landing ships, and other small warships, and it also served as a major repair yard for damaged ships. After the war, she saw service modernizing WW2-era ships during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, but its relative importance diminished due to its location, far away from the conflict zones in Asia. Boston Navy Yard was closed in 1974. Today part of the land formerly of this navy yard (about 30 acres or 120,000 square meters) is controlled by the Boston National Historical Park under the administration of the United States National Park Service. Now known by its original name, Charlestown Navy Yard hosts the museum ships USS Constitution and Cassin Young, and it displays the bell of USS Boston.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Update: Jun 2013
Ships Constructed at Boston Navy Yard
| Ship Name | Yard No | Slip/Drydock No | Ordered | Laid Down | Launched | Commissioned |
| Monaghan | 21 Nov 1933 | 9 Jan 1935 | 19 Apr 1935 | |||
| Mugford | 28 Oct 1935 | 31 Oct 1936 | 16 Aug 1937 | |||
| Ralph Talbot | 28 Oct 1935 | 31 Oct 1936 | 14 Oct 1937 | |||
| O'Brien | 31 May 1938 | 20 Feb 1939 | 2 Mar 1940 | |||
| Canfield | 23 Feb 1943 | 6 Apr 1943 | 22 Jul 1943 | |||
| Mason | 14 Oct 1943 | 17 Nov 1943 | 20 Mar 1944 |
Boston Navy Yard Interactive Map
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Boston Navy Yard Timeline
| 15 Apr 1919 | USS R-5 was commissioned into service at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts, United States with Lieutenant Commander Eric L. Barr in command. |
| 28 Oct 1935 | Gridley-class destroyer Ralph Talbot was laid down at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, United States |
| 31 Oct 1936 | Destroyer Ralph Talbot was launched at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, United States. Ship's sponsor was Mrs. Mary Talbot, mother of Marine 2nd Lt Ralph Talbot, killed in World War I and after whom the ship was named. |
| 12 Jun 1941 | HMS Rodney arrived at Boston Navy Yard in Massachusetts, United States to commence a refit. She would remain in Boston for one month. Many crewmembers stayed with local Boston families during the refit. |
| 4 Jun 1942 | USS Nicholas was commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts, United States with Lieutenant Commander William Brown in command. |
| 7 Jun 1942 | USS Bailey arrived at the Boston Naval Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States. |
| 9 Jun 1942 | USS Bailey entered drydock at the Boston Naval Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States. Inspection found that the starboard shaft was bent, the starboard screw was twisted and chipped and the starboard after strut had been torn from the hull. |
| 27 Jun 1942 | Destroyer USS Bailey was floated out of drydock at the Boston Naval Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States. |
| 12 Jul 1942 | USS Bailey re-entered drydock at the Boston Naval Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States. |
| 17 Jul 1942 | USS Bailey was floated out of drydock at the Boston Naval Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States. |
| 12 Aug 1942 | USS Ancon was commissioned into service at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, United States under the command of Lieutenant Commander David H. Swinson. |
| 12 Sep 1942 | USS Ancon departed Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, United States. |
| 2 Apr 1943 | USS Ranger departed the Boston Navy Yard bound for Argentia, Newfoundland. |
| 10 Apr 1943 | After being diverted, Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier USS Bogue arrived at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts. |
| 17 Apr 1943 | Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier USS Bogue departed Boston bound for Argentia, Newfoundland. |
| 10 Jun 1943 | The work to extend HMCS Trillium's forecastle at Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, United States was completed. |
| 27 Jul 1943 | USS Ranger arrived at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts. |
| 5 Aug 1943 | USS Ranger departed the Boston Navy Yard bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia. |
| 3 Dec 1943 | USS Ranger arrived at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts. |
| 2 Jan 1944 | USS Ranger departed Boston bound for Quonset Point, Rhode Island. |
| 8 Feb 1944 | USS Ranger arrived at the Boston Navy Yard and entered Drydock #3 to replace damaged port propeller. |
| 10 Feb 1944 | USS Ranger was floated out of drydock and departed Boston bound for Quonset Point, Rhode Island. |
| 7 Jul 1944 | Anti-submarine Hunter-Killer Task Group 22.10 centered around escort carrier USS Card arrived at Boston, Massachusetts. |
| 10 Jul 1944 | Anti-submarine Hunter-Killer Task Group 22.10 (TG 22.10) centered around escort carrier USS Card, still with the TBM-1C Avengers and FM-2 Wildcats of Composite Squadron VC-12 embarked, departed Boston bound for the Caribbean. Destroyer escorts USS Baker, Bronstein, Breeman, and Bostwick remained but USS Coffman replaced the damaged USS Thomas. |
| 8 Jun 1945 | USS Ling was commissioned into service at the Boston Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, with Commander George Garvie Molumphy in command. |
| 9 Nov 1945 | USS Marlin was decommissioned from service at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, United States. |
| 15 Nov 1966 | Boston Navy Yard in Massachusetts, United States was added to the US National Register of Historic Places. |
| 1 Jul 1974 | Boston Navy Yard in Massachusetts, United States was closed as an active naval facility. |
| 15 Jun 1978 | Cassin Young arrived at Boston National Historical Park in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. She was berthed across from the museum ship USS Constitution where, starting in 1981, she would be opened to the public as a museum ship. |
| 9 Aug 2010 | Museum ship Cassin Young was drydocked at Historic Dry Dock #1 at the Boston National Historical Park in Boston, Massachusetts, United States for repairs after 30 years in the water. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
12 Feb 2022 08:38:27 AM
My father-in-law also worked at the Charlestown yard during WW2. He told my wife that there was a sub which sank upon launching. Said it was abandoned since it would be bad luck for future crews. Seems improbable to me to waste a sub during wartime. Any truth to this story?
13 Apr 2022 07:17:10 AM
Read about the sunk sub, the USS Lancefish at https://ussnautilus.org/the-loss-of-uss-lancetfish-ss-296-2/
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
| WW2-Era Place Name | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Lat/Long | 42.3761, -71.0525 |
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7 Jun 2017 03:43:14 AM
my dad, same name, was a pipefitter during the war. He mentioned being on a sub that sank at the dock . Would appreciate any info you have on the sinking and also on my father charles faria