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Boston Navy Yard - Famous Ships Built

In its 175 years of operation, the Boston Navy Yard built and launched over 100 U.S. Navy ships of all types. Some of these have achieved fame in history. Below are some of the most well-known ships built at the Boston Navy Yard.

USS Independence

The USS INDEPENDENCE was the first ship to be built at the Charlestown Navy Yard, and was one of six ships commissioned in 1794 by the federal government's naval armament act of 1794. She was the first ship of the line commissioned by the US Navy. Launched on June 22, 1814, the Independence served a long and noble career that spanned a century, 98 years of it in the service of the U.S. Navy. In the course of her service, the Independence was hailed as a grand lady of the U.S. Navy, and served as flagship in theaters around the world. The USS INDEPENDENCE was decommissioned in November 1912, and burned off Hunters Point in 1915.

USS Constitution

Nicknamed Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution is perhaps the most famous naval ship of all time. The Constitution was ordered in 1794 and her keel was laid down in the summer of 1795. She was one of six original ships ordered by the federal government as part of mounting a naval armament. The Constitution was launched October 10, 1797 and commissioned October 21, 1797. As of this writing, she remains the oldest actively commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy. After serving a long and noble service, the Constitution was scheduled to be demolished twice in her history and saved from demolition twice by public sentiment. In 1925, a venerable grand dame of over 125 years, the Constitution was restored through donations from schoolchildren and patriotic groups.

After her restoration, the Constitution started a tour in 1931 that put in at 90 port cities along the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Coasts. During the three year tour, she was visited by nearly 5 million people. At the end of the tour, she was returned to her home port of Boston. In 1940, she was placed in permanent commission and in 1954, an Act of Congress made the Secretary of the Navy responsible for her upkeep.

Today, the USS Constitution is berthed at the old Charlestown Naval Yard where she was originally built. She remains the oldest still floating, actively commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy, and serves as a living museum and testament to the shipbuilders' art.

USS Merrimack

The USS Merrimack was a screw frigate that became famous after she was burned and scuttled. In 1861, the Merrimack, built at the Boston Navy Yard in 1859, was berthed at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard at the start of the Civil War. The Union forces, not wanting to allow the equipment and ships at the Norfolk base to fall into Confederate hands, set fire to the ships and buildings and fled the base. The State of Virginia Navy took possession of the port and raised the hull of the Merrimack, which was used as the base for the first Confederate ironclad ship, the CSS Virginia. The Virginia engaged the Union's ironclad Monitor in the Battle of Hampton Roads.

USS Tioga

The Tioga was built at the Naval Shipyard and attached to the James River Flotilla. She is frequently jokingly referred to as the "first naval ship to screen an aircraft carrier". On of her duties while attached to the James River Flotilla was to protect the barge that carried an observation balloon used to reconnoiter Confederate troop deployments, thus earning her the reputation of the first warship to screen an aircraft carrier.

USS Cumberland

The USS Cumberland was built at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston and deployed during the Civil War to help block Southern harbors. Her distinction is having been rammed and sunk by the CSS Virginia at Newport News on the first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads. The battle is well known as the battle between the Virginia and the Union's ironclad ship the Monitor, but it was the fist day of that battle that is generally acknowledged as a turning point in the history of naval affairs. The battle showed definitively the superiority of steam powered armored ships over sail powered wooden ships. To her credit, the Cumberland acquitted herself well before succumbing. In the engagement with the Cumberland, the Virginia lost her ram, two of her guns and took internal damage. In all, the CSS Virginia took more damage from the little Cumberland than she did from the armored ship that ultimately triumphed in the naval battle.

In addition to famous ships that were built at the Boston Navy Yard, there were thousands of ships that were repaired, serviced and refitted there. The Boston Navy Yard was in operation from 1801 to 1974, when the Navy chose to close the Yard and cede control of it to the National Park Service. The National Park Service operates a number of museums at the old Boston Navy Yard, and maintains the ship yard as part of the USS Constitution's permanent commission. For more information about the Boston Navy Yard, please see Boston Navy Yard Overview.

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