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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #55010 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55010)
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-Project Gutenberg's Charlestown Navy Yard, by National Park Service
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Charlestown Navy Yard
-       Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts
-
-Author: National Park Service
-
-Release Date: June 30, 2017 [EBook #55010]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, MFR and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-                         Charlestown Navy Yard
-
-
-                    Boston National Historical Park
-                             Massachusetts
-
-                            Produced by the
-                        Division of Publications
-                         National Park Service
-
-                    U.S. Department of the Interior
-                             Washington, DC
-
-    [Illustration: U.S.S. Constitution in Boston Harbor]
-
-
-
-
-                                Contents
-
-
-  Part 1 The Making of a Navy                                           6
-      Prologue                                                          9
-      Growth of the Yard                                               11
-      The Coming of Iron and Steam                                     29
-      The New Navy                                                     45
-      The Yard Transformed                                             63
-  Part 2 Visiting Charlestown Navy Yard                                78
-
-
-  _Deep within Boston Harbor, Charlestown Navy Yard was birthplace,
-repair center, outfitting base, and port of refuge for thousands of U.S.
-naval vessels. This is the story of the yard, the ships it served, and
-the people who kept them seaworthy._
-
-    [Illustration: _Boston Harbor; about 1870. Visible in the foreground
-    are Charlestown Navy Yard’s timber dock_ (left) _and dry dock_
-    (center left, with docked vessel). _The ships anchored off the navy
-    yard piers are_ (left) _U.S.S._ Ohio, _the yard’s receiving ship
-    (for housing recruits and sailors transferring between vessels), and
-    U.S.S._ Wabash _“in ordinary” (that is, out of commission and in
-    storage)._]
-
-
-
-
-                     Part 1    The Making of a Navy
-
-
-    [Illustration: _In 1803, U.S.S._ Constitution _was careened at a
-    Boston wharf for recoppering before sailing for the Mediterranean to
-    confront the Barbary States._]
-
-    [Illustration: U.S. Naval Shipyards]
-
-
-  Puget Sound
-    Washington 1891-present
-    Rebuilt five battleships damaged during 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
-  Mare Island
-    California 1853-1996
-    Established for naval expansion into Pacific.
-  Hunter’s Point
-    California 1939-1974
-    Repaired 600 ships during WW II.
-  Long Beach
-    California 1935-50; 1951-98
-    Reactivated for Korean War. In 1982, modernized battleship New
-          Jersey for missiles.
-  Pearl Harbor
-    Hawaii 1900-present
-    Serviced growing Pacific fleet after Spanish-American War. Damaged
-          by Japanese air attack in 1941.
-  Mound City
-    Illinois 1862-74
-    Repair facility for Union’s Mississippi Squadron during Civil War.
-  Pensacola
-    Florida 1825-1911
-    Burned by Confederates during Civil War. Has served as air training
-          facility since yard closing.
-  Charleston
-    South Carolina 1901-96
-    Specialized in the construction of destroyer escorts and LSTs in WW
-          II.
-  Strategically located Great Lakes shipyards built gunboats and sloops
-          during the War of 1812.
-  Presque Isle
-    Pennsylvania 1812-25
-  Sackets Harbor
-    New York 1812-1870s
-  Washington
-    District of Columbia 1800-83
-  Brooklyn
-    New York 1800-1966
-  Portsmouth
-    New Hampshire 1800-present
-  Philadelphia
-    Pennsylvania 1801-1995
-  Charlestown
-    Massachusetts 1800-1974
-  Norfolk
-    Virginia 1801-present
-    Of the six original navy yards, only Norfolk and Portsmouth still
-          service naval vessels.
-  New London
-    Connecticut 1868-83
-    During WW I was developed as major submarine base.
-
-
-                                Prologue
-
-The U.S. government established Charlestown Navy Yard as the
-newly-formed republic was meeting early challenges to its merchant
-shipping. In the decade after gaining independence, the young nation
-kept no standing navy. But continuing raids on U.S. commerce by Barbary
-pirates and French privateers in the 1790s spurred Congress to authorize
-the construction of new warships.
-
-Realizing that existing private shipyards were inadequate for the
-increasingly ambitious shipbuilding program, the Secretary of the Navy
-established in 1800-1801 six federal yards to build, outfit, repair, and
-supply naval vessels. These facilities at Portsmouth, N.H.; Boston; New
-York; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; and Norfolk, Va., were the nucleus
-of the naval shipyard system. Except during the Civil War, they launched
-most of the Navy’s vessels until the advent of steel hulls in the 1880s,
-when private yards began building them in greater numbers.
-
-As with the first six, later naval shipyards were sometimes created to
-fill an immediate military need. The War of 1812, for instance, prompted
-the building of the two Great Lakes yards. The Mound City yard was
-established during the Civil War, strategically located near the
-confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to build and repair Union
-gunboats. Although U.S. naval vessels are today built in private
-shipyards, four navy yards still actively serve the fleet.
-
-    [Illustration: _1833 view of one of the yard’s wharves, by William
-    Bennett. Beyond, decommissioned_ Independence _and_ Columbus _are
-    roofed over for protection_.]
-
-
-                           Growth of the Yard
-
-When Captain William Bainbridge arrived in Boston aboard U.S.S. (United
-States Ship) _Constitution_ in February 1813, he had reason to be
-satisfied. While the U.S. Army faltered early in the War of 1812, a
-string of naval victories over British ships was boosting public
-confidence. Two months earlier, the big frigate commanded by Bainbridge
-had engaged H.M.S. (His Majesty’s Ship) _Java_ off the coast of Brazil.
-_Java_ was the faster ship, but _Constitution_ had heavier guns. By
-skillful maneuvering. _Constitution_ kept them trained on the British
-frigate, pounding _Java_ with broadsides until its colors came down.
-
-Crew and commander were met with parades in Boston, but Bainbridge had
-little time to enjoy the acclaim. He was immediately faced with a task
-that, if not as exciting as a sea battle, was nevertheless formidable.
-He had temporarily relinquished command of the Charlestown Navy Yard
-when he sailed on _Constitution_. While he was gone, Navy Secretary Paul
-Hamilton charged the yard with building one of the nation’s first
-ships-of-the-line—the battleships of their day. As things now stood,
-that was an impossibility: Charlestown simply lacked the facilities for
-such an undertaking.
-
-Bainbridge, who at 37 had already seen extensive naval action and been
-imprisoned by Barbary pirates, wrote soon after becoming commandant in
-1812: “No period of my naval life has been more industrious or
-fatiguing.” He was shorthanded and hampered by bad weather, conditions
-that must have sorely tested the endurance of a man with his
-temperament: aggressive, volatile, not noted for his patience. When he
-took command of the Charlestown yard, Bainbridge pressed the Washington
-bureaucracy to authorize improvements to a facility that suffered, in
-his words, from “mismanagement and neglect.”
-
-    [Illustration: _Captain William Bainbridge was the Charlestown
-    yard’s second commandant (1812-15) and captain of the first ship
-    built there, U.S.S._ Independence.]
-
-Years later, Bainbridge was typically blunt in depicting for the
-Secretary of the Navy what he saw as the Herculean task assigned him in
-1812. The yard had been “in a state of perfect chaos. The public
-property in a state of ruin and decay ... a boat could not approach at
-certain periods of the tide within five hundred feet of the shore ... it
-was even exposed to the inroads of the cattle from [the] highway.”
-
-Even allowing for Bainbridge’s penchant for the dramatic, his
-description was accurate. The buildings were too few, too small, and in
-need of repair. The timber needed to complete the repair of the frigate
-_Chesapeake_ was decayed beyond use. But most pressing was the need for
-a large stone wharf and building slip. Here was a naval shipyard that
-could not service a sloop-of-war, let alone build a large frigate or
-ship-of-the-line. Small vessels could tie up at the modest wooden wharf,
-but the yard had to rent private wharves for repairing warships.
-_Chesapeake_ had been languishing since 1809 in a rented berth at $1500
-a year.
-
-The commandant’s hilltop house surveyed 25 acres of scattered buildings
-and grassy tidal flats directly across the “stream” (the Charles River)
-from Boston. There was a marine barracks, a parade ground, carpenter and
-blacksmith shops, a timber shed, a small hospital, a saltwater timber
-dock, and piles of cannon, shot, iron, and ballast. The facility
-Bainbridge took over in 1812 was in truth more supply depot than
-shipyard.
-
-So why, after his exploits aboard _Constitution_, when another ship
-command and the chance for further glory were his for the asking, did
-Bainbridge return to Charlestown? Because he had also asked to command
-the powerful 74-gun ship-of-the-line the yard would build, and he wanted
-to oversee construction.
-
-On resuming command in March 1813 he lobbied again for a wharf and
-building slip. As a well-known ship’s captain he was used to getting the
-attention of the Navy Department. But his sphere of activity had shifted
-from quarterdeck to desktop, and he had to watch coveted funds go to
-ships bound for sea. He was not, however, one to hold his tongue. He
-bombarded the Secretary of the Navy with letters (the tone of which, in
-this and other matters, sometimes bordered on sarcasm) until the wharf
-and slip were finally begun in April 1813. After the laying of the 74’s
-keel in May, Bainbridge was relentless in his requests for more
-improvements—a navy store, capstans for hauling out ships, “shears” (a
-simple crane) for installing masts, a ropewalk.
-
-But his real passion was the great ship he could watch taking shape from
-his window. He even suggested the name: _Independence_. Bainbridge
-chafed to “give John Bull an opportunity of testing the strength of an
-American 74”—especially after _Chesapeake_ had finally left the yard in
-June only to be captured practically within sight of Boston by the
-British frigate _Shannon_.
-
-The combative commandant was rarely put off by obstacles—or someone
-else’s reputation. Having clashed with workers over compensation they
-demanded for days lost to bad weather, he shut out the source of trouble
-by ordering a shiphouse 210 feet long and 50 feet high built over the
-74’s building slip. To oversee ship construction Bainbridge hired Edmund
-Hartt and his son Edward—well-regarded Boston shipbuilders in whose yard
-was built the hugely successful _Constitution_. But in a dispute with
-Edward Hartt the angry Bainbridge grabbed him “by the shoulder and
-carried him out of my office.” Hartt’s father quit in protest, whereupon
-Bainbridge quickly engaged another shipbuilder to finish the job.
-
-Bainbridge’s other main duty as commander of the yard was the defense of
-Boston Harbor—the importance of which was underscored by the
-_Shannon-Chesapeake_ engagement. By spring of 1814 British warships were
-raiding the New England coast almost at will, and the Boston citizenry
-(many of whom vigorously opposed the war) was anxious over an
-anticipated attack on the city. The rising 74, Bainbridge knew, made a
-tempting target while it was unarmed and immobile on the ways. He asked
-for the New England Guards, a Boston militia company, to stand ready at
-the yard as _Independence_ neared completion.
-
-Guarding United States property at the Charlestown yard was normally the
-responsibility of the U.S. Marines, stationed there since 1802. But it
-was a small detachment, not enough to defend the yard and its ships
-against a serious attack. Bainbridge, who earlier protested the
-vulnerability of the yard, had other problems with the marines. Though
-they were under naval command while at sea, on shore the Navy had no
-authority over them. Bainbridge deplored this situation, complaining
-that his inability to mete out the same corporal punishment to marines
-as was used on sailors was “productive of insubordination.”
-
-In any case _Independence_ was ready for launching by June 1814. But the
-much-anticipated ceremony on the 18th was an embarrassing failure.
-_Independence_ hung up halfway down the launching ways, much to the
-satisfaction of a Federalist quoted in the _Boston Gazette_: “It was no
-wonder she stuck ... the war itself sticks.” The next day, when workers
-attempted to move the vessel by winch with the New England Guards
-pitching in to haul on the lines, a block flew apart and killed master
-joiner William Champney.
-
-    [Illustration: _U.S.S._ Independence, _built at Charlestown in 1815,
-    was the nation’s first ship-of-the-line. On its maiden voyage the
-    74-gun vessel served as flagship of the Mediterranean squadron in
-    the Barbary Wars. After the Charlestown yard removed one gun deck in
-    1835, turning the slow 74 into a fast, powerful frigate (above)_,
-    Independence _served as flagship of the Brazil and Pacific
-    squadrons. The frigate spent the last 60 years of its career as
-    receiving ship (temporary sailors’ quarters) at Mare Island Navy
-    Yard near San Francisco Bay, where it ended a century of service in
-    1914._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Ships-of-the-Line were the battleships of their day,
-    carrying 64 to 100 guns or more on two or three gun decks (below the
-    open decks). Ship-rigged (square sails on three masts), these
-    warships took their place in the line of battle in huge fleet
-    actions._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Frigates had 22 to 44 guns on one gun deck. They
-    were ship-rigged counterparts of today’s cruisers, excelling in
-    single engagements and as commerce destroyers. Frigates also did
-    convoy duty and served as scouts for battle fleets._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Sloops-of-War had 8 to 24 guns on an open deck and
-    were ship-rigged. Fast and versatile—the destroyers of their
-    day—sloops provided escort protection and harassed enemy shipping.
-    Their shallow draft made them useful in coast defense and in lake
-    squadrons._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Brigs-of-War had about 20 smaller guns on an open
-    gun deck and carried square sails on two masts. Designed as small,
-    fast cruisers, they served as scouts, blockade runners, commerce
-    raiders, and in anti-piracy and slaveship patrols._]
-
-Then, to worsen an already grim situation, the British warships that had
-blockaded Boston Harbor for over a year became an immediate threat. A
-raiding party from the frigate _Nymphe_ rowed into the harbor in the
-early morning darkness of the 21st and burned a small sloop within a
-mile of the yard. The next day, with the charred remains of the vessel
-tied up at a Charlestown wharf, the leader of the raid publicly taunted
-Bainbridge. In an open letter in the _Boston Patriot_, Bainbridge was
-warned to better defend his “unfledged Independence.”
-
-On the afternoon of June 22, under the eye of the Guards, the vessel
-finally slid down the ways into Boston Harbor. The launching was
-celebrated by a gun salute from _Constitution_ and cheers from a crowd
-of 20,000. Bainbridge’s friend, the author Washington Irving, couldn’t
-attend but wrote Bainbridge that he would drink a “potation bottle ...
-to the success of your first cruise.” In the same spirit Bainbridge
-entertained with food and drink 300 mechanics and laborers who had, he
-said, “worked cheap, and done their work most faithfully.”
-
-But the war he wanted so badly to join remained out of Bainbridge’s
-reach. Desertions, along with financial and outfitting delays, held up
-the vessel until 1815, by which time peace with England had been
-concluded.
-
-Another opportunity soon presented itself. The predatory corsairs of the
-North African Barbary States—Tunisia, Tripolitania, Algeria, and
-Morocco—had long been a thorn in the side of American merchant shipping.
-Bainbridge, with _Independence_ as his flagship, won command of a
-squadron whose mission was to display to the Barbaries the new power of
-the U.S. Navy. The assignment was particularly attractive to Bainbridge,
-who earlier in his career had surrendered a ship to the Tripolitans and
-had another commandeered by the Algerians. But a second squadron under
-Captain Stephen Decatur beat Bainbridge across the Atlantic and defeated
-the Algerians in battle. His role was thus reduced to persuading the
-other Barbaries at gunpoint to end their extortionist ways. The
-suppression of the Barbary pirates was nevertheless satisfying to
-Bainbridge. As senior officer, he had the honor of commanding the
-squadron that initiated a permanent U.S. presence in the
-Mediterranean—the first of the Navy’s “distant station” squadrons.
-
-Upon Bainbridge’s return to Boston he attempted to regain command of the
-yard from his replacement, Captain Isaac Hull. Unsuccessful, he was
-instead appointed Port Captain (“commander afloat” of all naval vessels
-in Boston Harbor), with _Independence_ designated station flagship.
-Bainbridge settled down to a career as a senior officer, serving as
-commandant at the yard twice more in the 1820s and ’30s. He had helped
-put Charlestown on the map as the builder of a major warship. More
-significantly, after the War of 1812 the yard began building a
-reputation as an important repair and supply facility.
-
-
-The Charlestown yard, and the U.S. Navy itself, owed their existence in
-part to the same Barbary pirates who occasioned _Independence’s_ first
-cruise. The severing of ties with Britain during the Revolution also
-meant the loss of protection from the Barbaries long provided by the
-Mother Country’s powerful navy and by the “tribute” Britain paid them.
-The United States had no navy to protect its seaborne commerce—so
-essential to a coastal nation dependent on overseas trade—and the
-treasury could not bear the tribute payments or the ransom demands for
-captured ships and sailors.
-
-Thus after independence the Mediterranean trade had been virtually
-closed to the United States. There was much unresolved debate about the
-problem, but when the pirates spilled out into the Atlantic in 1793 and
-took 11 American vessels in a few months, Congress took action. The
-following year it authorized six frigates, three of which were launched
-in 1797: _United States_, _Constellation_, and _Constitution_.
-
-Congress was spurred to finish the job by the actions of Revolutionary
-France during its war with Britain. French commerce raiders so
-terrorized American neutral shipping that in 1798 an angry U.S.
-government created the Navy Department and prepared for war. (There were
-a number of engagements at sea, but war was never declared.) Congress
-authorized funds to build, borrow, or accept as gifts 49 vessels,
-ranging from galleys to six 74-gun ships-of-the-line.
-
-The 74s were never built, but while the program was still alive, naval
-shipyards to build them were established in Portsmouth, Boston, New
-York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Norfolk. Boston, wrote Secretary of
-the Navy Benjamin Stoddert to President John Adams, from “the natural
-strength of its situation [meaning its large, deep, and defensible
-harbor], the great number of ship carpenters in its vicinity, and of its
-seamen, must always remain a building place and place of rendezvous for
-our navy of the first importance.” Thus in 1800 the Charlestown Navy
-Yard was established.
-
-For most of its history Charlestown’s primary mission was to keep the
-fleet sailing. That is not to say the yard wasn’t a shipbuilder; it
-built more than 200 warships over its 174 years of operation. But most
-of the new ships were built to meet the immediate demands of war. (Three
-quarters of them were launched during World War II alone.) For fully
-half of those years no new ships came down the ways. The pattern
-established in the yard’s early years was one of ongoing repair,
-outfitting, supply, and conversion work punctuated by occasional new
-launchings.
-
-The classes of ships that came down the ways at Charlestown and other
-naval yards were the outcome of strategic and political deliberations in
-Washington. U.S. naval policy devised during the first half of the 19th
-century had its roots in the War of 1812. Before the British blockade
-bottled up its warships, the tiny U.S. Navy had successfully fought a
-brief _guerre de course_ against Britain, using a strategy that
-emphasized single ship actions and raids on enemy shipping with
-relatively small, fast frigates and sloops-of-war. The early naval
-successes prompted Congress in 1813 to authorize six new frigates (three
-of which were built) and six sloops. These, and the nine frigates
-authorized in 1816 and laid down in the 1820s (including the
-Charlestown-built _Cumberland_), formed the backbone of the Navy until
-just before the Civil War.
-
-But the War of 1812, which helped shape a practical role for the
-19th-century Navy, also led lawmakers into an expensive attempt to
-compete with European navies on their terms. Using the argument that
-large, powerful ships were essential to the defense of the nation’s
-shores (and perhaps remembering the crucial role of French 74s at
-Yorktown), Congress also authorized four 74-gun ships-of-the-line in the
-1813 act.
-
-While ships-of-the-line were traditionally used in fleet actions with
-set lines of battle (hence their name), they were also deployed to break
-blockades and to “show the flag”—that is, remind other nations of the
-United States’ military reach. Postwar nationalism, a popular navy still
-basking in the nation’s praise, and the country’s demonstrated
-vulnerability to blockade prompted appropriations in 1816 for additional
-74s.
-
-Between 1813 and 1822 fourteen 74s were laid down, including
-_Independence_ (1813), _Vermont_ (1818), and _Virginia_ (1822) at
-Charlestown. But in the decade after the war strategists cast a
-skeptical eye on such large ships. The expensive, provocative, and
-easily outmaneuvered behemoths, they said, were only a drag on the
-Navy—inappropriate for a young nation that wanted to stay out of
-European conflicts. By 1825 only five 74s had gone into service.
-
-In 1835 _Independence_ took a turn in its career that was emblematic of
-naval policy. The 74 had lain idle at Charlestown for 13 years. It was a
-sluggish sailer, and its great weight and design flaws brought the lower
-lee guns too close to the water to be useful during combat. So
-_Independence_ was “razeed,” cut down from three decks to two, and
-transformed from an unsuccessful ship-of-the-line into a very good
-54-gun frigate—the largest and one of the fastest in the Navy.
-
-Only a few present at its 1837 recommissioning realized that
-_Independence_ was also among the last of its kind. Fast approaching was
-a technology that would displace naval sail; steam would drive the Navy
-of the future. In 1839 the Navy’s first commissioned steamer—the
-two-year-old harbor battery _Fulton II_—arrived at Charlestown for
-repairs. A local paper called it “the oddest looking fish we have ever
-set our eyes on.” Four towering stacks spouting black smoke rose from
-the deck, on which were mounted engine cylinders four feet in diameter.
-The sidewheel covers, likened to “immense fungi,” barely cleared the
-sides of the dry dock.
-
-
-With the dock and other improvements, the Charlestown yard had by the
-1840s taken shape as an important repair and shipbuilding facility. The
-dry dock (_see pages 40-41_), five years abuilding, had opened in 1833
-amid much ceremony. Vice President Martin Van Buren and other
-dignitaries watched as the already-venerable _Constitution_, stripped
-and demasted, inaugurated the dock. Much of the tidal flats had been
-reclaimed behind a granite quay (the yard would triple its original size
-by 1869), and the rest of the yard’s uneven grounds had been leveled. A
-high stone wall, built to help stop pilfering and protect the ships,
-stretched between the Charles and Mystic rivers.
-
-The yard had become more self-sufficient. The boilers for the dry dock
-pump engines also provided steam for the new sawmill and blockmaking and
-armorer’s shops. In 1837, the yard’s ropewalk (also steam-powered) and
-tar house had been completed (_see pages 20-21_). The yard now made its
-own paint in the “oil house,” while hardware was supplied by a large
-smithy with 12 forges.
-
-Other significant additions: masting shears looming over the new shear
-wharf; a sparmaker’s shed, masthouse, and sail loft; new timber docks; a
-steam chest for bending wood; an armory with thousands of muskets,
-bayonets, and swords; and neat ranks of guns, shot, and anchors in their
-respective “parks.” Hundreds of elm trees planted by order of Commodore
-Bainbridge softened the yard’s industrial setting.
-
-Anchored out in the harbor were several vessels “in ordinary.” A vessel
-in ordinary was out of service and in storage with a skeleton crew until
-recommissioned. The ship was demasted, salted to retard dry rot,
-whitewashed inside, tightly caulked, and its sides and decks “payed”
-with a thick coat of varnish and tar. Tubular windsails directing air
-belowdecks and holes cut in the bulkheads insured good air circulation.
-Some vessels in ordinary at Charlestown had protective wood and canvas
-sheds over their decks, an innovation of Captain Hull.
-
-_Vermont_, _Virginia_, and the frigate _Cumberland_, begun in 1825, had
-become permanent fixtures in their great shiphouses. They were still
-officially under construction and near completion, but were really in
-ordinary. (_Virginia_ was something of an ill-starred vessel. Over the
-years at least three people had died in accidents around the ship, and
-its reputation was reconfirmed in 1845 when a visitor fell to his death
-from its scaffolding.) Construction on _Virginia_ and _Vermont_ had
-slowed to a standstill after critics questioned the strategic value of
-ships-of-the-line. But economic considerations played at least as big a
-role; ordinary was a cheap way to keep expensive-to-sail vessels,
-including big frigates like _Cumberland_ (launched in 1842), ready for
-war.
-
-In 1848 _Vermont_ was finally launched to “a vast concourse of people
-and the firing of cannons.” But the day of the big 74s was over. Neither
-_Vermont_ nor _New Hampshire_ (built at Portsmouth Navy Yard), the last
-two ships-of-the-line completed by the Navy, ever saw service as a
-commissioned warship. In fact most 74s had short careers of little
-strategic consequence. _Independence_, first of the class, was the only
-one still serving as a warship at mid-century, but it had been cut down
-to a frigate.
-
-The launching of _Vermont_ also closed a chapter in the yard’s history.
-The second ship laid down at Charlestown 30 years before, _Vermont_ was
-the last all sail-powered warship launched there—obsolescent even as it
-came down the ways.
-
-
-Although this was a U.S. Navy Yard run by naval officers, throughout its
-history those wielding the caulking mallets and rivet guns were
-civilians working for civilian foremen. During the first half of the
-19th century the yard’s workforce steadily increased from 89 in 1822 to
-370 in 1853. At mid-century the records show most of them were born in
-New England—half from Massachusetts. Some 15 percent were Irish, the
-majority working as laborers.
-
-So complicated an undertaking as the building of a warship required an
-array of specialized occupations falling under the general label of
-“mechanics”: carpenters, sawyers, joiners, sparmakers, blockmakers,
-painters, gun carriage makers, armorers, sailmakers, blacksmiths,
-caulkers, riggers, boatbuilders, coopers, ropemakers, masons,
-machinists, plumbers, and coppersmiths. A force of unskilled laborers
-was at times supplemented by the ordinary crews and by the sailors
-stationed at the yard.
-
-Each shop had its master, quartermen (leaders of several crews),
-leadingmen (crew leaders), and crews of mechanics, apprentices,
-laborers, and a few boys (before child labor laws eliminated such
-positions). In the early years, when the yard’s facilities were sparse,
-it was not unusual for the master to have his own shop outside of the
-yard. The commandant would in effect contract with the master to do the
-work there with his own men. In the 1840s and ’50s the Navy tightened
-the regulations, giving the masters less leeway in hiring and ordering
-supplies. By the Civil War they were all yard employees.
-
-A look at the young men in the apprenticeship program, started in 1817,
-gives a clearer picture of the yard employees they would become. Those
-applying for the program—generally at age 16—had to show good character
-and be physically able to perform the tasks of their trade. They had to
-demonstrate the ability to read, write, and do simple math. The terms of
-the five-year indenture (later reduced to four) were generally clear: in
-return for exhibiting growing mastery of his trade, the apprentice
-received from the Navy room and board, increasing pay, and continuing
-education in reading, writing, arithmetic, and theories of the trade.
-But because the indenture was technically a personal contract between
-the boy’s parents or guardian and the master, not the Navy, questions of
-obligation sometimes arose when a new man became master. At the end of
-the apprenticeship—usually at age 21—the boy became a yard employee.
-
-                                                   _Continues on page 22_
-
-
-                 Navy Yard Tradesmen in the Age of Sail
-
-During the early 19th century, Charlestown’s shipyard bell called
-several hundred civilian tradesmen and laborers to work each morning.
-Laboring from sunrise to sunset under the supervision of naval officers
-and civilian shop masters, these yard employees built, repaired, and
-supplied United States warships for naval duty around the globe.
-Fluctuating government budgets, changing seasons, and the uneven demands
-of war and peace made navy yard work intermittent and unpredictable.
-
-    [Illustration: A navy yard rigger tightens a warship’s mast
-    shrouds.]
-
-
-                              The Ropewalk
-
-Several factors enticed the U.S. Navy into constructing its only
-ropemaking facility at the Charlestown Navy Yard in the 1830s: skilled
-labor, access to raw materials, and technical expertise. The port of
-Boston already boasted more than a dozen ropewalks employing many
-skilled artisans. Perhaps most importantly, the Navy was eager to take
-advantage of newly developed labor-saving machines like those already in
-use in New England’s textile mills. Because rope had to be twisted in a
-straight line, the maximum length that could be produced was determined
-by the length of the ropewalk (so called because workers spinning the
-hemp fibers by hand walked the length of the building). The Charlestown
-ropewalk’s quarter-mile length allowed production of rope up to 1200
-feet long. Designed by architect Alexander Parris (best known for
-Boston’s Quincy Market), the ropewalk complex included the rope “laying”
-area running the length of the building, spinning and preparing machine
-rooms, the hemp house, and the tar house. The complex was powered by
-massive steam engines and tended by men and boys. The Navy’s move to
-mechanized rope production came at a critical time, as machine-spun rope
-began to replace intricate hand-spinning techniques. The hand spinners’
-resistance inspired contests in the 1840s, in which they challenged the
-quality of machine-made rope. The results of such a challenge to the
-Charlestown ropewalk were somewhat ironic. Though its machine-made rope
-proved to be stronger and cheaper to produce, hand-spun rope was
-superior in the smaller sizes, and the mechanized ropewalk began
-producing some hand-spun rope, doing so until the end of the 19th
-century.
-
-    [Illustration: Ropewalk, building]
-
-    [Illustration: Ropewalk, machinery]
-
-    [Illustration: Spinning    Combed bundled fibers called “roving” are
-    fed from a can onto the spinning frame. At the spindle they are spun
-    counterclockwise into yarn, which is wound on a bobbin.]
-
-    [Illustration: Forming the Strand    Bobbins are mounted on the
-    twisting frame. The yarns are threaded through the register plate to
-    equalize tension and tied to a rotating hook on the rolling “jack.”
-    The jack pulls yarns from the bobbins and twists them clockwise into
-    a strand.]
-
-    [Illustration: Laying the Rope    Three or four strands are tied to
-    a rotating hook on the jack. While clockwise tension is kept on the
-    other ends by rotating hooks, the strands are twisted
-    counterclockwise into rope.]
-
-Budget-minded Naval Commissioners in Washington allowed the commandant
-to pay just enough to hold on to his workers. He generally matched the
-rates of private shipyards in the area to keep workers from being lured
-away. The daily rates thus fell with the coming of cold weather and the
-slowing of work, since the workers were then in low demand elsewhere.
-The Navy defended this hard-nosed practice, maintaining that with fewer
-daylight hours (workers mustered at sunrise and were dismissed at
-sunset), the yard got less work out of the men. The niggardly pay
-policies sometimes backfired: in 1821 the low-paid sailmakers left en
-masse to work at private yards.
-
-More than the skilled craftsmen, the laborers’ jobs depended on the
-amount of work at the yard, but most of the workforce awaited the coming
-of cold weather with some anxiety. The yard’s practice was to retain
-only as many people as it could keep working, and bad weather sharply
-reduced the volume of work. The completion of a new ship or of a major
-repair job also meant the letting go of large numbers of workers, at
-least until the next job. In effect many in the workforce were not given
-permanent jobs, but only hired on to perform seasonal work, much like
-house carpenters, or to complete a single project.
-
-Though the situation was normally weighted in favor of the employer, the
-scales could occasionally tip the other way, especially for skilled
-workers. In 1825, when the coming of spring coincided with a surge in
-building brought on by a recent Boston fire, Commandant William Crane
-was forced to raise wages to compete for skilled workers. He sent his
-Master Builder Josiah Barker up the coast as far as Portland to recruit
-mechanics.
-
-At times skilled workers attempted to force the Navy’s hand, organizing
-to protest conditions. When the caulkers struck for higher wages in
-January 1835, the commandant, Commodore Jesse Elliott, fired them and
-quickly found others willing to work at the established rate. Two days
-later the “refractory caulkers,” unable to find work in the middle of
-the winter, asked to be rehired at their old wages. Wanting to remain on
-good terms with his employees, Elliott allowed the men to return.
-
-Sometimes the walkout worked. Yard workers considered unreasonable a
-change in their working hours made in 1852. By this time they were
-working a straight 10-hour day. But under the new policy, they had to
-work sunrise to sunset if that period contained even a minute less than
-11 hours, thus adding up to an hour to their day during the winter. They
-walked off the job, forcing the Navy to rescind the policy.
-
-These actions represent a period when the yard workers, though not yet
-unionized, could strike—an option later denied to government employees.
-While workers were generally forced to accept the prevailing pay and
-conditions at the yard, they were not completely without power.
-
-In the Charlestown Navy Yard’s first half-century, world events, U.S.
-politics, and sectional rivalries affected the ebb and flow of work and
-the hiring and firing of men. The yard was born in the midst of a world
-at war and grew to prominence in a time of relative calm—in retrospect,
-the lull before the storm of civil war.
-
-    [Illustration: _Sloop-of-war_ (_U.S.S._ Decatur _or_ Dale) _dry
-    docked in Charlestown has its rigging tarred and its hull sheathed
-    with copper, about 1852_.]
-
-                                                   _Continues on page 29_
-
-
-                         Building a Wooden Ship
-
-The creation of a wooden warship began in the mold loft. There
-carpenters translated specifications from standard plans for each class
-of vessel into full-sized wooden patterns. These were used to fashion
-hull members, for which white oak or live oak were the favored woods.
-(Some 2,000 trees were required for a 74-gun ship-of-the-line.) On the
-slightly inclined building ways, joiners first laid the keel, the great
-spine of the ship running along the bottom of the hull. Then they
-attached the stem and the stern post to the keel and raised the
-frames—the vessel’s ribs. The frames formed the contours of the hull
-and, together with horizontal deck beams and vertical stanchions beneath
-the beams, provided a strong skeleton. After 1829, iron and copper bolts
-and spikes replaced many of the wooden “treenails” that secured the
-structural members and fastened the deck and hull planking. The rudder
-was hung, the hull caulked and sheathed with copper to protect it from
-teredo worms, and the ship was launched. Riggers then “stepped” masts to
-the keelson, a lengthwise beam bolted to the keel (_see page 19_). After
-they rigged the horizontal spars, cordage, and sails, the new warship
-was ready for outfitting.
-
-    [Illustration: _Expanding U.S. interests in the Pacific spurred
-    Congress in 1825 to authorize a new class of sloop-of-war to protect
-    those interests. Charlestown Navy Yard constructed three of them
-    between 1825 and 1827._]
-
-
-  1 Building ways
-  2 “Shears”: hoisted heavy pieces
-  3 Keel
-  4 Stern post
-  5 Frames
-  6 Deck beams
-  7 Planking
-  8 Drag chains: arrested ship after launch
-  9 Shiphouse
-
-
-  The Workforce in 1835
-    138 Carpenters
-    56 Ropemakers
-    40 Laborers
-    37 Joiners
-    34 Blacksmiths
-    25 Sailmakers
-    19 Riggers
-    18 Coopers
-    17 Plumbers
-    16 Boatbuilders
-    14 Sparmakers
-    12 Blockmakers
-    11 Painters
-    6 Caulkers
-    6 Masons
-    6 Sawyers
-
-
-                       The Frigate _Constitution_
-
-The first three warships ordered for the infant U.S. Navy in 1794—one of
-them the Boston-built _Constitution_—were frigates unlike any others.
-Naval strategists knew the nation could afford to build only a few
-vessels, so they had to be formidable warships. They were inspired by
-French “razees,” ships-of-the-line (_see page 14_) that had one gun deck
-removed, transforming them into large, heavily armed frigates. The sharp
-lines of _Constitution’s_ hull gave it a frigate’s speed, but in size
-and stoutness it was comparable to a small ship-of-the-line. (Its heavy
-oak frames, spaced close together and sheathed with thick planking,
-proved virtually impenetrable in battle—hence the name “Old Ironsides.”)
-The theory was that _Constitution_ would be powerful enough to fight any
-frigate, quick enough to flee anything bigger. The British, though,
-scorned the new frigates, asserting that they lacked the tactical
-strengths of either frigates or ships-of-the-line: too slow to engage
-the former, too weak to stand up to the latter. But _Constitution_ more
-than lived up to U.S. expectations in the War of 1812, when it bested
-two British frigates in separate battles, escaped two more, and captured
-a frigate and a sloop-of-war in a third engagement. _Constitution_
-fought no more battles, but served honorably for another 40 years.
-Throughout its career _Constitution_ has been closely associated with
-the Charlestown Navy Yard, undergoing several overhauls there. The first
-was in 1833, when the frigate inaugurated the yard’s dry dock. In
-1992-95 it was serviced in the same dock. Since 1897 the yard has been
-home port for _Constitution_, the Navy’s oldest commissioned warship.
-
-    [Illustration: The 24-Pounder Long Gun
-
-A gun crew of 6 to 14 men wrestled with this 5,600-pound gun. To adjust
-elevation, a crew member placed a handspike on one of the steps (A) and
-levered the breech (B) up or down; the gun captain slid the quoin (C) in
-or out.]
-
-                  [Illustration: U.S.S. Constitution]
-
-
-  Specifications:
-    Length overall: 204 ft.
-    Beam (width): 43.5 ft.
-    Displacement: 2,200 tons
-    Draft: 22.5 ft.
-    Hull: 15 to 20 in. thick
-    Speed: 13-14 knots
-    Crew: 450-470
-    Armament in 1812: 30, 24-pounders; 22, 32-pounder carronades; two
-          24-pounder & one 18-pounder bow chasers on the forecastle
-
-
-  1 Quarter boat
-  2 Quarterdeck
-  3 Captain’s quarters
-  4 Captain’s day cabin
-  5 Officers’ staterooms
-  6 Bread room
-  7 Ship’s wheel
-  8 Wardroom
-  9 Cartridge filling room
-  10 Powder magazine
-  11 Spirit room
-  12 Cockpit (junior officers’ quarters)
-  13 Anchor capstan
-  14 Bilge pumps
-  15 Shot locker
-  16 Spar deck (open)
-  17 Gun deck
-  18 Berthing deck (crew hung its hammocks on this deck)
-  19 Orlop deck (storage)
-  20 Hold
-  21 Ballast
-  22 Anchor cables
-  23 24-pounder guns
-  24 Long boat
-  25 32-pounder carronades
-  26 Galley
-  27 Sail locker
-  28 Sand room
-  29 Rigging blocks
-  30 Sick bay
-  31 Forecastle
-  32 Manger
-  33 Crew’s head
-
-
-    [Illustration: _Constitution’s_ Sails
-
-Sail area, with studding sails (not shown), was more than 43,000 sq.
-ft.]
-
-
-  1 Flying jib
-  2 Outer jib
-  3 Inner jib
-  4 Fore topmast staysail
-  5 Foresail
-  6 Fore topsail
-  7 Fore topgallant sail
-  8 Fore royal
-  9 Fore skysail
-  10 Mainsail
-  11 Main topsail
-  12 Main topgallant sail
-  13 Main royal
-  14 Main skysail
-  15 Spanker
-  16 Mizzen topsail
-  17 Mizzen topgallant sail
-  18 Mizzen royal
-  19 Mizzen skysail
-
-
-    [Illustration: _Sinking of Union sloop_ Cumberland _by Confederate
-    ironclad_ Virginia (_ex-U.S.S._ Merrimack) _in 1862, by Alexander C.
-    Stuart_.]
-
-
-                      The Coming of Iron and Steam
-
-_Merrimack_, _Virginia_, _Cumberland_: names that point up the ironies
-of war. As the steam frigate _Merrimack_ was being launched in July 1855
-(_see pages 32-33_), the partially built ship-of-the-line _Virginia_ lay
-in another part of the yard. It had been laid down and named in the
-1820s, a more harmonious time. Even if the old 74 had finally come down
-the ways, it is not likely that, amidst the sectional acrimony of the
-1850s, it would have kept the old name—and certainly not after the
-secession of the state whose namesake it was.
-
-A year after _Merrimack’s_ launching, the frigate was back in the yard
-after going aground during its shakedown cruise (when the crew becomes
-familiar with a ship and problems are ironed out). While workers
-replaced damaged coppering and repaired the propeller on the big
-warship, a smaller sail frigate waited its turn.
-
-Launched 13 years earlier, _Cumberland_ had served as flagship of the
-African Squadron, whose mission was to suppress slave running. Now back
-home, _Cumberland_ moved into the dry dock soon after _Merrimack_ was
-towed out. It was cut down to a fast sloop-of-war with one gun deck of
-28 guns and a crew of 376.
-
-_Cumberland’s_ worth as a leaner warship was proven in the first months
-of the Civil War. Assigned to the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the
-vessel took eight Confederate prizes in three weeks. But the next year
-_Cumberland_, among the last sailing ships launched by the Navy, came up
-hard against the future.
-
-On March 8, 1862, _Cumberland_ and other vessels were on blockade duty
-in Hampton Roads, Virginia, when the men on deck sighted a bizarre new
-war machine steaming out of Norfolk. Approaching them was a dark,
-monolithic vessel—decks awash, no masts, no sails, no sailors. C.S.S.
-(Confederate States Ship) _Virginia_, the much-rumored ironclad
-blockade-breaker, had finally taken the stage.
-
-    [Illustration: _Architect’s rendering of the Charlestown machine
-    shop’s “Great Chimney,” 1858._]
-
-It was a slow, clumsy vessel, but menacing nevertheless. Using a full
-mile to gather momentum, _Virginia_ steamed steadily towards the Union
-vessels. It passed the frigate _Congress_ and headed straight for
-_Cumberland_, its sloping iron casement shedding the Union ships’
-barrage of heavy shot and explosive shell as if they were “peas from a
-pop-gun,” in the words of a _Cumberland_ sailor. But _Cumberland_,
-though clearly outmatched, could not avoid engagement. It was at anchor
-in a dead calm, the crew’s wash drying in the rigging. The Union sailors
-could only take the punishing return fire, clear the decks for battle,
-and wait for the inevitable.
-
-Longer than _Cumberland_ by half, with a submerged iron ram projecting
-from its bow, the approaching vessel looked to the Union ship’s pilot
-like a “huge, half-submerged crocodile.” _Virginia_ tore into
-_Cumberland’s_ bow below the waterline (_see pages 28-29_), then backed
-off, leaving its ram imbedded in a seven-foot hole. Both vessels now
-loosed volleys at point-blank range; dozens of _Cumberland’s_ crew were
-maimed or killed.
-
-As the vessel listed and began to sink, the crew abandoned ship, but 121
-men—already dead, too hurt to save themselves, or firing guns to the
-end—went down with _Cumberland_. (As water flooded the gun deck, a young
-gun crew officer barely saved himself by squeezing through a gun-port.
-He was Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, who in 1890 became commandant of the
-Charlestown Navy Yard.) Before darkness ended the fighting, the ironclad
-also riddled _Congress_, killing more than a hundred men and setting the
-vessel on fire. _Congress_ burned on into the night and finally
-exploded.
-
-The frightening weapon that had handed the U.S. Navy its worst defeat
-began its career as the hull of a wooden steam vessel. A week after the
-surrender of Fort Sumter, the loss of the important Gosport Navy Yard at
-Norfolk to rebel troops became inevitable. Evacuating Union forces—under
-cover of _Cumberland_—burned and scuttled several warships to keep them
-from falling into Confederate hands. But some were salvageable,
-including a large steam frigate on which everything below the waterline
-was intact. Southern engineers converted the vessel into an advanced
-warship, removing the masts and topping the hull with a rooflike iron
-shell. The original name of the vessel they retrieved and transformed:
-U.S.S. _Merrimack_.
-
-
-_Merrimack’s_ reincarnation as _Virginia_ embodied two
-technologies—steam and iron (and then steel)—that were advanced during
-the Civil War and that eventually defined the modern Navy. Steam
-engineering had traveled a long road of acceptance in the conservative
-Navy. By 1850, the year the Charlestown Navy Yard built its first
-steamer, Great Britain had built or converted from sail some 25
-propeller and paddlewheel steam warships. The U.S. Navy had launched
-only seven. Steam engines were still considered novelties by many old
-Navy men—at best auxiliary power, at worst dirty and undependable
-nuisances that called for machine tenders rather than sailors.
-
-Their resistance was not entirely unjustified. There was the problem of
-range: _Merrimack_, for instance, could cruise only about 17 days with
-its coal bunker full. American steamers far from home had to depend on
-French or British coaling stations and machine shops in places like Hong
-Kong and Shanghai. Unlike self-reliant sail, steam alone could not meet
-the demands of distant squadrons. And in the early days of steam, it was
-no faster than sail: in fact it was often slower. More crucial, early
-steam engines were inefficient and unreliable, so captains would not
-trust them in combat. And coal took up valuable space needed for
-supplies, crew, and ammunition.
-
-But the main problem was that early steamers were driven by big,
-ungainly sidewheels that caused captains no end of problems (_see page
-35_). They so harmed a vessel’s sailing qualities that steam was of
-necessity the primary power source on sidewheelers—but the Navy wanted
-to use steam only as auxiliary power.
-
-Another way of employing steam power for propulsion was needed. The
-propeller (called a “screw”) was the answer, allowing naval steam to
-come into its own. Construction of the prototype screw sloop _Princeton_
-began in 1841, before America’s first sidewheel warships even went into
-service. The Navy built only eight more deepwater sidewheelers before
-the famous 1854 class of six screw steamers (led by the
-Charlestown-built _Merrimack_) made the cumbersome vessels a footnote in
-naval history. With the advent of the propeller, enough problems were
-solved that auxiliary steam power became feasible in warships. On an
-1858 cruise from Honolulu to Acapulco, _Merrimack_ steamed only three
-days out of 32.
-
-_Merrimack_, whose subsequent adventures we have already followed, was
-in the tradition of large American frigates like _Constitution_. While
-its engines were never very dependable, _Merrimack_ was an excellent
-sailer, powerfully armed, and on its inaugural European cruise inspired
-Britain to build similar vessels with better engines.
-
-    [Illustration: Merrimack _is launched at Charlestown in 1855;_
-    Cumberland _was built in the same shiphouse in 1842_.]
-
-The screw sloop _Hartford_, launched at Charlestown in 1858, was one of
-a follow-up class of steamers. (These and other screw steamers of the
-’50s were all frigates and sloops; no steam ship-of-the-line was built
-at Charlestown or any other yard. As we have seen, the era of such large
-wooden ships was over by the time the Navy was converting to steam.)
-These were smaller vessels with a shallower draft—better suited to
-coastal and river operations. As Rear Admiral David G. Farragut’s
-flagship in victories at New Orleans and Mobile Bay, _Hartford_ was
-perhaps the most celebrated steamer in the Union Navy.
-
-With propellers, even the most hidebound captains could appreciate the
-better maneuverability steam gave them during combat. Gradually the
-tactical roles of steam and sail were reversed, with increasingly
-efficient and dependable steam engines officially becoming the primary
-power source and sail the auxiliary. As a matter of economy, however,
-American vessels continued to use sail whenever possible on
-long-distance cruises.
-
-Steam technology demanded a whole new set of skills of Charlestown’s
-mechanics. When the steam battery _Fulton II_ docked there in 1839, the
-yard could repair only the vessel’s wooden components, having to
-contract work on the engine to local companies. But by 1845 yard
-personnel could fully service the screw sloop _Princeton_. While some
-carpenters may have made the transition, it is more likely that most of
-those working with steam machinery had a background in the field.
-
-As the yard adapted to the new age, it underwent a decade of
-modernization and quickened production preceding the Civil War. The dry
-dock was lengthened; gas lights were installed; the yard began
-manufacturing wire rope in 1857. But the most important improvement was
-a state-of-the-art machine shop—its 240-foot stack long a landmark at
-the yard—that replaced the old smithery in 1859. It contained such
-equipment as a machine that could plane a metal surface 10 feet square
-and a huge lathe capable of handling iron propeller shafts 35 feet long.
-The facility also helped the yard to incorporate a new technology
-dramatized (though not introduced) by C.S.S. _Virginia_: ironcladding.
-
-Sinking of large warships had rarely occurred in naval battle. Solid
-shot either bounced off thick wooden hulls or left a small, patchable
-hole. So warships normally just blasted away at each other until one of
-them, casualties mounting and its deck and rigging a shambles, hauled
-down its colors. Yet _Virginia_ had sunk or caused to eventually sink
-two of them in two hours. Its ironcladding allowed it to get close
-enough to _Cumberland_ to use an ancient but still effective technique,
-ramming, and close enough to _Congress_ to pound the ship at close range
-with its broadside shot and big rifles. While ramming would not remain a
-tactical option, ironcladding was universally adopted as every naval
-power raced to design hulls that could withstand ever more powerful
-explosive shells fired from rifled guns (_see pages 42-43_).
-
-As in every war, technology helped shape strategy in the Civil War and
-strategic considerations helped determine how new technologies were
-applied. The Navy’s major role in the war effort was to blockade some
-3,500 miles of Southern coastline. The South’s blockade runners were
-typically the most advanced examples of British shipbuilding,
-steam-powered sidewheelers that were often iron- or steel-hulled. In the
-first year of the war, only about one in eleven of these runners were
-caught (partly because sidewheelers were still faster than screw
-steamers), and the Union Navy continued to build, borrow, and buy every
-vessel it could to strengthen the blockade.
-
-                                                   _Continues on page 36_
-
-
-                            Steam Propulsion
-
-When steam was introduced as an auxiliary naval power source in the
-1820s, paddle-wheels were the initial method of propulsion. In the late
-1830s engineers began working with propellers—“screws” in naval
-terminology. Each technology had its partisans: the sidewheel provided
-greater combat maneuverability, was suited to riverine warfare, and
-presented no problems of leakage, as did the screw’s underwater shaft
-hole. However, the exposed wheels were vulnerable during combat, ate up
-deck space needed for guns, hindered sail handling, and created more
-drag than a screw when the vessel was under sail. The launching of the
-screw warships H.M.S. _Rattler_ in Britain and U.S.S. _Princeton_ in the
-United States in 1843 signaled the coming ascendancy of screw
-propulsion. In the historic 1845 tug-of-war between _Rattler_ and an
-otherwise-identical sidewheeler, the greater efficiency of the screw was
-publicly confirmed.
-
-    [Illustration: SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE U.S. STEAM FRIGATE MERRIMAC.
-
-_1857 inboard plan of screw frigate_ Merrimack. _Screw could be hoisted
-into a well to reduce drag when the vessel was under sail._]
-
-    [Illustration: Sidewheels: good maneuverability, but vulnerable
-    above the water.]
-
-    [Illustration: The screw: more efficient, and protected below the
-    waterline.]
-
-Thus when naval officers learned of the conversion of _Merrimack_ into
-an armored blockade-breaker, they were understandably worried. In the
-debate over the type of vessel the Navy should develop to counter the
-Southern threat, John Ericsson’s proposal for a turreted,
-shallow-drafted coastal ironclad won out over larger, oceangoing designs
-with traditional broadsides. His ironclad, called U.S.S. _Monitor_, was
-the prototype of the turreted ironclad class named after it. (While
-monitors and _Virginia_-type ironclads continued to meet the needs of a
-mostly coastal and riverine naval war, two broadside ironclads were
-built by the Union. One of them, _New Ironsides_, was quite effective.)
-
-_Monitor_ fought _Virginia_ to a standoff the day after the latter sank
-_Cumberland_. It was the first clash between steam-powered ironclads,
-and the world took notice. Captain John Dahlgren, creator of _Monitor’s_
-two big guns, put it succinctly: “Now comes the reign of iron—and cased
-sloops are to take the place of wooden ships.”
-
-It did not happen immediately: _Monitor_-class iron hulls were not very
-seaworthy. (_Monitor_ sank in late 1862 while being towed during a storm
-off Cape Hatteras.) Wooden ships under both sail and steam power
-continued to fight the Civil War’s deepwater battles, but Dahlgren’s
-words came true after the war. The evolving iron, and then steel,
-warship incorporated elements from both ironclads: the deeper hull and
-superstructure of _Virginia_ and, rather than multiple-gun broadsides, a
-few large guns in revolving _Monitor_-type turrets that allowed the guns
-to be trained without turning the entire vessel.
-
-Only four monitors were built by navy shipyards, but officers considered
-them the best produced during the war. _Monadnock_, a double-turreted
-monitor built at Charlestown, was generally thought the best of the lot
-and the only one of this class to see action. After the war, it proved
-its unusual seaworthiness by voyaging around Cape Horn to San Francisco.
-
-Other than _Monadnock_, ironcladding work at the Charlestown yard was
-performed on vessels built elsewhere, although the workers clad with
-iron the bulwarks of some of the double-ended sidewheelers built there.
-These vessels, a temporary reprieve for naval sidewheel technology, were
-designed for the narrow, shallow rivers of the South, allowing the
-“brown-water” Navy to reverse direction without turning around. The
-Charlestown yard built five double-enders—the biggest class constructed
-there during the war and, with those built at other yards, the biggest
-class of ships produced in the United States before World War I.
-
-The Charlestown yard had in 1858 initiated its first machinist
-apprenticeship, acknowledging the inevitable transformation of the
-yard’s work. Steam had somewhat prepared the way for the yard’s artisans
-to work with iron: those already trained as boilermakers could adapt
-their skills to ironcladding. But increasingly the trades related to
-steam machinery and ironcladding were formalized with titles and
-apprenticeships. Through the 1850s and ’60s, machinists, iron moulders,
-and boilermakers accounted for an increasingly large part of the
-workforce: from a total of 26 (3 percent) in 1854 to 371 (19 percent) in
-1866. But even though such trades were necessary in the yard by the
-mid-1860s, they were still in the minority and were paid less,
-considered less exacting and more easily mastered than the old wooden
-ship trades.
-
-Samuel Cochran, a longtime employee at Charlestown, recalled later in
-life that when he arrived at the yard as a young man during the Civil
-War “the majority of the men employed were ship carpenters and joiners
-and most of the tools they used were cross cut saws and axes.” His own
-job was to turn the grindstone on which they were sharpened.
-
-Cochran went on to paint a vivid picture of the yard during the war
-years when some 3,000 workers held jobs there: the ordnance workers who
-had the dangerous job of retrieving powder from the magazine, donning
-canvas slippers to reduce the chance of sparks; the clandestine barrels
-of liquor in cellars, complete with drinking straws; the yard
-“politicians” who owed their jobs to patronage; sawyers in their
-six-foot-deep sawpits; the sailors (“Jackies”) on the receiving ships
-finding new ways to get extra grog on board.
-
-A minor labor grievance in 1861 illustrates how the exigencies of war
-changed the working atmosphere at the yard and reduced the workers’
-leverage. As it had in 1852, the government decided that yard employees
-should work sunrise to sunset from September to March, thus bringing
-their hours in line with those of private yard workers. Again the
-workers protested, although they continued to work, stating in their
-petition that they had no desire to hinder the government’s campaign to
-“crush out a foul rebellion.” This time the Navy made no concessions.
-Two strikes in 1862 over the same issue were half-hearted and futile;
-the longer hours remained in effect.
-
-
-The sense of urgency and focus engendered by war and the accelerated
-pace of technological change pushed the yard to extraordinary levels of
-production. So it was not surprising that with the coming of peace the
-activity here and at other yards fell off. But the drop was precipitous.
-At war’s end, in sheer numbers and in engine technology, the U.S. fleet
-compared favorably with those of the European powers. In the weeks after
-Appomattox, however, the fleet shrank dramatically and continued to
-decline thereafter. In the postwar economic and political climate, the
-government’s priorities shifted. Massive funds were needed for
-reconstruction of the southern states and for war-deferred developments
-of the nation’s interior. The Navy would have to wait.
-
-European navies, though, were riding the new wave of technology. In the
-1870s their warships began to shed their sailing rigs as steam power
-became routine technology. But in America the old guard reasserted
-itself in peace, and there was a reaction against steam. After 1869, all
-naval vessels, steam or not, were required to have “full sail power,”
-and captains were on notice that they would pay for any coal they
-consumed other than for emergencies. Four-bladed propellers were
-replaced with two blades to reduce drag when under sail—with a
-corresponding loss of steaming efficiency.
-
-As the British and European navies rapidly converted to lighter and
-stronger iron and then steel hulls on their largest ships, virtually all
-U.S. vessels built in the 1860s and ’70s were wooden-hulled (although
-some of these contained iron bracing). Even as late as 1885, the _Army
-and Navy Journal_ asserted that “a staunch, fast wooden vessel is still
-the best for cruising purposes.” But while wooden-hulled U.S. naval
-vessels were generally acknowledged to be fine examples of their kind,
-many were well past their prime: _Independence_, for example, flagship
-of the first Mediterranean squadron, had been a receiving ship at Mare
-Island Navy Yard in California since 1857.
-
-It was not only romantic tradition that kept naval shipbuilding in its
-antebellum condition. Burning coal in warships cost money; the wind, if
-not as dependable, was free. Sails continued to make good sense on
-long-distance cruises. America still had no foreign coaling stations to
-support a distant steam fleet, and isolationist sentiment hindered their
-acquisition.
-
-    [Illustration: _Marines guard the entrance to Charlestown Navy Yard
-    in 1874. The gate no longer exists, but the building at right,
-    dating to 1813, still stands._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Workers in the gun park, 1890s, load cannon and
-    cannonballs onto a cart. Dry dock and carpenter shop can be seen in
-    the background._]
-
-    [Illustration: _A baseball team of yard workers poses for its
-    picture in front of the machine shop, about 1905._]
-
-For the same political and strategic reasons, America’s was a cruising
-navy, made up of ships not intended for naval battle but for scouting,
-showing the flag, and commerce raiding. Wooden hulls sufficed for such
-roles. The government and private enterprise continued to look inland,
-and iron was used instead for rails and bridges to speed westward
-expansion. In any case, American metallurgy lagged behind that of
-Britain, while diminishing timber supplies made British designers look
-to alternate hull materials—not the case in the United States.
-
-If the Navy in general and navy yards in particular declined in the
-1870s, Charlestown’s relative position was strong. From after the war to
-the early ’80s, Charlestown was the second most productive yard after
-New York. A large number of vessels came to the yard for repair—mostly
-wooden vessels with steam engines. To service these ships, Charlestown
-in the 1870s continued to hire more machinists, engineers, boilermakers,
-and patternmakers while retaining a solid contingent of wooden ship
-tradesmen.
-
-Few new vessels were launched from any yard in this period. In the last
-three decades of the century Charlestown constructed three—all in 1874.
-The screw sloops _Vandalia_ and _Adams_ were launched on successive
-days, the latter (constructed at the yard by a private shipbuilder)
-being the last wooden warship laid down by the Navy. A few months
-earlier the yard had launched its first iron-hulled vessel, the torpedo
-ram _Intrepid_. But it was not part of a general transition to iron. The
-Navy built only four other iron-hulled vessels, none of them major
-warships. The 1874 launchings at the Charlestown yard reflected the U.S.
-Navy’s lukewarm and indecisive response to changing naval technology.
-
-The yard by 1880 had changed little since the improvements of the ’50s.
-It had greater capacity now with four shiphouses and two building ways,
-but the physical plant also reflected the technological limbo into which
-the Navy had settled. There was a coaling wharf to service steamers and
-a new rolling mill for iron plate. But the large sail loft and wet
-timber dock were still very much in use, and oxen still pulled the
-timbers from dock to sawmill.
-
-The dry dock was occupied by _Hartford_ in 1879-80. It was receiving new
-engines after long tours in the 1860s and ’70s on Far Eastern stations.
-Its two-year stay in the dock—longer than normally needed for such a
-job—testified to the general state of affairs. The shrinking fleet had
-reduced the work load and slowed the pace at the yard. Under such
-conditions it was cheaper to use a smaller crew and take longer to do
-the work.
-
-That the Navy was willing to give this much attention to so honored a
-ship as _Hartford_ is understandable. But it symbolized the fact that it
-was only putting off the inevitable—modernization. By the early 1880s
-the U.S. Navy floundered in the wake of Europe’s navies—the victim of
-limited funds, tradition-bound officers, political neglect, and popular
-indifference. There were but 48 decaying vessels in commission, most at
-a Civil War or even prewar level of technology. On top of the other
-problems, the corruption associated with the administration of Ulysses
-S. Grant had touched the Navy—including the Charlestown yard—in the late
-1870s. Here, as at other yards, politicians found jobs for men who were
-then expected to vote as they were told. It is easy to see why one
-historian has characterized this period as the “low water mark” of the
-Navy.
-
-There were rumors of yard closings. Nothing happened immediately, but
-less and less work came to Charlestown. Then, in 1883, the Navy
-suspended all repair and construction work at the yard and reduced its
-role to manufacturing. So began hard times at Charlestown Navy Yard,
-during which it came perilously close to shutting down altogether.
-
-                                                   _Continues on page 45_
-
-
-                       The Yard’s First Dry Dock
-
-Before dry docks came into use in the 16th century, the only way to
-service a ship’s hull was to “careen” it—heave it over on its side,
-still floating (_see pages 6-7_), or laying in the mud at low tide. It
-was difficult and time-consuming and put great strain on the hull. The
-answer was the dry dock. The concept is simple: float the vessel into a
-three-sided basin, then close the seaward end and remove all the water.
-The vessel settles on a cradle, its hull accessible. To undock: reflood
-the basin, open the seaward end and float the vessel out. But the
-concept’s execution required a finely-engineered complex of masonry,
-engines, pumps, reservoir, tunnels, culverts, valves, and gates—in
-effect a huge well-coordinated machine. The Charlestown dry dock and the
-one built concurrently at Norfolk, Va., were the first such naval
-structures in the country. Six years under construction, the Charlestown
-dock was inaugurated in 1833 with the docking of Constitution. It was
-305 feet long (extended in 1856 to 370 feet and again in 1948 to 398
-feet), 60 feet wide, and 30 feet deep—the Navy’s largest dry dock until
-the 1890s. It took the original eight pumps four to five hours to empty
-the tremendous basin. Other operations were to some extent governed by
-Boston Harbor’s 10-foot tide. After the dock was enlarged the water
-level did not rise as rapidly as the tide during filling, so it took two
-high tides to do the job. For emptying and filling, the caisson was
-filled with water and sunk in place between grooves in the dock walls.
-For docking and undocking, the caisson was emptied and floated out of
-the way on the high tide (_see inset_). It took 24 men working hand
-pumps for an hour and a half to expel the water from the caisson. The
-original wooden caisson lasted until 1901, when the steel caisson still
-in use today was completed.
-
-    [Illustration: The Yard’s First Dry Dock]
-
-1. After its 1858 launching, U.S.S. _Hartford_ is docked for
-installation of its steam engine. To empty the dock, workers opened the
-discharge gates (A), releasing water to flow (_red arrows_) down
-discharge culverts (B) (on both sides of dock) to fill the reservoir
-(C).
-
-2. The pumphouse (D), its steam engine driving two pumps in underground
-wells (E), pumped the water from the dock via the reservoir and sent it
-through an underground culvert back to the harbor.
-
-3. To fill the dock, the discharge gates were closed and the filling
-gates (F) were opened. Water flowed (_green arrows_) first to wells (G),
-then into the dock through the same culverts used to empty it.
-
-
-  Steam windlass
-  Timber dock
-  Swing gates (backed up caisson)
-  Caisson (“floating gate”)
-
-
-                          Ironclad Technology
-
-The clash of ships at sea embodies the ongoing technological battle
-between arms and armor: between deploying ever more destructive weapons
-and contriving ways to withstand them. As long as solid shot was the
-only way to attack a ship’s hull, heavy timbers were usually armor
-enough. Big wooden warships were rarely sunk by even the heaviest shot.
-(_Constitution_ is a particularly good example.) But the rules of the
-game changed with the coming of more powerful and more accurate guns,
-and especially with the development of the practical explosive shell in
-the 19th century. A shell could open a gaping hole in a heretofore
-impervious wooden hull. By 1860 France and then Britain had begun
-building ironclads. In Britain, especially, the rising cost of
-diminishing timber supplies was another incentive to experiment with
-iron, both as armor and for structural elements of the hull. But in the
-United States, wood was still cheaper than iron. Also, though the
-country had earlier experimented with ironcladding, the Navy resisted
-the new technology, putting emphasis on speed rather than armor. But it
-quickly made up for lost time after the beginning of the Civil War. The
-Confederacy took the lead, for the same reason that the United States
-had built “super-frigates” at the end of the 18th century. A country
-that could afford only a small navy had to build state-of-the-art
-warships. The blockade-breaker C.S.S. _Virginia_ showed the lethal
-effectiveness of its ironcladding on its first outing (_see page 28_).
-The next day U.S.S. _Monitor_ fought _Virginia_ to a draw in the first
-battle between ironclads (_right_). The encounter spurred European
-navies to accelerate their ironclad programs, but new breech-loading
-rifled guns were demonstrating greater armor-piercing ability. In
-response iron, and then steel, armor was made thicker and harder,
-leading to still more powerful guns. The gun designers generally stayed
-a step ahead, with the biggest guns able to penetrate the thickest
-armor.
-
-    [Illustration: Monitor and Virginia]
-
-    [Illustration: Inside a Turret]
-
-
-  Pilot house (did not rotate)
-  Turret (23-foot diameter inside) rotated on central spindle
-  Ammunition gantry
-  Two 15-inch Dahlgren guns
-  Ammunition
-
-
-    [Illustration: _The monitor_ Monadnock _(all turreted ironclads were
-    designated monitors) was built at the Charlestown yard in 1862-63.
-    The only monitor built there, it was quite successful, described by
-    Admiral David Dixon Porter as “the best monitor afloat.”_]
-
-
-  Ventilation shaft
-  Auxiliary steering position
-  Shot locker
-  Ericsson engine
-  Stokers’ quarters
-  Coal bunk
-  Funnel (5-inch armor)
-  Officer’s quarters
-  Boilers
-  Crew’s quarters
-  Turret rotation gearing
-  Stores
-  Chain locker
-
-
-  Specifications:
-    Length overall: 259.5 ft.
-    Beam (width): 52.5 ft.
-    Displacement: 3295 tons
-    Draft: 12 ft., 8 in.
-    Armor: turrets, 10 in.; pilothouses, 8 in.; over wooden hull, 3-5
-          in.; deck, 1.5 in.
-    Engines: Two Ericsson 1426 HP steam engines, 32-in. cylinders; four
-          boilers
-    Screws: Two 4-bladed screws, 10-ft. diameter
-    Speed: 9 knots
-    Crew: 167
-    Armament: Four 15-in. Dahlgren smoothbore muzzle-loading guns; fired
-          shot or shell
-
-
-    [Illustration: Layers of Protection]
-
-
-  1 Typical ironcladding had wooden backing up to three feet thick.
-  2 A layer of India rubber or felt might be added to help absorb shock
-          and retard corrosion.
-  3 The cladding was often made up of laminated one-inch iron plates.
-  4 Tallow was sometimes applied to the outer surface on the theory that
-          it helped deflect shot.
-
-
-    [Illustration: _Light battleship U.S.S._ Maine _on its first cruise
-    in 1895_. Maine, _part of the new steel navy, blew up in Havana
-    Harbor in 1898 under circumstances still unclear. The resulting
-    Spanish-American War ended Spain’s days as a colonial power and made
-    a popular hero of Theodore Roosevelt, who resigned as Assistant
-    Secretary of the Navy to serve in Cuba._]
-
-
-                              The New Navy
-
-On first looking into the cavernous interior of Shiphouse I, a visitor
-during the winter of 1884 would have gotten the impression that
-Charlestown was a busy shipyard. Workers crawled over the almost
-completed ship-of-the-line _Virginia_, swinging hammers, sawing, pumping
-hydraulic jacks—apparently applying the finishing touches. But behind
-the house, growing piles of four-foot lengths of wood told a different
-story. The workers were breaking up the old 74. _Virginia_ had occupied
-the shiphouse for more than 60 years, through all but the first two of
-the yard’s launchings. Back in 1824, _Virginia_ had been within two
-months of making its own trip down the ways. Now its day had passed, and
-its great timbers were being reduced to firewood and sold at auction.
-
-Outside the shiphouse, very few workers could have been found among the
-silent buildings. Charlestown was a moribund yard, barely functioning
-since its repair and construction duties had been suspended the year
-before. Only the manufacturing divisions still showed signs of life. In
-1886 the yard would be officially converted to a facility that
-manufactured equipment—especially rope—for vessels built and repaired
-elsewhere.
-
-The yard was also stripped of much of its equipment and ordered to sell
-the vessels in ordinary. Repair work fell to an all-time low: between
-the 1883 docking of the Charlestown-built double-ender _Talapoosa_ and
-1890, the dry dock was used exactly five times to do repair work for the
-U.S. Navy—once on the yard tug and four times on the floating gate for
-the dry dock.
-
-    [Illustration: _Joiner Shop foreman George W. Burroughs, about
-    1901._]
-
-New construction was out of the question. The yard had known for years
-that the vessels already in the shiphouses and on the building ways
-(labeled “Rotten Row” by a local newspaper in 1882) would never be
-launched. So it came as no surprise that the order closing the yard also
-condemned _Virginia_, two wooden steamers, and a monitor—the latter
-three laid down during the Civil War. Still, it was disheartening that
-in the early 1880s a yard that had built and repaired ships was reduced
-to taking them apart.
-
-At least the dismantling of vessels provided employment for the workers,
-who at this point felt quite vulnerable. Throughout the 1880s,
-“suspension” (being laid off) was always hanging over their heads. More
-than 500 men were employed at the yard when work was halted in mid-1883.
-There were around 300 by the end of the year and their ranks continued
-to thin, averaging less than 200 until 1888—most of them ropemakers,
-machinists, laborers, and watchmen.
-
-Until World War I, jobs connected with supply would remain more stable
-than those related to construction and repair. In the late 1880s and
-’90s, managers found ways to transfer men in the latter trades to other
-divisions within the yard in order to keep their services on call. But
-in the early ’80s the yard could find virtually no work for men skilled
-in the craft of wooden shipbuilding—formerly the elite of the workforce.
-After _Virginia_ and the other vessels had been turned into stacks of
-wood, those who had done the work were sent home.
-
-
-Now let us look ahead some three decades to 1917, by which time we find
-a yard dramatically transformed. Eleven wharves described a great arc at
-the confluence of the Charles and Mystic Rivers. The familiar old
-shiphouses had been replaced by a large shipbuilding ways and steel
-plate storage yards. The timber basin that had long dominated the center
-of the yard was gone, replaced by a new dry dock twice as long as the
-first one. The other timber basin at the east end of the yard had been
-filled in and was now the site of gas and oil tanks, a locomotive shed,
-and a gas plant for acetylene torches.
-
-It was a vital place, showing an intensity not seen since the Civil War.
-In fact it was again a wartime yard: after almost three years of
-neutrality the United States had entered the global conflict that was
-later called World War I. Some 4,500 workers worked two ten-hour shifts
-or around the clock in three eight-hour shifts, answering to a steam
-whistle instead of the bell that had summoned 19th-century yard workers.
-The wharves and docks were crowded with three- and four-stacker steel
-ships, some carrying the towering cage masts that were a short-lived
-experiment of the period. On the building ways, workers had laid the
-keel of the fuel ship _Brazos_.
-
-Electric lights illuminated the thousands of men working on ships
-through the night. Vessels under repair were alive with the flare of
-welding torches and the tattoo of pneumatic rivet guns. Over them moved
-the arms of great cranes, including a 150-ton floating derrick and a
-colossus that traveled on tracks between dry docks. Materials and
-equipment were transported by yard locomotives that had replaced the
-oxen (although horses still did service). A mechanized coaling plant
-near the old dry dock helped ease the dirty and arduous task of fueling
-ships. But it was apparently undependable, and at times ships were
-coaled the old way.
-
-Charlestown’s main responsibility was repairing the warships of a
-greatly enlarged fleet: steel destroyers, armored cruisers and
-battleships, submarines, and wooden sub chasers. The yard also outfitted
-and commissioned new vessels, converted civilian vessels to wartime use,
-armed merchantmen, and altered seized German passenger liners to
-transport U.S. troops to France.
-
-More work came to the yard in 1917-18 than in any other comparable
-period in its history before World War II. Some 450 vessels were
-serviced during those two years. In addition Charlestown was a supply
-depot and embarkation point. In all, an average of 50 ships a day
-arrived at or departed from the yard during the war.
-
-By 1918 some 10,000 skilled workers, laborers, and clericals worked at
-Charlestown. Reflecting the growth of the labor movement over the last
-three decades, many of them belonged to trade unions (although they
-could neither strike nor be represented by the unions in wage
-negotiations). Women working at the yard were mostly naval yeomen, but a
-few worked as radio and telephone operators, radio electricians, and
-ropewalk machine tenders.
-
-Yard employees worked in 17 trade shops, the names of which
-characterized the needs of modern steel shipbuilding: Shipfitters
-(including riveters, drillers, welders, sheet metal workers);
-Electrical; Pattern (for cast metals); Chain; Copper/Pipefitting; and
-other skills employed in raising a steel ship.
-
-Some of the old familiar shops survived in reduced or altered roles. The
-sail loft now produced mostly canvas bags, pea jackets, and hammocks.
-The riggers loft had become a versatile shop responsible for an array of
-shipyard tasks. They still worked aloft on stacks and steel masts;
-directed dry docking and crane operations; prepared shipways for
-launchings; dove beneath ships in hardhat diving suits; and continued to
-do the traditional rigger’s handiwork, such as the braided rope fenders
-that protected ships’ hulls and the fancy leatherwork and ropework still
-common on naval vessels. The workers in the joiner shop worked on the
-small wooden boats built at the yard, but spent much of their time
-making shipboard furniture. The ropewalk continued to turn out the large
-quantities of rope still needed on steel ships.
-
-    [Illustration: _These young women were working as civilian clerks
-    for the Navy when the U.S. entered World War I. Overnight they
-    became Yeomen-F (female) naval personnel. (Yeomen is the naval term
-    for clerical workers.)_]
-
-    [Illustration: _Joiners were skilled workers in wood and
-    traditionally the elite of the yard workforce. Even in the early
-    days of steel ships, they remained among the highest paid of the
-    workers. Here joiners are photographed in their shop, about 1897._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Yard’s floating crane, shown here in 1913, could
-    lift 150 tons. Dry Dock 1 is visible in left background._]
-
-The traditional shipyard hierarchy was virtually unchanged: the crews of
-mechanics, apprentices, and laborers were headed by leadingmen; several
-leadingmen were supervised by quartermen; and the quartermen were under
-a chief quarterman or they answered directly to the master who headed
-the shop.
-
-Unlike the hard times of the 1880s, the employees at Charlestown had
-reason to feel secure. Civil Service reforms of the ’90s had already
-gone a long way toward making merit, not political advantage, the
-criterion for hiring and firing. And now, in the hour of war, the Navy
-wanted to keep its shipyard workers. In the months before the United
-States entered the conflict, officials had worried that employees swept
-up in the popular sentiment for preparedness would enlist. Secretary of
-the Navy Josephus Daniels declared it the “patriotic duty” of the
-workers to remain at the yard, asserting that “their services to their
-country ... [are] as important as if they were actually in the field.”
-
-When the draft was initiated in 1917, the Navy responded by gaining
-exemptions for crucial classes of yard workers such as supervisors,
-draftsmen, and skilled mechanics and their helpers. The military draft
-gave new meaning to the yard’s “six-muster” rule, by which any worker
-missing six successive roll calls for any reason could be fired. One
-week after any worker was dismissed, the yard informed his draft board.
-
-The demand for workers and the boosted war economy drove up wages. No
-doubt prompted by this incentive and by the exemption policy, some
-240,000 men applied for work at the yard in 1917-18. But while
-Charlestown didn’t lack for applicants, filling the most skilled
-positions was a continuing problem. To remedy this (and to help workers
-gain exemptions), the yard cut a year from the term of apprenticeship
-and established a trade school to train unskilled workers as mechanics.
-
-
-While World War I sped up Charlestown’s evolution from naval backwater
-to modern shipyard, other factors had set the process in motion. Time
-and expected technological advances accounted for some of it. But the
-transition was accelerated at the yard by a larger transformation of the
-Navy, prompted by the country’s position in a changing world and
-completed on the stage of the Spanish-American War.
-
-Historians have tagged this transformation the “New Navy.” If we simply
-compare the numbers of the 1880 Navy, when its aging fleet of wooden
-vessels ranked 12th in the world, to that of the 1900 Navy, when there
-were in commission or on the stocks 17 steel battleships and a number of
-armored cruisers, the label “new” is certainly accurate. But there was
-more to this than simply building new steel ships to catch up to Europe.
-The Navy’s mission underwent a strategic shift in this 20-year period.
-
-The early phase involved a strengthening of the Navy’s capacity to carry
-out its mission. For a century its job had been to defend the shores and
-to ensure that other navies allowed American merchant vessels free trade
-anywhere in the world. Its tactical traditions were one-on-one
-engagements and hit-and-run commerce raiding. But it was clear by the
-early 1880s that the U.S. Navy was inadequate for even these limited
-operations. Reformers could point to obvious deficiencies as European
-navies converted to armored steel hulls in the 1870s and ’80s. The old
-wooden navy had become a disgrace.
-
-Powerful voices were raised in the House Naval Affairs Committee, and in
-1883 Congress appropriated money for the steel cruisers _Atlanta_,
-_Boston_, and _Chicago_, and the dispatch vessel _Dolphin_. These
-vessels could still spread a large area of sail, and by European
-standards were not formidable, but the so-called “ABCD” ships were the
-core of the New Navy, the first small step towards making the United
-States a true sea power.
-
-For Charlestown, they were a mixed blessing. The New Navy’s need for
-maintenance and repair bode well for the future, but the immediate
-effect was devastating. For the same legislation that authorized new
-ships also established a new criterion for repairing existing vessels.
-Only repairs that cost less than 30% (later reduced to 20%) of the cost
-of a new ship of the same size could be performed. This freed up funds
-to build the new ships, but it also meant so little work for shipyards
-that both repair and construction work at Charlestown and three other
-yards was suspended.
-
-In its new role as manufacturing center, the yard kept the ropewalk,
-rigging loft, and sail loft open. The forge began producing chain and
-anchors for the new steel ships. But even these activities were sporadic
-until later in the decade. A survey done one March day in 1884 showed
-that the ropewalk was spinning rope for _Dolphin_—literally the only
-thing done that day to help put warships to sea.
-
-During the worst years of the 1880s the ropewalk almost singlehandedly
-kept the yard alive. It made itself an indispensable facility by
-supplying virtually all of the Navy’s rope. Other shops followed its
-lead, and by 1890 the Charlestown yard had become an important general
-manufacturing center, the only naval shipyard producing rope, sail,
-anchors, and chain. It was still unable to service ships, however. In
-August 1890 _Chicago_ was directed to the yard for repairs, only to turn
-back because the old dry dock wasn’t in good enough condition to accept
-the steel cruiser. “Repairs to engine bolts” for _Boston_ typified the
-kind of task the yard could perform.
-
-But 1890 also marked the beginning of the yard’s rebirth. Congress
-appropriated $152,000 for new machine tools and modernization of
-Charlestown’s crumbling facilities. It wasn’t enough to remake the yard,
-but it was a start. It was also the year that Commander Alfred Thayer
-Mahan, president of the Naval War College and one-time aide to the
-Charlestown Navy Yard commandant, published _The Influence of Sea Power
-Upon History, 1660-1783_. This important book helped to stimulate the
-world-wide buildup of naval forces prior to World War I. His thesis
-(greatly simplified) was as follows: A combination of geography,
-population size, and “national character” makes a great seafaring
-nation. Essential to the continued well-being of such a nation is a
-government that actively promotes a vigorous maritime commerce. “Sea
-power”—command of the sea lanes—protects this commerce. Only large
-concentrated fleets of capital ships able to engage and destroy the
-enemy’s navy can create and maintain sea power.
-
-Mahan’s influence, both as author and adviser to the Secretary of the
-Navy, was pivotal. His writings strengthened the hand of imperialists
-and reformers who had called for new strategic thinking. The United
-States, they reasoned, was a growing industrial power with increasing
-overseas interests, and some—among them Mahan disciple and future
-Assistant Secretary of the Navy and President Theodore
-Roosevelt—believed the nation should have a navy befitting its role, one
-able to open markets, protect those economic interests, and project U.S.
-power.
-
-In a burst of enthusiasm recalling that for the ship-of-the-line at the
-end of the War of 1812, Congress in 1890 authorized the country’s first
-full-sized battleships. They represented enormous commitments of
-resources, time, and money. Called “coastline” battleships to placate
-still powerful coast defense advocates, they were nevertheless another
-step in the United States’ emergence by the turn of the century as a
-world power with a widening sphere of influence. The Navy kept its faith
-in battleships until their vulnerability to air power and the
-superiority of aircraft carriers as attack weapons were demonstrated in
-World War II.
-
-Although a succession of battleships, cruisers, submarines, and other
-vessels were now being laid down, Charlestown didn’t immediately reap
-the benefits. The majority of the warships launched between 1883 and
-1905 were built by contract in private yards, and Charlestown built none
-of them. For most of the 1890s, the yard continued to be primarily a
-manufacturing facility. The New Navy’s hulls did account for much of the
-yard’s repair work. Steel hulls didn’t rot, but they more easily fouled
-with barnacles and seaweed than a coppered wooden hull and were less
-resistant to corrosion than iron. Maintaining them became the
-Charlestown yard’s bread and butter.
-
-The Spanish-American War broke this pattern, making Charlestown once
-again a repair yard. Besides the new warships the United States was
-trying out against the Spanish navy, there was also the “mosquito fleet”
-(old monitors, converted yachts, and other small craft used for coastal
-defense during the war) to be maintained and repaired. In all some 50
-vessels were serviced by 1,200-1,400 workers.
-
-To beef up its workforce for war, the yard began hiring more foreign
-workers, especially from Scandinavian countries with shipbuilding
-traditions. Charlestown thereafter maintained a workforce averaging over
-2,000 during the two decades before World War I—compared to the fewer
-than 400 workers there through most of the 1890s. The Spanish-American
-War was pivotal, marking a permanent expansion in the size and diversity
-of the Charlestown workforce.
-
-At war’s end the United States was recognized as a world power with
-attendant responsibilities. This new status was symbolized by the
-establishment of a coaling station in the recently acquired Philippines.
-The capital ship building program continued apace—given renewed vigor by
-President Theodore Roosevelt, staunch advocate of big ships and a strong
-navy.
-
-The yard continued to be mainly a repair facility with a steadily
-increasing workload. The new 750-foot Dry Dock 2, authorized three
-months after the sinking of _Maine_, was built to receive the Navy’s
-biggest ships. But soon after the massive structure’s 1905 completion,
-Britain launched H.M.S. _Dreadnought_, ushering in an even larger class
-of battleship the dock could not accommodate.
-
-In this period the yard specialized in the smaller battleships and the
-newest type of warship: destroyers. These fast, versatile ships had
-evolved from British “torpedo boat destroyers” built in the 1880s to
-counter the new torpedo boats. The mobile torpedo, also developed in
-Britain, was a self-propelled explosive device launched from a warship’s
-deck, traveling underwater to open the hull of its target.
-
-
-Developments in naval technology from the 1880s to the eve of World War
-II included nothing quite so dramatic as the epochal shifts from sail to
-steam and wood to iron, but the period saw advances in strategic weapons
-such as submarines and aircraft carriers, and major innovations that
-resulted in ships and shipbuilding essentially like what we see today.
-In the period before the age of flight, sophisticated warships were
-highly visible embodiments of the state of a nation’s technology, and
-the rapidly expanding U.S. fleet was an unmistakable sign of its growing
-industrial and technological prominence.
-
-    [Illustration: _Charlestown’s machine shop in 1913. Overhead belts
-    transferred power from a central steam engine to the machines. The
-    potentially hazardous belts were later replaced with electric motors
-    on each machine._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Lathe operator shapes steam turbine rotor for
-    destroyer tender Whitney in 1923._]
-
-The major innovations were again in hull material and propulsion. The
-transition from iron to steel hulls further liberated naval engineers.
-Lighter, stronger, and less brittle, steel allowed them more play in
-hull size and proportions. Despite extensive use of ironclads by the
-United States during the Civil War, its navy essentially skipped the
-iron stage in seagoing warships, moving from _Hartford_-type wooden
-steamers to the steel ABCD ships of 1883. While the Charlestown yard
-launched no steel warships until the 1930s, it did construct the tug
-_Pentucket_ (1903) and training bark _Cumberland_ (1904), both
-steel-hulled.
-
-As steam engines grew more efficient in the 1880s and ’90s, sailing rigs
-were made smaller and vestigial masts served mainly as radio antennae
-and platforms for directing big guns. But a revolution in steam
-technology sent reciprocating engines the way of masts on most large
-naval vessels. Steam turbines, which were much more efficient at
-sustained high speeds, were developed in the 1880s in Europe and used in
-1905 on _Dreadnought_. In America they became truly practical during the
-World War I period.
-
-Along with the introduction of turbines came an innovation in the fuel
-that powered them. During the 1890s oil was introduced, used in
-combination with coal. By 1910 the United States had built its first all
-oil-burning warship. Besides providing greater power more quickly, oil
-needed less storage space and fewer engine room hands than coal.
-
-These advances and refinements completed the evolution of the U.S. Navy
-warship from wooden-hulled sailing vessel to powered steel ship. But
-perfecting the new technology was not the only challenge associated with
-the transition. The demands of modern naval design provoked growing
-controversy over how work should be performed at naval shipyards and how
-those yards should be organized. Charlestown Navy Yard played a central
-role in the debate.
-
-Since 1868 the nation’s naval shipyards had each been organized into
-departments corresponding to those at the Navy Department level. Each
-department head, though nominally under the yard commandant, really
-worked for his boss in Washington. So each department became in effect a
-separate plant protecting its own interests and budget. When a yard
-built relatively simple wooden-hulled ships powered by steam engines,
-the tasks of the Construction and Steam Engineering departments differed
-enough that there was little overlap. The old organization was not then
-a problem. But as warships became complex, integrated machines the
-system broke down, providing little coordination between departments and
-a great deal of duplication. By 1910 it was grossly wasteful and
-inefficient, a public scandal.
-
-At about the same time as reformers were calling for a shakeup of naval
-shipyards, the phrase “scientific management” was being bandied about.
-Everyone recognized that the 19th-century industrial system, while
-highly successful, had to be managed differently to best incorporate
-20th-century technology. The most famous of the new management systems
-was that of Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor’s system called for the
-strict application of scientific methods to industrial management and
-organization in order to produce the maximum output. Specifically,
-efficiency experts would study workers’ tasks and break them down into
-their smallest components; perform time-and-motion studies to eliminate
-wasteful motions and determine the optimum time in which a task should
-be completed; and offer wage incentives and penalties for meeting or
-falling short of the new standards. There would be no reason for
-bargaining or for unions since non-debatable scientific principles,
-rather than human foibles and emotions, would govern management
-decisions.
-
-The workers’ response to Taylorism was speedy and unequivocal. They
-fiercely resisted any system that would analyze their movements as if
-they were machines to be fine-tuned (not an exaggeration of Taylor’s
-stated beliefs). Such a system, they said, would demean them and their
-skills—robbing them of their autonomy and individuality; eliminating
-craft from the job; turning workers into mere cogs performing sped-up,
-repetitious tasks “to the physical breaking point”—not to mention the
-threat to collective bargaining. So visceral was their reaction to
-Taylorism that any kind of management system became suspect.
-
-Thus when the Navy attempted in 1912 to introduce a British management
-system—less doctrinaire than Taylorism, though with the same ends of
-efficiency and increased production—workers at Charlestown were
-immediately on their guard. The system’s reorganization of the yard’s
-divisions also upset established power relationships between traditional
-sea (line) officers and newer and often younger engineering (staff)
-types, tilting the balance in favor of the latter. Not surprisingly,
-line and staff were polarized over the merits of the new order, accusing
-each other respectively of obstructing progress and overmanaging.
-
-In this charged atmosphere, when two overzealous junior officers
-attempted to introduce minute Taylor-like task breakdowns at
-Charlestown, the metal workers at the yard took action. They asked their
-congressman to hand-deliver a protest to Assistant Secretary of the Navy
-Franklin D. Roosevelt. While Roosevelt agreed in principle with
-scientific management, he was generally sympathetic to labor and refused
-to implement a system that the yard workers opposed.
-
-    [Illustration: _Machine shop workers pose for a group picture in Dry
-    Dock 1, about 1905. At this time a little more than 2,000 employees
-    worked at the Charlestown yard._]
-
-    [Illustration: _U.S.S._ Whitney _rises amid a forest of scaffolding.
-    The keel of the 484-foot destroyer tender—the largest vessel ever
-    built at Charlestown—was laid down in 1921. It took two and a half
-    years to build. After surviving the Japanese attack on Pearl
-    Harbor_, Whitney _served in the Pacific during World War II_.]
-
-Roosevelt’s visit to the yard in 1913, during which he let it be known
-that certain junior officers were being reassigned, focused national
-attention on the controversy and encouraged other yard workers around
-the nation. A delegation representing them lobbied against Taylorism,
-eventually persuading Congress to outlaw such management systems in navy
-yards. Yet when it was all over, the Charlestown yard was organized
-quite differently than in the 19th century, making it a more efficient
-builder and repairer of modern naval vessels and helping it to perform
-as it did during World War I.
-
-U.S.S. _Bridge_, commissioned as the first American troops were enroute
-to France, exemplified the yard’s progress since the dark 1880s.
-Following a long campaign by a job-desperate Boston to have the ship
-built at Charlestown, _Bridge_ was laid down in 1914 and launched two
-years later. It was the Navy’s first refrigerated supply ship, with a
-steel hull and a boiler that could burn oil or coal. Its 423-foot length
-made _Bridge_ the largest vessel yet built at Charlestown and its first
-major ship since the 1870s.
-
-After demonstrating its competence with _Bridge_, Charlestown was
-assigned _Brazos_, two other fuel ships, and a destroyer tender. The
-war-spurred building program helped Charlestown stay busy when peace
-came, as the last three vessels weren’t laid down until after the
-armistice. In fact the number of employees actually rose, to almost
-13,000 in 1919. Besides the shipbuilding, there was work converting
-ships to troop transports to bring the soldiers home and stripping
-military gear from ships returning to civilian service. Charlestown
-repaired a large number of destroyers, subs, and battleships small
-enough for Dry Dock 2. To increase its docking capacity, the yard
-purchased in 1920 a new state-built dry dock in South Boston. At the
-time it was the country’s largest dry dock, becoming the nucleus of the
-yard’s South Boston Annex.
-
-Events conspired in the 1920s to dampen the yard’s postwar prosperity.
-The 1922 Five-Power Treaty limited new ship construction and the overall
-number of vessels, meaning less repair and outfitting work for naval
-shipyards. In any case the political mood was to spend money on other
-things. After the destroyer tender _Whitney_ was launched in 1923, there
-was no more construction at Charlestown, other than a couple of tugs,
-for the rest of the decade. And as the Japanese grew increasingly
-expansionist, much of the fleet was moved to the West Coast, further
-reducing work at the yard.
-
-Nevertheless, Charlestown kept up its steady repair work, especially on
-destroyers, albeit at a more modest level and with a workforce reduced
-to below 3,000 by 1922. The addition of a marine railway in 1919 allowed
-the yard to more easily service smaller ships of up to 2,000 tons.
-
-By the end of the decade further developments seriously threatened the
-Charlestown yard. The London Naval Treaty of 1930 extended the
-moratorium on new capital ship construction for another six years. The
-treaty further required the U.S. to scrap three battleships and 94
-destroyers—the latter a mainstay of Charlestown. The deepening
-Depression also hurt the yard, as the government’s austerity program in
-the early years of the crisis reduced work at naval shipyards. The
-Hoover administration threatened to close most federal yards, including
-Charlestown. Yet in the Depression itself we can trace the roots of the
-coming boom.
-
-
-                         Building a Steel Ship
-
-Beginning in the 1880s, steel rapidly supplanted wood as the primary
-material in U.S. naval vessels. Charlestown began building large steel
-vessels in 1915-20, the period depicted below. Stronger per pound than
-wood or iron, steel enabled naval architects to design bigger ships that
-could carry more armament. Steel was also better suited to bearing the
-massive weight of steam engines and boilers. The structural members of
-early steel vessels were riveted together, with limited gas welding in
-use by World War I. Shipyard artisans traded auger, saw, and mallet for
-pneumatic drill, gas cutting torch, and pneumatic rivet gun. Massive
-steam-powered cranes replaced the old hoisting shears. Yet, while a
-riveted steel ship demanded vastly more complicated plans and a higher
-level of coordination between shops, it was assembled in much the same
-way as a wooden vessel. From the keel rose the stem, sternpost, and
-frames. Transverse beams, longitudinals, vertical stanchions, watertight
-bulkheads, decking, and plating completed the hull, all held together by
-rivets. Electric welding (_below_), developed in the 1930s, allowed
-still lighter construction and the prefabrication of sections.
-Designers, however, still called for rivets for some parts of the hull
-throughout World War II.
-
-    [Illustration: _When the Charlestown yard began constructing steel
-    ships in 1915, a new building ways was erected on the site of the
-    shiphouse in which the wooden screw frigate_ Merrimack _had been
-    built 60 years earlier_ (see pages 32-33). _The yard built three
-    475-foot fuel ships (“oilers”) on this shipways between 1917 and
-    1921, reducing the time between keel laying and launch from two
-    years for the first ship to less than a year for the last._]
-
-    [Illustration: Electric welding]
-
-
-                           Chain for the Navy
-
-Until World War I, forged iron chain was used on naval vessels, and the
-forge shop at the Charlestown yard was a leader in the industry. But it
-was a laborious process, and the demands of war spurred the development
-of cast steel chain, which could be produced more quickly. Charlestown
-was soon experimenting with detachable links to connect standard chain
-lengths. This led to the development in 1926 of a new chainmaking
-process, in which each link was made from half-links joined in a die
-under a drop-forge hammer—“die-lock” chain. It was clearly superior:
-more uniform, stronger, cheaper to make. By the early 1930s Charlestown
-was producing die-lock chain in several sizes, and by 1936 die-lock had
-superseded cast steel chain for all sizes. The shop made the chain used
-in most U.S. naval vessels built during World War II and was the only
-forge to make chain for the largest postwar aircraft carriers.
-
-    [Illustration: Finished chain is loaded for shipping.]
-
-    [Illustration: Decorative background]
-
-    [Illustration: The Die-lock Chainmaking Process]
-
-1 Rolled nickel-steel rods (from ¾-inch to 4¾-inch in diameter) are cut
-into shorter bars.
-
-2 The cut bars are heated in a gas furnace to 2100°F. The now-malleable
-bars are bent by machine into U-shapes.
-
-3 The U-bars are stamped to form stems, with tapered and ridged ends, or
-they have holes punched in the ends to form sockets.
-
-4 Stem is hooked onto last completed link and placed in die; socket is
-heated, and the two are joined under a 10,000-pound hammer (_next page_
-).
-
-5 Largest 4½-inch chain for supercarriers could withstand up to 2.5
-million pounds. Each two-foot-long link weighed 360 pounds. Red
-undercoat and grey paint helped retard rusting.
-
-    [Illustration: 10,000-pound hammer]
-
-    [Illustration: _At a shift change in 1943, departing workers hurry
-    past destroyer escorts being outfitted for war. At its peak during
-    the war, the Charlestown yard and its annexes employed more than
-    50,000 men and women._]
-
-
-                          The Yard Transformed
-
-It was not a dramatic launch—no gathering speed down the shipways and
-plunging into Boston Harbor. Instead, the water flowing into Dry Dock 1
-rose slowly around U.S.S. _MacDonough_ until the destroyer lifted off
-the keel blocks and was towed out of the dock. The 1934 “floating” was
-low-keyed but significant. _MacDonough_ was the first warship built by
-Charlestown since the wooden screw sloop _Vandalia_ slid down the ways
-in 1874.
-
-The technological leap between the two vessels—partially bridged by the
-steel supply and fuel ships Charlestown built in the World War I
-period—was considerable. Except for its coal-fired auxiliary steam
-propulsion, the 216-foot _Vandalia_ did not differ significantly from
-the old _Constitution_. _MacDonough_ was a modern destroyer—the
-sloop-of-war’s 20th-century counterpart—incorporating the advances of
-the past 60 years. It was powered by geared turbines driven by steam
-generated in oil-burning boilers, and relied on sophisticated
-electrical, hydraulic, and communications systems. At 341 feet, its
-steel hull took up most of Dry Dock 1.
-
-As soon as _MacDonough_ was moved out of the dock, the destroyer
-_Monaghan_, just floated from Dry Dock 2, was moved into #1 for
-completion and outfitting. Two more keels were immediately laid in #2.
-It is noteworthy that neither dry dock was being used to repair ships.
-In fact, the whole yard’s traditional role as repair facility had given
-way in the past year to a new one as shipbuilder, a status it maintained
-through World War II. Charlestown built 12 destroyers in the 1930s and
-24 more by the end of the war. Of course the yard built and serviced
-other types of vessels—especially destroyer escorts and LSTs (Landing
-Ship Tank)—but Charlestown acquired a reputation as a “destroyer yard”
-and thereafter specialized in this workhorse of the Navy.
-
-    [Illustration: Navy Yard Complex During World War II
-
-_This map of Boston Harbor in 1942 shows the five units of Charlestown
-Navy Yard during World War II. By war’s end the South Boston Annex was
-the largest, with dry docks big enough to repair battleships and heavy
-cruisers. The Chelsea and East Boston Annexes repaired small vessels,
-and the Fuel Depot Annex served the great number of naval vessels
-entering the harbor during the war._]
-
-
-  CHELSEA
-    Chelsea Naval Hospital
-    Chelsea Naval Annex
-    Fuel Depot Annex
-  CHARLESTOWN
-    Navy Yard
-  EAST BOSTON
-    East Boston Annex
-    Pipeline
-  DOWNTOWN BOSTON
-  _BOSTON HARBOR_
-    Deep Water Pier
-  SOUTH BOSTON
-    South Boston Annex
-
-
-Ironically, the change had been brought about by the same economic
-crisis that almost put an end to the yard. After considering closing all
-yards but Norfolk and Philadelphia to save money, the Hoover
-administration in 1931 proposed closing only the Charlestown yard.
-Reaction was swift: committees were formed in Boston; petitions
-protesting the closing were signed. But it was probably the fact that
-_MacDonough_ had been ordered a month earlier that tilted the scales in
-the yard’s favor. The keel was not laid for two years, however, and 1932
-was the yard’s bleakest year since before the Spanish-American War, with
-only 1,500 people employed.
-
-The Roosevelt administration’s program to stimulate the economy, provide
-jobs, and pull the nation out of the Depression was the first step in
-Charlestown’s transformation into a true ship construction yard. Under
-FDR’s 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act, 32 new warships were
-authorized, 20 of them destroyers, of which two were assigned to
-Charlestown. The following year, growing worries about Japanese
-aggression moved Congress to further expand the Navy.
-
-The yard kept a rapid pace in the 1930s, laying two keels simultaneously
-in Dry Dock 2 in 1934 and again in 1935. (As the shipways was inadequate
-for destroyers, all keels were laid in this dock until 1939.) After
-floating, the hulls were moved into Dry Dock 1 for completion, the whole
-process taking about two years.
-
-Repair work was much reduced in the 1930s by federal economy measures
-specifying lengthened maintenance intervals. As both dry docks were in
-any case usually tied up in construction work, and because most of the
-ships in for repair were relatively small, many of these vessels were
-floated into a large cradle and hauled from the water up the tracks of
-the yard’s marine railway. Others were taken across the harbor to the
-South Boston dry dock.
-
-
-Technological change transformed many of the yard’s oldest trades by the
-1930s, while the growing size and complexity of ships required more and
-more workers. Such large government employers as shipyards were seen by
-policy makers as places to both promote economic stability and save
-money. Early in the Depression these two goals were addressed,
-respectively, with lower and upper limits for each yard’s workforce—at
-Charlestown, 1,500 and 1,800. The workforce stayed generally within
-these limits until 1935, when it began growing, reaching some 5,000
-workers by late 1939. (During hard times the yard kept its eye on the
-future, exempting apprentices from layoffs.)
-
-By the time war had begun in Europe in 1939, with “readiness” again
-America’s watchword, the yard was operating at an even faster rate of
-production than in the mid-thirties. With the shipways enlarged to
-handle destroyers, six ships were in some stage of construction that
-summer. In October four destroyers were floated out of Dry Dock 2 on the
-same day. The yard also prepared 18 of the old World War I four-stacker
-destroyers for transfer to Britain under the 1940 destroyers-for-bases
-agreement.
-
-Then came the war. If the thirties had been a period of gearing up,
-wartime pushed the yard into overdrive. It took a great war effort for
-the yard to realize its true shipbuilding and manufacturing potential,
-confirming a statement by Secretary of the Navy George von Meyer in
-1910: “Navy yards are primarily for war and only incidentally for
-peace.” One historian’s conservative estimate: under the goad of war the
-yard built, repaired, overhauled, converted, or outfitted some 6,000
-vessels between 1939 and 1945.
-
-The raid on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 made every naval installation
-fearful of enemy attacks. Charlestown installed anti-aircraft batteries
-on roofs and camouflaged waterfront buildings. Some security measures
-were disruptive of yard routine. Blackouts and dim-outs were in force,
-especially in the early years of the war, to reduce the chances of ships
-being silhouetted against lights. When the air raid whistle blew,
-workers had to stop what they were doing and go to shelters. Throughout
-the war, yard officials juggled the conflicting demands of security and
-production.
-
-Other security measures had more personal consequences. Some yard
-workers were banned from certain areas, and everyone was forbidden to
-speak foreign languages while at work. A number of workers were
-suspended in 1941 as security risks. “Remarks ... inimical to the
-government” were enough to earn an employee a place on the suspension
-list.
-
-The huge number of people working at Charlestown was another sign that
-the yard had been remade by war. The U.S. Navy became the world’s
-largest single employer of industrial labor during the conflict, and the
-Charlestown yard held the same status in the Boston area. The yard’s
-force rapidly swelled from 5,000 workers in 1939 to a high of about
-50,000 at Charlestown and its annexes in mid-1943, working around the
-clock in three eight-hour shifts.
-
-As in World War I, the yard again had to protect its essential employees
-from the draft board. But voluntary enlistment proved to be the real
-drain on the workforce. Although yard foremen tried to dissuade crucial
-employees from going, some 13,000 workers left the yard to join the
-fight. Throughout the conflict, even when more than 50,000 people worked
-there, the yard was shorthanded.
-
-
-           Mainstays of the Yard: Warship Overhaul and Repair
-
-After the construction boom created by World War II, Charlestown resumed
-its traditional role of “serving the fleet” (the yard’s motto). In the
-early 1950s it was the home yard for 121 vessels, including U.S.S.
-_Cassin Young_, the destroyer now on exhibit at the yard. All types of
-ships, but especially destroyers, came for everything from minor repairs
-to overhauls on established cycles. The latter, which often involved
-some degree of modernization, could require 800 to 900 workers a day.
-After the war the yard preserved decommissioned vessels of the Atlantic
-Reserve Fleet berthed at the South Boston Annex. Charlestown also
-prepared ships for transfer to allies, outfitted vessels built
-elsewhere, and repaired equipment, especially sonar.
-
-    [Illustration: U.S.S. Wasp plaque]
-
-    [Illustration: _Charlestown was busy in 1960 with overhauls and
-    modernizations. In the foreground: aircraft carrier_ Wasp _(whose
-    crew presented the yard with the plaque shown above); floating dry
-    dock (in a yard dry dock); heavy cruiser_ Macon (_CA-132_).]
-
-To make up for the shortages, the yard began for the first time hiring
-significant numbers of women and African Americans. Their door of
-opportunity, unlocked by the needs of a war economy, was kept open by
-pressure from civil rights groups on the Roosevelt administration (often
-relayed by a sympathetic Eleanor Roosevelt). Women at the yard had
-traditionally worked in clerical positions and as phone operators, and
-this remained true at war’s outset. But more and more women found work
-in the industrial shops, notably as welders and at the ropewalk (the
-latter having employed them during World War I). At least in some shops,
-however, there were restrictions. Gloria Brandenberg, who worked in the
-Paint Shop, recalled that all painter’s helpers were female, supervised
-by a woman (the “leading lady”), while all painters were male.
-Brandenberg said there was no chance for advancement.
-
-By 1943 female blue-collar workers outnumbered women in clerical
-positions. Some 7,700 women were on the rolls in late 1944—far above
-their prewar level and about 19 percent of the workforce. Many worked as
-welders on ships under construction, but yard officials wary of contact
-between female workers and male crews barred women from all vessels in
-for repair. Painter’s helper Brandenberg recalled that the women were
-not allowed even to talk to sailors.
-
-While African Americans were not officially excluded from Charlestown’s
-prewar workforce, few had been employed. When the war created
-opportunities for them, some whites openly resisted their presence in
-skilled positions. But this was not a universal attitude. Allan Crite, a
-black illustrator in the Design Department, said he experienced no
-racial problems. Inevitably, though, tensions arose in some areas.
-Gloria Brandenberg recalled an evening at a social club with her
-coworkers from the Paint Shop, one of whom was African American. She was
-asked to leave. The group talked it over; they all left. But the records
-show no major racial conflict at the yard. At war’s end more than 2,300
-African Americans were in the force of 32,000 workers.
-
-By late 1942, the yard had settled into a wartime routine—to the extent
-that routine is possible during war. Normal peacetime constraints didn’t
-apply. “During the war there wasn’t much emphasis on estimates,”
-recalled plumber Lyman Carlow. “For one thing, there wasn’t time. Here’s
-the job; we need the ship right away; get it done and whatever it costs
-it costs ... it was just a real frantic pace ... the material just
-flowed in ... plenty of people, so we could really get the work done.”
-
-More than the higher level of general activity and the large numbers of
-workers (around 36,000 at this point), it was the volume of new
-construction that characterized the wartime yard. A walk around the yard
-on November 23 would have revealed ships being built in every facility
-but Dry Dock 2, used only for repairs.
-
-Workers generally laid down and launched large vessels in pairs. But
-while floating two at a time out of a dry dock was standard practice, it
-was never approached casually. John Langan, a shipfitter during the war,
-recalled: “It was quite a feat, two destroyers right alongside each
-other, flooding the dock, and not having them crash.”
-
-A new shipways built in early 1941 helped quicken the pace of
-production. In that year 10 destroyers were laid down, the most in any
-one year. By late 1941 the yard’s workers had pushed the time for
-building a destroyer down to a little over a year and would cut it to
-three or four months from keel to launching by the end of the war.
-
-
-                         Women in the Workforce
-
-  “_We all felt that we were doing our job, and the harder we worked,
-  the faster we would get the ships out and the faster it would get
-  over. Deep down, everyone was very serious about it, because
-  ninety-nine out of a hundred people had a husband or a brother or
-  somebody close to them that was overseas.”_
-                    —_Gloria Brandenberg, WW II Charlestown yard worker_
-
-    [Illustration: _Welders at Charlestown during World War II._]
-
-As enlistments and competition from private industry depleted the pool
-of male workers during World War II, the Navy looked to the large
-numbers of women who wanted to do their part for the war effort. Women
-had long worked at the Charlestown yard, although almost exclusively
-(except during World War I) in clerical positions. But beginning in 1942
-the easing of state workweek restrictions for women hastened their
-recruitment into the yard’s manufacturing and traditional shipyard
-shops. The intention was to have them replace men in relatively
-unskilled positions requiring little training. And in fact most women
-did work as helpers in their shops, often with little chance of
-advancement. But some moved into the trades as machinists, riveters,
-painters, riggers, pipefitters, and especially as welders and ropewalk
-workers. At the same time women still occupied more than half of the
-yard’s clerical positions. Altogether, they made up about one-fifth of
-the yard workforce by 1945. Those in the trades knew their jobs would
-likely end when the war did, but the point had been made. In 1945, a
-yard historian wrote: “Experience over the past two years has proven
-that female employees are able to work efficiently on an equal basis
-with men on many jobs that were formerly considered to be men’s jobs.”
-
-    [Illustration: _Welders at Charlestown during World War II._]
-
-    [Illustration: _The yard’s clerical workers enlisted as Yeomen-F
-    (female) at the outbreak of World War I. Women also worked as radio
-    operators and at the ropewalk._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Many responded to posters urging women to fill an
-    industrial job and “free a man to fight.”_]
-
-The new shipways was also used to build destroyer escorts (DEs)—smaller,
-slower, and less expensive versions of destroyers designed for escort
-duty and antisubmarine warfare. Escorted convoys had proven to be the
-only effective way to thwart U-boat “wolf packs” preying on allied
-shipping. In 1942, after the Navy ordered the first of more than a
-thousand DEs, Charlestown built a new dry dock in which it could turn
-out four at a time. The next year 50 DEs were laid down at the yard,
-half of which were destined for Britain in accordance with the
-Lend-Lease Act of 1941. Charlestown got the production of DEs down to an
-art: of the 62 it built, workers launched an impressive 46 in the first
-eleven months of 1943.
-
-If 1941 was the year of the destroyer at the yard and 1943 belonged to
-the DE, 1944 was the year of the LST (Landing Ship, Tank). These
-seagoing assault vessels carried tanks and other vehicles during
-amphibious landings. The yard laid down 30 in 1944, taking only a month
-to complete one of the 328-foot vessels.
-
-In all, Charlestown built 174 large vessels during the war, including 12
-barracks ships and four submarines. There were also hundreds of smaller
-craft, such as wooden motor launches and diver boats. The South Boston
-Annex played a part in the yard’s strong wartime performance, doing much
-of the repair and conversion work and fabricating hull sections that
-were towed to Charlestown for incorporation into ships under
-construction.
-
-Not all vessels were built outside: in the summer of 1942, shipfitters
-fabricated in their shop 150 fifty-foot LCMs (Landing Craft,
-Mechanized)—also called “tank lighters”—for the British-American
-invasion of North Africa. Shipfitter John Langan remembered it as a
-“crash program.... We just stopped everything else and concentrated on
-them and delivered them for the invasion.”
-
-While this kind of rapid, assembly-line construction was Charlestown’s
-specialty during the war, there were other claims on the yard’s time. By
-late 1942 war’s reality was being brought home to Charlestown in the
-shape of battle-scarred ships needing quick repair. When a damaged ship
-arrived, it was given priority until it was ready to return to combat.
-
-There was another reason for the air of urgency around war repairs: ship
-repair generally called for more skill than did shipbuilding. Because
-workers often had to work blind on battle damage until its nature and
-extent could be determined, such work called on all the workers’
-resourcefulness. John Langan remembered “everybody fighting to get them
-[war-damaged vessels], because it is good work.” Langan recalled one
-vessel towed into the yard: it had been “torpedoed and cut right in
-halves ... and the fireroom was open to the seas ... [They had] tied her
-down with big I-beams ... tied them the full length, all the way
-around”—to keep the ship afloat until it reached the yard.
-
-Even without the shell-torn hulls and shredded superstructures, war is
-hard on ships. Pushed faster, farther, and longer under less than ideal
-conditions, they needed more than routine maintenance. And on top of the
-already demanding schedule of ship construction, repair, and
-maintenance, other tasks competed for time and resources. Yard workers
-outfitted naval vessels built at other yards. They converted private
-vessels and old naval ships to wartime uses. They manufactured turbines
-and thousands of tons of die-lock chain (_see pages 60-61_). They
-“degaussed” hulls—neutralized their magnetic fields so they would not
-trip mines. Together these activities suggest the scope and grueling
-pace of the yard’s war effort.
-
-In such an atmosphere, mishaps caused by fallible humans dealing with
-complex machinery were inevitable. One particularly embarrassing, and
-nearly tragic, incident was related by electrical shop foreman Mel
-Hooper. His men were completing electrical work on the new submarine
-_Lancefish_ (built at another yard) in 1945. “Some machinist went down,”
-he recalled, “and opened up the front gate on the torpedo tube and
-forgot to close it; then he went back in the ship and opened up the
-inside one and then it started to flood. And they had a hell of a job
-trying to close it, and they couldn’t close it, and everybody ran aboard
-the dock to get the hell out of there before they got drowned. And then
-the ship sank.”
-
-The stepped-up safety program was almost certainly an improvement on the
-pre-war conditions, when, as remembered by plumber Lyman Carlow, “It
-seemed to me that everyone was supposed to look after himself.” But
-while the program called for more protections for workers from open
-machinery, hazardous fumes, and other dangerous conditions, a survey in
-1944 noted that workers were rarely disciplined for safety violations,
-machines lacked guards, and most workers did not wear their hard hats,
-goggles, or ear protection. “You [went] down to the tanks with the
-chipping hammers and riveting guns going all around,” recalled Carlow,
-“and you wouldn’t be able to hear for a couple of hours afterward. But
-nobody did anything about it, or thought anything of it. You just got
-deaf, and that was it.”
-
-A shipyard was a dangerous place to work even in peacetime; war
-multiplied the hazards. Charles Snell, an apprentice rigger at the yard,
-recalled 40 years later, “We had a lot of close escapes, because safety
-wasn’t really stressed then as much as it is today ... we lost a lot of
-riggers, strangely enough, and I can never account for this, being run
-over by the cranes ... the operator of the crane, when it was traveling,
-had very limited visibility close ahead. And we lost an inordinate
-number of riggers because they’d stumble and the crane would run over
-them.... We had quite a few falls into the dry dock, not riggers, but
-all trades.”
-
-Snell left the yard in 1943 and served in Europe for the duration of the
-war. He recalled his impressions upon returning in 1946, comparing the
-yard to “a runner, which was running for an objective, and all of a
-sudden, the objective wasn’t there. The need for everything had suddenly
-evaporated. And it was a question of what do you finish and what don’t
-you finish, and what’s important.”
-
-With peace came the end of Charlestown’s brief period as a major
-shipbuilding center. But the war-seasoned yard did not simply revert to
-what it had been before. Charlestown found a new postwar role as a place
-where old vessels were remade from the inside out, transformed into
-modern warships. Old did not necessarily mean long in years. In the
-1950s, ships that had performed admirably in the late war were being
-left behind in a world of accelerating technological change. Charlestown
-extended their careers, installing state-of-the-art electronics. When
-advances in missile technology opened a new era in naval weapons and
-strategy, Charlestown played a leading role in the changeover. The life
-of the crowded and aging yard itself was extended by such activities,
-enabling Charlestown to render another three decades of service to the
-country.
-
-In the months after war’s end, the level of activity naturally fell off,
-but the yard remained busy converting transports to bring home the
-troops, inactivating ships, and completing the last few LSTs, barracks
-ships, and subs laid down in 1945. Charlestown also carved a niche for
-itself in sonar, a technology dating to the World War I period and
-considered standard equipment since the 1930s. Beginning in 1948 the
-yard became a center for the repair of sonar equipment, establishing a
-sonar laboratory and developing techniques adopted by other electronics
-repair centers throughout the Navy.
-
-Radar, developed in the 1930s, had come into widespread use during the
-war. The yard undertook a major conversion program in 1950 when it began
-upgrading radar and sonar systems on a number of destroyers and
-destroyer escorts, converting them to radar picket and antisubmarine
-warfare (ASW) roles. Charlestown also planned and designed all
-alterations, wherever they were performed, to cruisers, destroyers,
-escort carriers, LSTs, and several auxiliary vessel types.
-
-While the yard accepted a variety of vessels, including aircraft
-carriers, it continued its traditional specialization in destroyers and
-destroyer escorts. In 1955 the yard converted the 10-year-old _Gyatt_
-into the world’s first guided missile destroyer.
-
-That year the yard laid down the keel of its only postwar vessel and the
-last one it built: the LST _Suffolk County_, first of a larger and
-faster class of LSTs. Charlestown also served as the design yard for the
-other six LSTs, built in private yards.
-
-In the 1960s the yard stayed busy with outfittings, missile and ASW
-conversions, and Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhauls
-that added five to seven years of service to aging warships.
-Charlestown’s FRAM program specialized in World War II-era destroyers.
-Ranging from brief dockings to major operations of a year or more
-costing millions, these projects involved such sophisticated work as
-installing or upgrading sonar (_see pages 76-77_), radar,
-communications, and computer equipment; major alterations such as
-replacing engines and entire superstructures; and the more prosaic tasks
-the yard had been performing for over a century: cleaning and painting
-hulls, renovating propellers and rudders, and rebricking or replacing
-boilers.
-
-Nevertheless, by 1972 work was falling off at Charlestown, and signs did
-not bode well for the yard’s future. For years the Navy had invested
-little there for maintenance or modernization, making it harder to stay
-efficient. The marine railway and ropewalk had been shut down in 1971.
-Elsewhere, superfluous or inefficient military bases were being closed
-to save money. (The New York Navy Yard was closed in 1966.) A massive
-infusion of funds was needed to upgrade the old Charlestown yard—too
-small in any case for proper expansion of its facilities.
-
-The Navy in general was retrenching for economic reasons. The destroyer
-fleet, especially—the lifeblood of the yard in the 20th century—had
-steadily dwindled since 1960. The fewer destroyers there were to
-service, the harder it was to justify the Charlestown yard’s existence.
-The failure of the Navy to carry through modernization plans, including
-one whereby the majority of the yard’s industrial activity would be
-transferred to an enhanced South Boston facility, helped to hasten the
-inevitable. Many associated with the yard also suspected that
-Massachusetts, as the only state going Democratic in the 1972
-presidential election, would pay a penalty for failing to back the
-winner.
-
-On April 16, 1973, the yard commander, Captain R. L. Arthur, announced
-that the Charlestown yard, along with the yard at Hunter’s Point in San
-Francisco, was to close. Over the next year it ceased all fleet
-servicing and manufacturing operations, and on July 1, 1974, nearly 175
-years of service to the nation ended with a formal disestablishment
-ceremony. Only one naval activity remained at Charlestown: the
-protection and maintenance of the old warship long associated with the
-yard, U.S.S. _Constitution_.
-
-    [Illustration: _The launching of a ship celebrates the time, energy,
-    and skill spent in its making. Here U.S.S._ Guest, _one of 24
-    destroyers built at Charlestown during World War II, slips into
-    Boston Harbor in 1942. The big_ Fletcher-_class destroyer took only
-    five months to build_.]
-
-    [Illustration: _A destroyer is traditionally named for a
-    distinguished naval figure, and if possible the closest female
-    relative sponsors the namesake ship. In a centuries-old ritual,
-    DD-461’s sponsor Eileen Fairfax Thomson breaks a bottle of champagne
-    against the ship’s bow in 1941, sending it down the ways with the
-    words, “I christen thee_ Forrest, _and may God bless all who sail in
-    her.” Captain French Forrest commanded the Charlestown-built_
-    Cumberland _in the Mexican War. Siding with the Confederates during
-    the Civil War, he oversaw conversion of the burned U.S.S._ Merrimack
-    _into the ironclad C.S.S._ Virginia—_destroyer of_ Cumberland (see
-    pages 28-29).]
-
-
-                         Ships for World War II
-
-From 1933 to the end of World War II, the Charlestown yard moved outside
-its traditional role as repair yard and became a shipbuilding facility.
-It began with destroyers—ships it had long specialized in
-repairing—averaging two a year in the 1930s. This period of steady
-production was preamble to the World War II crash building program.
-Charlestown launched almost 200 vessels, including 24 destroyers,
-between 1939 and 1945. In 1942 it began building destroyer
-escorts—smaller, less expensive versions of destroyers designed to
-counter German submarines. The final big program was the production of
-LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank) for amphibious assaults in Europe and Asia.
-LSDs (Landing Ship, Dock) for carrying other vessels; submarines; and
-various auxiliary vessels also came down the ways during the war. These
-programs spurred major changes at the yard. Greater specialization, for
-instance, broke up traditional shops. The biggest change was in
-construction methods, most notably prefabrication. Several bow and stern
-sections, each with its own keel, were built separately—many in the
-Shipfitters Shop, but also “in playgrounds and schoolyards and parts of
-the yard, and all around greater Boston,” remembered Rigger Charles
-Snell. These were then joined to the midship hull section rising on the
-shipways. “Economy was not the name of the game,” recalled Snell. “The
-name of the game was time.”
-
-    [Illustration: _Hulls were launched from shipways or dry docks, then
-    moored alongside piers for completion. Here, yard workers, who
-    labored round the clock during the war, outfit a_ Fletcher-_class
-    destroyer as night falls. At top, a five-inch gun is lowered by a
-    mobile crane._]
-
-    [Illustration: Destroyer (36 built)
-
-A fast, versatile, relatively small ship, it was equipped for
-anti-submarine warfare, escort duty, scouting, antiaircraft warfare,
-torpedo or gun surface engagement, and shore bombardment.]
-
-    [Illustration: LST (Landing Ship, Tank; 44 built)
-
-This craft carried tanks and other vehicles for amphibious landings. The
-water ballast system allowed it to vary its draft: deep for stable ocean
-travel and shallow for moving in close to shore.]
-
-    [Illustration: Destroyer Escort (62 built)
-
-This smaller, more quickly built version of the destroyer was designed
-to protect allied shipping convoys from German U-boats, freeing
-destroyers for other duties.]
-
-
-                       New Careers for Old Ships
-
-During the long era of wooden sailing ships, when naval technology
-changed only gradually over the decades, a warship’s service lasted as
-long as the materials from which it was built. But as the pace of change
-quickened in the mid-19th century with the advent of steam propulsion
-and iron hulls, a vessel quickly grew obsolete without continual
-incorporation of the latest technology. This state of affairs, which
-intensified in the 20th century, provided Charlestown Navy Yard with a
-new role after World War II: lengthening or transforming the careers of
-old ships, otherwise destined for mothballs, through modernization and
-conversion. Modernization meant updating old electrical, propulsion, or
-weapons systems or performing structural surgery without altering the
-vessel’s function. This ranged from installing a sonar dome on the
-bottom of the hull to dismantling the entire superstructure and building
-a new one. The process normally took several months. Conversion, which
-could take years, involved major alteration of a vessel to prepare it
-for a different tactical mission. A typical example would be the
-conversion of a conventional scouting, escorting, and submarine-fighting
-destroyer to a radar picket destroyer, whose role was to provide
-mid-ocean radar warning. A notable postwar task undertaken by the yard
-was the 1956 conversion of the destroyer _Gyatt_ into the world’s first
-guided missile destroyer. Basically, the vessel’s aft five-inch guns
-were replaced with a twin missile launcher. But the ship had to be
-significantly altered to perform its new function. The yard designed
-automated systems that first affixed a booster charge to the missile and
-then moved it from the air-conditioned belowdecks magazine to the
-launcher. The decks and superstructure had to be reinforced to withstand
-the tremendous pressure and temperature of a launch. A system of ducts
-and blowout plates was installed to minimize damage and injury in the
-event of a premature explosion. Innovative retractable fins at midships
-helped stabilize the vessel for firing. With these and other changes,
-the yard remade _Gyatt_ into a sophisticated missile-firing machine.
-
-    [Illustration: _In the late 1950s the Navy began installing sonar
-    equipment in bow domes. Bow domes reduced hull resistance and were
-    less susceptible to bubble noise. The Charlestown yard, already a
-    leader in sonar technology, performed a prototype dome installation
-    in 1958. To install a dome, workers first cut away part of the old
-    bow, then fitted the prefabricated dome_ (next page, on U.S.S.
-    _Willis A. Lee_ in 1961).]
-
-    [Illustration: _Sonar works actively and passively. In active sonar,
-    the transducer in the dome transmits sound pulses through the water.
-    When the pulses reach an object (or the bottom), they are reflected
-    and received by the transducer as echoes. Distance is determined by
-    time elapsed between transmission and echo. In passive sonar,
-    hydrophones pick up noises generated by underwater sources._]
-
-    [Illustration: Installing a sonar dome]
-
-
-
-
-                Part 2    Visiting Charlestown Navy Yard
-
-
-    [Illustration: _U.S.S._ Cassin Young _at Pier 1_.]
-
-
-                             The Yard Today
-
-The yard offers the visitor a captivating glimpse into the activities
-that for nearly two centuries supported the United States Navy. Here on
-the home front, thousands of civilian workers and navy personnel built,
-repaired, and supplied warships from the majestic sailing vessels of the
-early 19th century to the powerful steel navy of the 20th century. In
-1974, the year of its closing, 30 acres of the historic yard were set
-aside for the National Park Service as a living museum of the Navy’s
-activities here. The remaining 100 acres continue to be developed as
-part of the revitalization of Boston’s waterfront.
-
-Nineteenth-century buildings, docks, and piers reflect the yard’s
-174-year history. The commandant’s 1805 hilltop mansion overlooked the
-activities below. Within view are Dry Dock 1, used by U.S.S.
-_Constitution_ as early as 1833 and as late as 1995, the 1842 Carpenter
-Shop, the 1852 Pitch House (Building 10) for caulking wooden vessels,
-the 1833 Officers’ Quarters, the 1813 Navy Stores (Building 5), and the
-1811 Marine Barracks.
-
-Two venerable warships, the 1797 frigate U.S.S. _Constitution_ and the
-powerful 1943 destroyer, U.S.S. _Cassin Young_, float alongside the
-working piers, illustrating the changing United States Navy. Both the
-_Constitution_, an active duty Navy warship, and _Cassin Young_,
-maintained by National Park Service rangers and volunteers, offer free
-tours daily.
-
-    [Illustration: Tours of the yard]
-
-A National Park Service exhibit, “Serving the Fleet,” and tours of the
-yard (_above_) provide visitors with opportunities to explore the
-history of the site. The USS Constitution Museum offers a rich
-collection of artifacts, paintings, and models relating to the history
-of “Old Ironsides.” The museum, located inside the Dry Dock 1 Pumphouse,
-is open daily to visitors.
-
-    [Illustration: Key to map]
-
-
-  Historic structure
-  Historic building name
-  Historic building letter or number
-  Non-historic structure
-  Freedom Trail (route subject to change)
-  National Park Service boundary
-  Public open space
-  Parking
-
-
-                 [Illustration: CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD]
-
-Charlestown Navy Yard’s buildings reflect the range of architectural
-styles employed over its long history. These structures served a variety
-of functions within the working yard, which was home to naval officers
-and their families as well as an industrial work place.
-
-Beginning in 1853, the civilian shipyard workers living in surrounding
-communities, primarily Charlestown, assembled each morning to the
-ringing of the bell atop the octagonal Muster House. For most of the
-19th century, the workers mustered there three times daily, in the
-morning at sunrise, at lunch, and once more in the evening before
-retiring to their homes at sunset.
-
-    [Illustration: Muster House]
-
-Directing the activities was the shipyard commandant, who lived with his
-family and personal staff in the impressive mansion constructed in 1805.
-Built on the yard’s high ground, the Commandant’s House provided a
-bird’s-eye view of the construction and repair activities going on
-below.
-
-    [Illustration: Commandant’s House]
-
-Today the house is open to the public for special tours, and numerous
-activities, such as historical military encampments, take place on the
-expansive lawn through the summer months.
-
-    [Illustration: Historical military encampments]
-
-    [Illustration: The Chain Forge houses the massive hammers once used
-    to forge die-lock chain, a unique process developed here in 1926.]
-
-    [Illustration: The country’s only remaining full-length ropewalk was
-    for more than 130 years the sole facility in the Navy manufacturing
-    rope for U.S. warships. Both buildings (not open to the public)
-    await restoration and preservation work as part of the National Park
-    Service’s ongoing efforts to preserve the significant industrial
-    heritage of the Charlestown Navy Yard.]
-
-
-                        The Ships at Charlestown
-
-The Navy’s oldest commissioned warship, United States Ship
-_Constitution_ and the Charlestown Navy Yard share a long history.
-Constructed in Boston between 1794 and 1797, “Old Ironsides” was
-repaired and supplied here many times during its active career. U.S.S.
-_Constitution_ was permanently berthed in Charlestown in 1897 and has
-since been open to the public for tours. Like all wooden vessels,
-_Constitution_ needs constant attention. In the 1920s, a major overhaul
-was capped with a nationwide tour. Between 1992 and 1995, _Constitution_
-underwent the most significant restoration to date in the yard’s Dry
-Dock 1. Newly discovered drawings and descriptions were used to help
-skilled naval shipwrights restore the vessel to its original appearance.
-
-    [Illustration: _Constitution_ settles on dry dock blocks in
-    preparation for its 1990s restoration.]
-
-    [Illustration: A view off the bow of the venerable warship.]
-
-    [Illustration: Caulkers use traditional caulking hammers to seal the
-    gun decks.]
-
-The World War II destroyer U.S.S. _Cassin Young_ (DD-793) reflects a
-very different kind of sea power than does _Constitution_. Yet both
-warships, constructed 150 years apart, served much the same purpose.
-Like frigates, destroyers (known as the workhorses of the modern navy)
-are smaller and less powerful than the heaviest warships, but they are
-fast and remarkably versatile. Boasting five 5-inch guns and made of
-steel, _Cassin Young_ was built on the West Coast in 1943 and took part
-in major Pacific engagements, including the Saipan landing and the
-Battle of Leyte Gulf, where its crew rescued over 100 sailors from the
-attack on U.S.S. _Princeton_.
-
-    [Illustration: Free tours let visitors see where the “tin can
-    sailors” lived during their long months at sea.]
-
-    [Illustration: Aboard _Cassin Young_, “Rosie the Riveter” programs
-    introduce visitors to the work and lives of the women who wielded
-    rivet guns and welding rods during World War II.]
-
-    [Illustration: _Cassin Young’s_ bow offers views of the historic
-    yard and harbor.]
-
-
-                              The Exhibits
-
-Today, exhibits and educational activities help bring alive the navy
-yard and Boston’s maritime history. At the USS Constitution Museum,
-located in the historic Dry Dock 1 Pumphouse and adjacent buildings,
-hands-on activities help visitors to appreciate the skills of a
-19th-century seaman and get a sense of his life aboard a sailing
-warship. Load and fire a replica cannon, try out a sailor’s sleeping
-quarters, take a turn at the great wheel of a square-rigger, or command
-U.S.S. _Constitution_ in battle on a computer screen.
-
-The museum houses the frigate’s logs, weapons, documents, charts,
-journals, decorative arts, and other items illustrating the epic role of
-“Old Ironsides” in U.S. history. Skilled craftsmen demonstrate ship
-model building, while films and special programs provide greater insight
-into the ship’s story. A museum store offers other items relating to
-_Constitution’s_ history and to the nation’s maritime heritage.
-
-    [Illustration: USS Constitution Museum]
-
-    [Illustration: USS Constitution Museum]
-
-    [Illustration: A permanent exhibit, “Serving the Fleet,” which
-    focuses on the history of the navy yard, is open to the public on a
-    seasonal basis in the navy yard’s Paint Shop (Building 125).]
-
-
-                                 Index
-
-
-   _Numbers in italics refer to photographs, illustrations, or maps._
-
-
-                                   A
-  “ABCD ships” 50, 54
-  Aircraft carrier 51, 60, _66_, 72
-
-
-                                    B
-  Bainbridge, William 11, _12_, 13, 15, 17
-  Barbary States 9, 14, 15-16
-  Battleship 11, 47, 49, 51, 57
-  Brig-of-war _14_
-  British Navy 11, 13, 15, 16
-  Burroughs, George W. _46_
-
-
-                                    C
-  Chain 50, _60-61_, 70, _83_
-  Charlestown Navy Yard: annexes 64;
-      and Boston Harbor _4-5_, 13, 15, 16, _64_;
-      and NPS _78-79_, 80-86;
-      Civil War _28-29_, 29-31, 34, 36-37;
-      founding 16;
-      improvements 17, 34, 46-47;
-      map _64_, _81_;
-      mission 16, 45, 47, 50, 63;
-      post-Civil War 37, 39;
-      post-WW I 57;
-      post-WW II 71-72, _76-77_;
-      Spanish-American War 46, 49, 51;
-      South Boston Annex 57, 65, 70;
-      view _back cover_;
-      War of 1812 11-15, 16;
-      WW I 46-49, 57;
-      WW II 62, 63-71, 73, _74-75_
-  Coaling plant 47
-  C.S.S. (Confederate States Ship): _Virginia_ _28_, 29-31, 34, 36,
-          _43_, 73
-  Conversion, ship 72, _76-77_
-  Cruiser 47, 50, 51, _66_
-
-
-                                    D
-  Dahlgren, John 36
-  Daniels, Josephus 49
-  Decatur, Stephen 15
-  Destroyer escort 70, 72, 75
-  Destroyer 47, 51, 57, 63, 65, 67, 72, _73_, _74-75_
-  Dry dock: #1 4, 17, _23_, 34, 39, _40-41_, 45, 50, _56_, 63, 64;
-      #2 47, 51, 57, 63, 64, 65, 67
-
-
-                                    E
-  Ericsson, John 36
-
-
-                                    F
-  Farragut, David G. 34
-  Five-Power Treaty 57
-  FRAM (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization) 72
-  Frigate _14_, 16, 17, _26-27_. See also U.S.S. ship names
-  Fuel 31, 37, 47, 51, 54, 57, 64
-
-
-                                    H
-  Hartt, Edmund 13
-  Hartt, Edward 13
-  H.M.S. (His Majesty’s Ship): _Dreadnought_ 51, 54;
-      _Java_ 11
-  Hull, Isaac 15, 18
-  Hull: iron 37, 39;
-      steel 37, 49-54, _58-59_;
-      wooden _24-25_, 34, 37, 39, 49
-
-
-                                    I
-  Ironclad _28-29_, 30-31, 34, 36, _42-43_
-
-
-                                    L
-  Launching 13, 15, 18, _32-33_, 63, 67, _73_
-  LCM (Landing Craft Mechanized) 70
-  LST (Landing Ship Tank) 64, 70, 71, 72, _75_;
-      _Suffolk County_ 72
-
-
-                                    M
-  Machinery 34, _52-53_, _54_
-  Machine shop _30_, 34, _52-53_
-  Mahan, Alfred Thayer 50
-  Manufacturing 39, 45, 50, 51, _60-61_
-  Marine railway 57, 64-65, 72
-  Monitor 36, _42-43_, 46
-  “Mosquito fleet” 51
-
-
-                                    O
-  “ordinary [in ...]” 2, _4_, 17-18
-
-
-                                    P
-  Propeller 31, 34, _35_, _37_
-
-
-                                    R
-  Radar 72, 77
-  Railway, yard 47
-  Receiving ship 2, _4_, 14, 37
-  Repair, ship 16, _23_, 39, 50, 51, 57, 63, _66_, 70
-  Roosevelt, Franklin D. 55, 57, 64, 67
-  Roosevelt, Theodore 46, 50
-  Ropewalk 17, _20-21_, 45, 49, 50, 67, 69, 72, _83_
-
-
-                                    S
-  Sail power 17, 18, _19_, _26-27_, 31, 34, 37, 50, 54
-  Shipbuilding _24-25_, 36, 54, _58-59_, 63
-  Shipbuilding ways _24-25_, 39, 46, _56_, 57, _58-59_, 64, 67
-  Shiphouse 13, 18, _32-33_, 39, 45, 46, _back cover_
-  Ship-of-the-line 11, _14_, 16-17, 18, 34. See also U.S.S. ship
-          names
-  Shipyards, naval _8-9_
-  Sidewheeler 17, 31, 34, _35_
-  Sloop-of-war _14_, 16, _23_, _28_, 29, 34. See also U.S.S. ship
-          names
-  Sonar 71-72, _76-77_
-  Steam propulsion 17, 31, 34, _35_, 37
-  Stoddert, Benjamin 16
-  Submarine 47, 51, 70, 71, 74
-
-
-                                    T
-  Tar house 17, 20
-  Taylor, Frederick W. 55
-  Taylorism 55, 57
-  Technology, naval 31, 34, 37, 51, 54, 63, 72, _76-77_
-  Torpedo 51
-  Trade shops 17, _30_, 34, 47, 49, 50
-
-
-                                    U
-  U.S. Marines 13, _38_
-  U.S. Navy 15-16, 18, 22, 31, 34, 36, 37, 39, 55;
-      policy 16, 37, 49-50, 65, 72
-  U.S.S. (United States Ship): _Adams_ 39;
-      _Atlanta_ 50;
-      _Boston_ 50;
-      _Brazos_ 47, 57;
-      _Bridge_ 57;
-      _Cassin Young_ 66, _85_;
-      _Chesapeake_ 12, 13;
-      _Chicago_ 50;
-      _Congress_ 30-31, 34;
-      _Constellation_ 16;
-      _Constitution_ _6-7_, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, _26-27_, 72,
-          _84_;
-      _Cumberland_ 16, 18, _28_, 29-31, 34, 73;
-      _Dolphin_ 50;
-      _Forrest_ _73_;
-      _Fulton II_ 17;
-      _Guest_ _73_;
-      _Gyatt_ 72, 77;
-      _Hartford_ 31, 34, 39;
-      _Independence_ _10_, 12, 13, _14_, 15, 17, 18, 37;
-      _Intrepid_ 39;
-      _MacDonough_ 63, 64;
-      _Macon_ _66_;
-      _Maine_ _44_, 46;
-      _Merrimack_ 29-31, _32-33_, _35_, 59, 73 (See also C.S.S.
-          _Virginia_);
-      _Monadnock_ 36, _42-43_;
-      _Monaghan_ 63;
-      _Monitor_ 36, 42, _43_;
-      _New Hampshire_ 18;
-      _New Ironsides_ 36;
-      _Pentucket_ 54;
-      _Princeton_ 31, 34, 35;
-      _Talapoosa_ 45;
-      _United States_ 16;
-      _Vandalia_ 39, 63;
-      _Vermont_ 17, 18;
-      _Virginia_ 17, 18, 45, 46;
-      _Wasp_ _66_;
-      _Whitney_ _54_, _56_, 57
-
-
-                                    V
-  Von Meyer, George 65
-
-
-                                    W
-  Workforce: African Americans 67;
-      management 55, 57;
-      size 18, 25, 46, 51, 57, 64, 65, 67;
-      skills 18, 34, 36, 39, 47, 58;
-      women 47, _48_, 67, _68-69_;
-      work conditions 18, 22, 37, 65, 67, 71;
-      workers _19-21_, _23_, _38_, _46_, _48_, _52-53_, _54_, _56_,
-          _60-61_, _62-63_, _77_
-
-
-
-
-                         National Park Service
-
-
-The National Park Service is indebted to all those persons who made the
-production of this book possible. The text greatly benefited from
-suggestions by naval architect and historian John G. Arrison and
-historian Frederick R. Black. The primary source for the yard history
-was the National Park Service report, _The Charlestown Navy Yard
-1800-1973_ (_1800-1842_ by Edwin C. Bearss; _1842-1890_ by Edwin C.
-Bearss and Frederick R. Black; _1890-1973_ by Frederick R. Black). Other
-important sources were Kenneth J. Hagan’s _This People’s Navy: The
-Making of American Sea Power_, 1991; Howard I. Chapelle’s _The History
-of the American Sailing Navy_, 1949; and Donald L. Canney’s _The Old
-Steam Navy_, 1990. The handbook was produced by the staff of the
-Division of Publications, National Park Service: Susan Barkus, designer;
-William Gordon, editor; Nancy Morbeck Haack, cartographer, assisted by
-the staff of Boston National Historical Park.
-
-
-  _All photos not credited are from the files of Boston National
-          Historical Park._
-  Mary Altier 84 (bottom left)
-  John Batchelor 24-25, 26-27, 40-41, 42-43, 58-59, 60, 74-75
-  _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_ 43 (top)
-  Boston Athenaeum 4-5, 30, 32-33
-  The Bostonian Society/Old State House 10-11, 46
-  George Eastman House 23
-  Louis Glanzman 19
-  Greg Harlin 21 (right)
-  James Higgins 66 (top), 78-79, 82-83, 84 (bottom right), 85, 86 (top,
-          bottom)
-  _The Kedge-Anchor_, by William N. Brady 14 (bottom)
-  Mariner’s Museum back cover
-  James McFalls cover, 2-3
-  National Archives 14 (top; painting by Rear Admiral J.W. Schmidt), 35
-          (top), 69 (bottom)
-  Jack Pare 84 (top)
-  The Paul Revere Life Insurance Co. 6-7 (painting by A. Lassell Ripley)
-  Robert Tope 8-9
-  U.S. Marine Corps Museum 28-29
-  U.S. Naval Academy 44-45 (painting by Frank Christian Muller)
-  USS Constitution Museum 86 (center; photo by Jerry Margolycz)
-
-
-
-
-                    U.S. Department of the Interior
-
-
-As the nation’s principal conservation agency, the department of the
-Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally-owned public
-lands and natural resources. This includes fostering the wisest use of
-our land and water resources, protecting our fish and wildlife,
-preserving the environmental and cultural values of our national parks
-and historical places, and providing for the enjoyment of life through
-outdoor recreation. The Department assesses our energy and mineral
-resources to ensure that their development is in the best interest of
-all our people. The Department also has a major responsibility for
-American Indian reservation communities and for people who live in
-island territories under U.S. administration.
-
-National Park Handbooks are published to promote understanding and
-enjoyment of more than 360 National Park System sites representing our
-natural and cultural heritage. The handbooks are sold at parks and can
-be purchased by mail from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
-Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.
-
-
-  _Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data_
-  Charlestown Navy Yard: Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts.
-  p. cm.—(Official National Park handbook; 152)
-  Includes index.
-  Supt. of Docs. no.: I29.9/5:152
-  ISBN 0-912627-60-3
-  1. Boston Naval Shipyard (Boston, Mass.)—History.
-  2. Charlestown Navy Yard (Mass.)—History. I. United States. National
-          Park Service. Division of Publications. II. Series: Handbook
-          (United States. National Park Service. Division of
-          Publications); 152.
-  VA70.B68C48 1995
-  359.7’09744’61—dc20 95-12868 CIP
-
-
-    [Illustration: _1840 view of Charlestown Navy Yard by George Curtis
-    depicts the shiphouses that covered four of the yard’s shipbuilding
-    ways during the 19th century._]
-
-_For 174 years, the U.S. Naval Shipyard at Boston, now called
-Charlestown Navy Yard, played a significant role in the creation and
-growth of the U.S. Navy. By the time it closed in 1974, it had built
-more than 200 warships and repaired thousands. Historic black and white
-photographs, color photos and illustrations, and detailed diagrams tell
-the story of evolving technology and naval policy and how they affected
-the fortunes of the yard and its workers._
-
-
-
-
-                          Transcriber’s Notes
-
-
-—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
-  is public-domain in the country of publication.
-
-—Relocated all image captions to be immediately under the corresponding
-  images, removing redundant references like ”preceding page”.
-
-—Silently corrected a few palpable typos.
-
-—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
-  _underscores_.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-End of Project Gutenberg's Charlestown Navy Yard, by National Park Service
-
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-Project Gutenberg's Charlestown Navy Yard, by National Park Service
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Charlestown Navy Yard
-       Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts
-
-Author: National Park Service
-
-Release Date: June 30, 2017 [EBook #55010]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, MFR and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
-
-
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-
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-
-
-                         Charlestown Navy Yard
-
-
-                    Boston National Historical Park
-                             Massachusetts
-
-                            Produced by the
-                        Division of Publications
-                         National Park Service
-
-                    U.S. Department of the Interior
-                             Washington, DC
-
-    [Illustration: U.S.S. Constitution in Boston Harbor]
-
-
-
-
-                                Contents
-
-
-  Part 1 The Making of a Navy                                           6
-      Prologue                                                          9
-      Growth of the Yard                                               11
-      The Coming of Iron and Steam                                     29
-      The New Navy                                                     45
-      The Yard Transformed                                             63
-  Part 2 Visiting Charlestown Navy Yard                                78
-
-
-  _Deep within Boston Harbor, Charlestown Navy Yard was birthplace,
-repair center, outfitting base, and port of refuge for thousands of U.S.
-naval vessels. This is the story of the yard, the ships it served, and
-the people who kept them seaworthy._
-
-    [Illustration: _Boston Harbor; about 1870. Visible in the foreground
-    are Charlestown Navy Yard's timber dock_ (left) _and dry dock_
-    (center left, with docked vessel). _The ships anchored off the navy
-    yard piers are_ (left) _U.S.S._ Ohio, _the yard's receiving ship
-    (for housing recruits and sailors transferring between vessels), and
-    U.S.S._ Wabash _"in ordinary" (that is, out of commission and in
-    storage)._]
-
-
-
-
-                     Part 1    The Making of a Navy
-
-
-    [Illustration: _In 1803, U.S.S._ Constitution _was careened at a
-    Boston wharf for recoppering before sailing for the Mediterranean to
-    confront the Barbary States._]
-
-    [Illustration: U.S. Naval Shipyards]
-
-
-  Puget Sound
-    Washington 1891-present
-    Rebuilt five battleships damaged during 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
-  Mare Island
-    California 1853-1996
-    Established for naval expansion into Pacific.
-  Hunter's Point
-    California 1939-1974
-    Repaired 600 ships during WW II.
-  Long Beach
-    California 1935-50; 1951-98
-    Reactivated for Korean War. In 1982, modernized battleship New
-          Jersey for missiles.
-  Pearl Harbor
-    Hawaii 1900-present
-    Serviced growing Pacific fleet after Spanish-American War. Damaged
-          by Japanese air attack in 1941.
-  Mound City
-    Illinois 1862-74
-    Repair facility for Union's Mississippi Squadron during Civil War.
-  Pensacola
-    Florida 1825-1911
-    Burned by Confederates during Civil War. Has served as air training
-          facility since yard closing.
-  Charleston
-    South Carolina 1901-96
-    Specialized in the construction of destroyer escorts and LSTs in WW
-          II.
-  Strategically located Great Lakes shipyards built gunboats and sloops
-          during the War of 1812.
-  Presque Isle
-    Pennsylvania 1812-25
-  Sackets Harbor
-    New York 1812-1870s
-  Washington
-    District of Columbia 1800-83
-  Brooklyn
-    New York 1800-1966
-  Portsmouth
-    New Hampshire 1800-present
-  Philadelphia
-    Pennsylvania 1801-1995
-  Charlestown
-    Massachusetts 1800-1974
-  Norfolk
-    Virginia 1801-present
-    Of the six original navy yards, only Norfolk and Portsmouth still
-          service naval vessels.
-  New London
-    Connecticut 1868-83
-    During WW I was developed as major submarine base.
-
-
-                                Prologue
-
-The U.S. government established Charlestown Navy Yard as the
-newly-formed republic was meeting early challenges to its merchant
-shipping. In the decade after gaining independence, the young nation
-kept no standing navy. But continuing raids on U.S. commerce by Barbary
-pirates and French privateers in the 1790s spurred Congress to authorize
-the construction of new warships.
-
-Realizing that existing private shipyards were inadequate for the
-increasingly ambitious shipbuilding program, the Secretary of the Navy
-established in 1800-1801 six federal yards to build, outfit, repair, and
-supply naval vessels. These facilities at Portsmouth, N.H.; Boston; New
-York; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; and Norfolk, Va., were the nucleus
-of the naval shipyard system. Except during the Civil War, they launched
-most of the Navy's vessels until the advent of steel hulls in the 1880s,
-when private yards began building them in greater numbers.
-
-As with the first six, later naval shipyards were sometimes created to
-fill an immediate military need. The War of 1812, for instance, prompted
-the building of the two Great Lakes yards. The Mound City yard was
-established during the Civil War, strategically located near the
-confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to build and repair Union
-gunboats. Although U.S. naval vessels are today built in private
-shipyards, four navy yards still actively serve the fleet.
-
-    [Illustration: _1833 view of one of the yard's wharves, by William
-    Bennett. Beyond, decommissioned_ Independence _and_ Columbus _are
-    roofed over for protection_.]
-
-
-                           Growth of the Yard
-
-When Captain William Bainbridge arrived in Boston aboard U.S.S. (United
-States Ship) _Constitution_ in February 1813, he had reason to be
-satisfied. While the U.S. Army faltered early in the War of 1812, a
-string of naval victories over British ships was boosting public
-confidence. Two months earlier, the big frigate commanded by Bainbridge
-had engaged H.M.S. (His Majesty's Ship) _Java_ off the coast of Brazil.
-_Java_ was the faster ship, but _Constitution_ had heavier guns. By
-skillful maneuvering. _Constitution_ kept them trained on the British
-frigate, pounding _Java_ with broadsides until its colors came down.
-
-Crew and commander were met with parades in Boston, but Bainbridge had
-little time to enjoy the acclaim. He was immediately faced with a task
-that, if not as exciting as a sea battle, was nevertheless formidable.
-He had temporarily relinquished command of the Charlestown Navy Yard
-when he sailed on _Constitution_. While he was gone, Navy Secretary Paul
-Hamilton charged the yard with building one of the nation's first
-ships-of-the-line--the battleships of their day. As things now stood,
-that was an impossibility: Charlestown simply lacked the facilities for
-such an undertaking.
-
-Bainbridge, who at 37 had already seen extensive naval action and been
-imprisoned by Barbary pirates, wrote soon after becoming commandant in
-1812: "No period of my naval life has been more industrious or
-fatiguing." He was shorthanded and hampered by bad weather, conditions
-that must have sorely tested the endurance of a man with his
-temperament: aggressive, volatile, not noted for his patience. When he
-took command of the Charlestown yard, Bainbridge pressed the Washington
-bureaucracy to authorize improvements to a facility that suffered, in
-his words, from "mismanagement and neglect."
-
-    [Illustration: _Captain William Bainbridge was the Charlestown
-    yard's second commandant (1812-15) and captain of the first ship
-    built there, U.S.S._ Independence.]
-
-Years later, Bainbridge was typically blunt in depicting for the
-Secretary of the Navy what he saw as the Herculean task assigned him in
-1812. The yard had been "in a state of perfect chaos. The public
-property in a state of ruin and decay ... a boat could not approach at
-certain periods of the tide within five hundred feet of the shore ... it
-was even exposed to the inroads of the cattle from [the] highway."
-
-Even allowing for Bainbridge's penchant for the dramatic, his
-description was accurate. The buildings were too few, too small, and in
-need of repair. The timber needed to complete the repair of the frigate
-_Chesapeake_ was decayed beyond use. But most pressing was the need for
-a large stone wharf and building slip. Here was a naval shipyard that
-could not service a sloop-of-war, let alone build a large frigate or
-ship-of-the-line. Small vessels could tie up at the modest wooden wharf,
-but the yard had to rent private wharves for repairing warships.
-_Chesapeake_ had been languishing since 1809 in a rented berth at $1500
-a year.
-
-The commandant's hilltop house surveyed 25 acres of scattered buildings
-and grassy tidal flats directly across the "stream" (the Charles River)
-from Boston. There was a marine barracks, a parade ground, carpenter and
-blacksmith shops, a timber shed, a small hospital, a saltwater timber
-dock, and piles of cannon, shot, iron, and ballast. The facility
-Bainbridge took over in 1812 was in truth more supply depot than
-shipyard.
-
-So why, after his exploits aboard _Constitution_, when another ship
-command and the chance for further glory were his for the asking, did
-Bainbridge return to Charlestown? Because he had also asked to command
-the powerful 74-gun ship-of-the-line the yard would build, and he wanted
-to oversee construction.
-
-On resuming command in March 1813 he lobbied again for a wharf and
-building slip. As a well-known ship's captain he was used to getting the
-attention of the Navy Department. But his sphere of activity had shifted
-from quarterdeck to desktop, and he had to watch coveted funds go to
-ships bound for sea. He was not, however, one to hold his tongue. He
-bombarded the Secretary of the Navy with letters (the tone of which, in
-this and other matters, sometimes bordered on sarcasm) until the wharf
-and slip were finally begun in April 1813. After the laying of the 74's
-keel in May, Bainbridge was relentless in his requests for more
-improvements--a navy store, capstans for hauling out ships, "shears" (a
-simple crane) for installing masts, a ropewalk.
-
-But his real passion was the great ship he could watch taking shape from
-his window. He even suggested the name: _Independence_. Bainbridge
-chafed to "give John Bull an opportunity of testing the strength of an
-American 74"--especially after _Chesapeake_ had finally left the yard in
-June only to be captured practically within sight of Boston by the
-British frigate _Shannon_.
-
-The combative commandant was rarely put off by obstacles--or someone
-else's reputation. Having clashed with workers over compensation they
-demanded for days lost to bad weather, he shut out the source of trouble
-by ordering a shiphouse 210 feet long and 50 feet high built over the
-74's building slip. To oversee ship construction Bainbridge hired Edmund
-Hartt and his son Edward--well-regarded Boston shipbuilders in whose
-yard was built the hugely successful _Constitution_. But in a dispute
-with Edward Hartt the angry Bainbridge grabbed him "by the shoulder and
-carried him out of my office." Hartt's father quit in protest, whereupon
-Bainbridge quickly engaged another shipbuilder to finish the job.
-
-Bainbridge's other main duty as commander of the yard was the defense of
-Boston Harbor--the importance of which was underscored by the
-_Shannon-Chesapeake_ engagement. By spring of 1814 British warships were
-raiding the New England coast almost at will, and the Boston citizenry
-(many of whom vigorously opposed the war) was anxious over an
-anticipated attack on the city. The rising 74, Bainbridge knew, made a
-tempting target while it was unarmed and immobile on the ways. He asked
-for the New England Guards, a Boston militia company, to stand ready at
-the yard as _Independence_ neared completion.
-
-Guarding United States property at the Charlestown yard was normally the
-responsibility of the U.S. Marines, stationed there since 1802. But it
-was a small detachment, not enough to defend the yard and its ships
-against a serious attack. Bainbridge, who earlier protested the
-vulnerability of the yard, had other problems with the marines. Though
-they were under naval command while at sea, on shore the Navy had no
-authority over them. Bainbridge deplored this situation, complaining
-that his inability to mete out the same corporal punishment to marines
-as was used on sailors was "productive of insubordination."
-
-In any case _Independence_ was ready for launching by June 1814. But the
-much-anticipated ceremony on the 18th was an embarrassing failure.
-_Independence_ hung up halfway down the launching ways, much to the
-satisfaction of a Federalist quoted in the _Boston Gazette_: "It was no
-wonder she stuck ... the war itself sticks." The next day, when workers
-attempted to move the vessel by winch with the New England Guards
-pitching in to haul on the lines, a block flew apart and killed master
-joiner William Champney.
-
-    [Illustration: _U.S.S._ Independence, _built at Charlestown in 1815,
-    was the nation's first ship-of-the-line. On its maiden voyage the
-    74-gun vessel served as flagship of the Mediterranean squadron in
-    the Barbary Wars. After the Charlestown yard removed one gun deck in
-    1835, turning the slow 74 into a fast, powerful frigate (above)_,
-    Independence _served as flagship of the Brazil and Pacific
-    squadrons. The frigate spent the last 60 years of its career as
-    receiving ship (temporary sailors' quarters) at Mare Island Navy
-    Yard near San Francisco Bay, where it ended a century of service in
-    1914._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Ships-of-the-Line were the battleships of their day,
-    carrying 64 to 100 guns or more on two or three gun decks (below the
-    open decks). Ship-rigged (square sails on three masts), these
-    warships took their place in the line of battle in huge fleet
-    actions._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Frigates had 22 to 44 guns on one gun deck. They
-    were ship-rigged counterparts of today's cruisers, excelling in
-    single engagements and as commerce destroyers. Frigates also did
-    convoy duty and served as scouts for battle fleets._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Sloops-of-War had 8 to 24 guns on an open deck and
-    were ship-rigged. Fast and versatile--the destroyers of their
-    day--sloops provided escort protection and harassed enemy shipping.
-    Their shallow draft made them useful in coast defense and in lake
-    squadrons._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Brigs-of-War had about 20 smaller guns on an open
-    gun deck and carried square sails on two masts. Designed as small,
-    fast cruisers, they served as scouts, blockade runners, commerce
-    raiders, and in anti-piracy and slaveship patrols._]
-
-Then, to worsen an already grim situation, the British warships that had
-blockaded Boston Harbor for over a year became an immediate threat. A
-raiding party from the frigate _Nymphe_ rowed into the harbor in the
-early morning darkness of the 21st and burned a small sloop within a
-mile of the yard. The next day, with the charred remains of the vessel
-tied up at a Charlestown wharf, the leader of the raid publicly taunted
-Bainbridge. In an open letter in the _Boston Patriot_, Bainbridge was
-warned to better defend his "unfledged Independence."
-
-On the afternoon of June 22, under the eye of the Guards, the vessel
-finally slid down the ways into Boston Harbor. The launching was
-celebrated by a gun salute from _Constitution_ and cheers from a crowd
-of 20,000. Bainbridge's friend, the author Washington Irving, couldn't
-attend but wrote Bainbridge that he would drink a "potation bottle ...
-to the success of your first cruise." In the same spirit Bainbridge
-entertained with food and drink 300 mechanics and laborers who had, he
-said, "worked cheap, and done their work most faithfully."
-
-But the war he wanted so badly to join remained out of Bainbridge's
-reach. Desertions, along with financial and outfitting delays, held up
-the vessel until 1815, by which time peace with England had been
-concluded.
-
-Another opportunity soon presented itself. The predatory corsairs of the
-North African Barbary States--Tunisia, Tripolitania, Algeria, and
-Morocco--had long been a thorn in the side of American merchant
-shipping. Bainbridge, with _Independence_ as his flagship, won command
-of a squadron whose mission was to display to the Barbaries the new
-power of the U.S. Navy. The assignment was particularly attractive to
-Bainbridge, who earlier in his career had surrendered a ship to the
-Tripolitans and had another commandeered by the Algerians. But a second
-squadron under Captain Stephen Decatur beat Bainbridge across the
-Atlantic and defeated the Algerians in battle. His role was thus reduced
-to persuading the other Barbaries at gunpoint to end their extortionist
-ways. The suppression of the Barbary pirates was nevertheless satisfying
-to Bainbridge. As senior officer, he had the honor of commanding the
-squadron that initiated a permanent U.S. presence in the
-Mediterranean--the first of the Navy's "distant station" squadrons.
-
-Upon Bainbridge's return to Boston he attempted to regain command of the
-yard from his replacement, Captain Isaac Hull. Unsuccessful, he was
-instead appointed Port Captain ("commander afloat" of all naval vessels
-in Boston Harbor), with _Independence_ designated station flagship.
-Bainbridge settled down to a career as a senior officer, serving as
-commandant at the yard twice more in the 1820s and '30s. He had helped
-put Charlestown on the map as the builder of a major warship. More
-significantly, after the War of 1812 the yard began building a
-reputation as an important repair and supply facility.
-
-
-The Charlestown yard, and the U.S. Navy itself, owed their existence in
-part to the same Barbary pirates who occasioned _Independence's_ first
-cruise. The severing of ties with Britain during the Revolution also
-meant the loss of protection from the Barbaries long provided by the
-Mother Country's powerful navy and by the "tribute" Britain paid them.
-The United States had no navy to protect its seaborne commerce--so
-essential to a coastal nation dependent on overseas trade--and the
-treasury could not bear the tribute payments or the ransom demands for
-captured ships and sailors.
-
-Thus after independence the Mediterranean trade had been virtually
-closed to the United States. There was much unresolved debate about the
-problem, but when the pirates spilled out into the Atlantic in 1793 and
-took 11 American vessels in a few months, Congress took action. The
-following year it authorized six frigates, three of which were launched
-in 1797: _United States_, _Constellation_, and _Constitution_.
-
-Congress was spurred to finish the job by the actions of Revolutionary
-France during its war with Britain. French commerce raiders so
-terrorized American neutral shipping that in 1798 an angry U.S.
-government created the Navy Department and prepared for war. (There were
-a number of engagements at sea, but war was never declared.) Congress
-authorized funds to build, borrow, or accept as gifts 49 vessels,
-ranging from galleys to six 74-gun ships-of-the-line.
-
-The 74s were never built, but while the program was still alive, naval
-shipyards to build them were established in Portsmouth, Boston, New
-York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Norfolk. Boston, wrote Secretary of
-the Navy Benjamin Stoddert to President John Adams, from "the natural
-strength of its situation [meaning its large, deep, and defensible
-harbor], the great number of ship carpenters in its vicinity, and of its
-seamen, must always remain a building place and place of rendezvous for
-our navy of the first importance." Thus in 1800 the Charlestown Navy
-Yard was established.
-
-For most of its history Charlestown's primary mission was to keep the
-fleet sailing. That is not to say the yard wasn't a shipbuilder; it
-built more than 200 warships over its 174 years of operation. But most
-of the new ships were built to meet the immediate demands of war. (Three
-quarters of them were launched during World War II alone.) For fully
-half of those years no new ships came down the ways. The pattern
-established in the yard's early years was one of ongoing repair,
-outfitting, supply, and conversion work punctuated by occasional new
-launchings.
-
-The classes of ships that came down the ways at Charlestown and other
-naval yards were the outcome of strategic and political deliberations in
-Washington. U.S. naval policy devised during the first half of the 19th
-century had its roots in the War of 1812. Before the British blockade
-bottled up its warships, the tiny U.S. Navy had successfully fought a
-brief _guerre de course_ against Britain, using a strategy that
-emphasized single ship actions and raids on enemy shipping with
-relatively small, fast frigates and sloops-of-war. The early naval
-successes prompted Congress in 1813 to authorize six new frigates (three
-of which were built) and six sloops. These, and the nine frigates
-authorized in 1816 and laid down in the 1820s (including the
-Charlestown-built _Cumberland_), formed the backbone of the Navy until
-just before the Civil War.
-
-But the War of 1812, which helped shape a practical role for the
-19th-century Navy, also led lawmakers into an expensive attempt to
-compete with European navies on their terms. Using the argument that
-large, powerful ships were essential to the defense of the nation's
-shores (and perhaps remembering the crucial role of French 74s at
-Yorktown), Congress also authorized four 74-gun ships-of-the-line in the
-1813 act.
-
-While ships-of-the-line were traditionally used in fleet actions with
-set lines of battle (hence their name), they were also deployed to break
-blockades and to "show the flag"--that is, remind other nations of the
-United States' military reach. Postwar nationalism, a popular navy still
-basking in the nation's praise, and the country's demonstrated
-vulnerability to blockade prompted appropriations in 1816 for additional
-74s.
-
-Between 1813 and 1822 fourteen 74s were laid down, including
-_Independence_ (1813), _Vermont_ (1818), and _Virginia_ (1822) at
-Charlestown. But in the decade after the war strategists cast a
-skeptical eye on such large ships. The expensive, provocative, and
-easily outmaneuvered behemoths, they said, were only a drag on the
-Navy--inappropriate for a young nation that wanted to stay out of
-European conflicts. By 1825 only five 74s had gone into service.
-
-In 1835 _Independence_ took a turn in its career that was emblematic of
-naval policy. The 74 had lain idle at Charlestown for 13 years. It was a
-sluggish sailer, and its great weight and design flaws brought the lower
-lee guns too close to the water to be useful during combat. So
-_Independence_ was "razeed," cut down from three decks to two, and
-transformed from an unsuccessful ship-of-the-line into a very good
-54-gun frigate--the largest and one of the fastest in the Navy.
-
-Only a few present at its 1837 recommissioning realized that
-_Independence_ was also among the last of its kind. Fast approaching was
-a technology that would displace naval sail; steam would drive the Navy
-of the future. In 1839 the Navy's first commissioned steamer--the
-two-year-old harbor battery _Fulton II_--arrived at Charlestown for
-repairs. A local paper called it "the oddest looking fish we have ever
-set our eyes on." Four towering stacks spouting black smoke rose from
-the deck, on which were mounted engine cylinders four feet in diameter.
-The sidewheel covers, likened to "immense fungi," barely cleared the
-sides of the dry dock.
-
-
-With the dock and other improvements, the Charlestown yard had by the
-1840s taken shape as an important repair and shipbuilding facility. The
-dry dock (_see pages 40-41_), five years abuilding, had opened in 1833
-amid much ceremony. Vice President Martin Van Buren and other
-dignitaries watched as the already-venerable _Constitution_, stripped
-and demasted, inaugurated the dock. Much of the tidal flats had been
-reclaimed behind a granite quay (the yard would triple its original size
-by 1869), and the rest of the yard's uneven grounds had been leveled. A
-high stone wall, built to help stop pilfering and protect the ships,
-stretched between the Charles and Mystic rivers.
-
-The yard had become more self-sufficient. The boilers for the dry dock
-pump engines also provided steam for the new sawmill and blockmaking and
-armorer's shops. In 1837, the yard's ropewalk (also steam-powered) and
-tar house had been completed (_see pages 20-21_). The yard now made its
-own paint in the "oil house," while hardware was supplied by a large
-smithy with 12 forges.
-
-Other significant additions: masting shears looming over the new shear
-wharf; a sparmaker's shed, masthouse, and sail loft; new timber docks; a
-steam chest for bending wood; an armory with thousands of muskets,
-bayonets, and swords; and neat ranks of guns, shot, and anchors in their
-respective "parks." Hundreds of elm trees planted by order of Commodore
-Bainbridge softened the yard's industrial setting.
-
-Anchored out in the harbor were several vessels "in ordinary." A vessel
-in ordinary was out of service and in storage with a skeleton crew until
-recommissioned. The ship was demasted, salted to retard dry rot,
-whitewashed inside, tightly caulked, and its sides and decks "payed"
-with a thick coat of varnish and tar. Tubular windsails directing air
-belowdecks and holes cut in the bulkheads insured good air circulation.
-Some vessels in ordinary at Charlestown had protective wood and canvas
-sheds over their decks, an innovation of Captain Hull.
-
-_Vermont_, _Virginia_, and the frigate _Cumberland_, begun in 1825, had
-become permanent fixtures in their great shiphouses. They were still
-officially under construction and near completion, but were really in
-ordinary. (_Virginia_ was something of an ill-starred vessel. Over the
-years at least three people had died in accidents around the ship, and
-its reputation was reconfirmed in 1845 when a visitor fell to his death
-from its scaffolding.) Construction on _Virginia_ and _Vermont_ had
-slowed to a standstill after critics questioned the strategic value of
-ships-of-the-line. But economic considerations played at least as big a
-role; ordinary was a cheap way to keep expensive-to-sail vessels,
-including big frigates like _Cumberland_ (launched in 1842), ready for
-war.
-
-In 1848 _Vermont_ was finally launched to "a vast concourse of people
-and the firing of cannons." But the day of the big 74s was over. Neither
-_Vermont_ nor _New Hampshire_ (built at Portsmouth Navy Yard), the last
-two ships-of-the-line completed by the Navy, ever saw service as a
-commissioned warship. In fact most 74s had short careers of little
-strategic consequence. _Independence_, first of the class, was the only
-one still serving as a warship at mid-century, but it had been cut down
-to a frigate.
-
-The launching of _Vermont_ also closed a chapter in the yard's history.
-The second ship laid down at Charlestown 30 years before, _Vermont_ was
-the last all sail-powered warship launched there--obsolescent even as it
-came down the ways.
-
-
-Although this was a U.S. Navy Yard run by naval officers, throughout its
-history those wielding the caulking mallets and rivet guns were
-civilians working for civilian foremen. During the first half of the
-19th century the yard's workforce steadily increased from 89 in 1822 to
-370 in 1853. At mid-century the records show most of them were born in
-New England--half from Massachusetts. Some 15 percent were Irish, the
-majority working as laborers.
-
-So complicated an undertaking as the building of a warship required an
-array of specialized occupations falling under the general label of
-"mechanics": carpenters, sawyers, joiners, sparmakers, blockmakers,
-painters, gun carriage makers, armorers, sailmakers, blacksmiths,
-caulkers, riggers, boatbuilders, coopers, ropemakers, masons,
-machinists, plumbers, and coppersmiths. A force of unskilled laborers
-was at times supplemented by the ordinary crews and by the sailors
-stationed at the yard.
-
-Each shop had its master, quartermen (leaders of several crews),
-leadingmen (crew leaders), and crews of mechanics, apprentices,
-laborers, and a few boys (before child labor laws eliminated such
-positions). In the early years, when the yard's facilities were sparse,
-it was not unusual for the master to have his own shop outside of the
-yard. The commandant would in effect contract with the master to do the
-work there with his own men. In the 1840s and '50s the Navy tightened
-the regulations, giving the masters less leeway in hiring and ordering
-supplies. By the Civil War they were all yard employees.
-
-A look at the young men in the apprenticeship program, started in 1817,
-gives a clearer picture of the yard employees they would become. Those
-applying for the program--generally at age 16--had to show good
-character and be physically able to perform the tasks of their trade.
-They had to demonstrate the ability to read, write, and do simple math.
-The terms of the five-year indenture (later reduced to four) were
-generally clear: in return for exhibiting growing mastery of his trade,
-the apprentice received from the Navy room and board, increasing pay,
-and continuing education in reading, writing, arithmetic, and theories
-of the trade. But because the indenture was technically a personal
-contract between the boy's parents or guardian and the master, not the
-Navy, questions of obligation sometimes arose when a new man became
-master. At the end of the apprenticeship--usually at age 21--the boy
-became a yard employee.
-
-                                                   _Continues on page 22_
-
-
-                 Navy Yard Tradesmen in the Age of Sail
-
-During the early 19th century, Charlestown's shipyard bell called
-several hundred civilian tradesmen and laborers to work each morning.
-Laboring from sunrise to sunset under the supervision of naval officers
-and civilian shop masters, these yard employees built, repaired, and
-supplied United States warships for naval duty around the globe.
-Fluctuating government budgets, changing seasons, and the uneven demands
-of war and peace made navy yard work intermittent and unpredictable.
-
-    [Illustration: A navy yard rigger tightens a warship's mast
-    shrouds.]
-
-
-                              The Ropewalk
-
-Several factors enticed the U.S. Navy into constructing its only
-ropemaking facility at the Charlestown Navy Yard in the 1830s: skilled
-labor, access to raw materials, and technical expertise. The port of
-Boston already boasted more than a dozen ropewalks employing many
-skilled artisans. Perhaps most importantly, the Navy was eager to take
-advantage of newly developed labor-saving machines like those already in
-use in New England's textile mills. Because rope had to be twisted in a
-straight line, the maximum length that could be produced was determined
-by the length of the ropewalk (so called because workers spinning the
-hemp fibers by hand walked the length of the building). The Charlestown
-ropewalk's quarter-mile length allowed production of rope up to 1200
-feet long. Designed by architect Alexander Parris (best known for
-Boston's Quincy Market), the ropewalk complex included the rope "laying"
-area running the length of the building, spinning and preparing machine
-rooms, the hemp house, and the tar house. The complex was powered by
-massive steam engines and tended by men and boys. The Navy's move to
-mechanized rope production came at a critical time, as machine-spun rope
-began to replace intricate hand-spinning techniques. The hand spinners'
-resistance inspired contests in the 1840s, in which they challenged the
-quality of machine-made rope. The results of such a challenge to the
-Charlestown ropewalk were somewhat ironic. Though its machine-made rope
-proved to be stronger and cheaper to produce, hand-spun rope was
-superior in the smaller sizes, and the mechanized ropewalk began
-producing some hand-spun rope, doing so until the end of the 19th
-century.
-
-    [Illustration: Ropewalk, building]
-
-    [Illustration: Ropewalk, machinery]
-
-    [Illustration: Spinning    Combed bundled fibers called "roving" are
-    fed from a can onto the spinning frame. At the spindle they are spun
-    counterclockwise into yarn, which is wound on a bobbin.]
-
-    [Illustration: Forming the Strand    Bobbins are mounted on the
-    twisting frame. The yarns are threaded through the register plate to
-    equalize tension and tied to a rotating hook on the rolling "jack."
-    The jack pulls yarns from the bobbins and twists them clockwise into
-    a strand.]
-
-    [Illustration: Laying the Rope    Three or four strands are tied to
-    a rotating hook on the jack. While clockwise tension is kept on the
-    other ends by rotating hooks, the strands are twisted
-    counterclockwise into rope.]
-
-Budget-minded Naval Commissioners in Washington allowed the commandant
-to pay just enough to hold on to his workers. He generally matched the
-rates of private shipyards in the area to keep workers from being lured
-away. The daily rates thus fell with the coming of cold weather and the
-slowing of work, since the workers were then in low demand elsewhere.
-The Navy defended this hard-nosed practice, maintaining that with fewer
-daylight hours (workers mustered at sunrise and were dismissed at
-sunset), the yard got less work out of the men. The niggardly pay
-policies sometimes backfired: in 1821 the low-paid sailmakers left en
-masse to work at private yards.
-
-More than the skilled craftsmen, the laborers' jobs depended on the
-amount of work at the yard, but most of the workforce awaited the coming
-of cold weather with some anxiety. The yard's practice was to retain
-only as many people as it could keep working, and bad weather sharply
-reduced the volume of work. The completion of a new ship or of a major
-repair job also meant the letting go of large numbers of workers, at
-least until the next job. In effect many in the workforce were not given
-permanent jobs, but only hired on to perform seasonal work, much like
-house carpenters, or to complete a single project.
-
-Though the situation was normally weighted in favor of the employer, the
-scales could occasionally tip the other way, especially for skilled
-workers. In 1825, when the coming of spring coincided with a surge in
-building brought on by a recent Boston fire, Commandant William Crane
-was forced to raise wages to compete for skilled workers. He sent his
-Master Builder Josiah Barker up the coast as far as Portland to recruit
-mechanics.
-
-At times skilled workers attempted to force the Navy's hand, organizing
-to protest conditions. When the caulkers struck for higher wages in
-January 1835, the commandant, Commodore Jesse Elliott, fired them and
-quickly found others willing to work at the established rate. Two days
-later the "refractory caulkers," unable to find work in the middle of
-the winter, asked to be rehired at their old wages. Wanting to remain on
-good terms with his employees, Elliott allowed the men to return.
-
-Sometimes the walkout worked. Yard workers considered unreasonable a
-change in their working hours made in 1852. By this time they were
-working a straight 10-hour day. But under the new policy, they had to
-work sunrise to sunset if that period contained even a minute less than
-11 hours, thus adding up to an hour to their day during the winter. They
-walked off the job, forcing the Navy to rescind the policy.
-
-These actions represent a period when the yard workers, though not yet
-unionized, could strike--an option later denied to government employees.
-While workers were generally forced to accept the prevailing pay and
-conditions at the yard, they were not completely without power.
-
-In the Charlestown Navy Yard's first half-century, world events, U.S.
-politics, and sectional rivalries affected the ebb and flow of work and
-the hiring and firing of men. The yard was born in the midst of a world
-at war and grew to prominence in a time of relative calm--in retrospect,
-the lull before the storm of civil war.
-
-    [Illustration: _Sloop-of-war_ (_U.S.S._ Decatur _or_ Dale) _dry
-    docked in Charlestown has its rigging tarred and its hull sheathed
-    with copper, about 1852_.]
-
-                                                   _Continues on page 29_
-
-
-                         Building a Wooden Ship
-
-The creation of a wooden warship began in the mold loft. There
-carpenters translated specifications from standard plans for each class
-of vessel into full-sized wooden patterns. These were used to fashion
-hull members, for which white oak or live oak were the favored woods.
-(Some 2,000 trees were required for a 74-gun ship-of-the-line.) On the
-slightly inclined building ways, joiners first laid the keel, the great
-spine of the ship running along the bottom of the hull. Then they
-attached the stem and the stern post to the keel and raised the
-frames--the vessel's ribs. The frames formed the contours of the hull
-and, together with horizontal deck beams and vertical stanchions beneath
-the beams, provided a strong skeleton. After 1829, iron and copper bolts
-and spikes replaced many of the wooden "treenails" that secured the
-structural members and fastened the deck and hull planking. The rudder
-was hung, the hull caulked and sheathed with copper to protect it from
-teredo worms, and the ship was launched. Riggers then "stepped" masts to
-the keelson, a lengthwise beam bolted to the keel (_see page 19_). After
-they rigged the horizontal spars, cordage, and sails, the new warship
-was ready for outfitting.
-
-    [Illustration: _Expanding U.S. interests in the Pacific spurred
-    Congress in 1825 to authorize a new class of sloop-of-war to protect
-    those interests. Charlestown Navy Yard constructed three of them
-    between 1825 and 1827._]
-
-
-  1 Building ways
-  2 "Shears": hoisted heavy pieces
-  3 Keel
-  4 Stern post
-  5 Frames
-  6 Deck beams
-  7 Planking
-  8 Drag chains: arrested ship after launch
-  9 Shiphouse
-
-
-  The Workforce in 1835
-    138 Carpenters
-    56 Ropemakers
-    40 Laborers
-    37 Joiners
-    34 Blacksmiths
-    25 Sailmakers
-    19 Riggers
-    18 Coopers
-    17 Plumbers
-    16 Boatbuilders
-    14 Sparmakers
-    12 Blockmakers
-    11 Painters
-    6 Caulkers
-    6 Masons
-    6 Sawyers
-
-
-                       The Frigate _Constitution_
-
-The first three warships ordered for the infant U.S. Navy in 1794--one
-of them the Boston-built _Constitution_--were frigates unlike any
-others. Naval strategists knew the nation could afford to build only a
-few vessels, so they had to be formidable warships. They were inspired
-by French "razees," ships-of-the-line (_see page 14_) that had one gun
-deck removed, transforming them into large, heavily armed frigates. The
-sharp lines of _Constitution's_ hull gave it a frigate's speed, but in
-size and stoutness it was comparable to a small ship-of-the-line. (Its
-heavy oak frames, spaced close together and sheathed with thick
-planking, proved virtually impenetrable in battle--hence the name "Old
-Ironsides.") The theory was that _Constitution_ would be powerful enough
-to fight any frigate, quick enough to flee anything bigger. The British,
-though, scorned the new frigates, asserting that they lacked the
-tactical strengths of either frigates or ships-of-the-line: too slow to
-engage the former, too weak to stand up to the latter. But
-_Constitution_ more than lived up to U.S. expectations in the War of
-1812, when it bested two British frigates in separate battles, escaped
-two more, and captured a frigate and a sloop-of-war in a third
-engagement. _Constitution_ fought no more battles, but served honorably
-for another 40 years. Throughout its career _Constitution_ has been
-closely associated with the Charlestown Navy Yard, undergoing several
-overhauls there. The first was in 1833, when the frigate inaugurated the
-yard's dry dock. In 1992-95 it was serviced in the same dock. Since 1897
-the yard has been home port for _Constitution_, the Navy's oldest
-commissioned warship.
-
-    [Illustration: The 24-Pounder Long Gun
-
-A gun crew of 6 to 14 men wrestled with this 5,600-pound gun. To adjust
-elevation, a crew member placed a handspike on one of the steps (A) and
-levered the breech (B) up or down; the gun captain slid the quoin (C) in
-or out.]
-
-                  [Illustration: U.S.S. Constitution]
-
-
-  Specifications:
-    Length overall: 204 ft.
-    Beam (width): 43.5 ft.
-    Displacement: 2,200 tons
-    Draft: 22.5 ft.
-    Hull: 15 to 20 in. thick
-    Speed: 13-14 knots
-    Crew: 450-470
-    Armament in 1812: 30, 24-pounders; 22, 32-pounder carronades; two
-          24-pounder & one 18-pounder bow chasers on the forecastle
-
-
-  1 Quarter boat
-  2 Quarterdeck
-  3 Captain's quarters
-  4 Captain's day cabin
-  5 Officers' staterooms
-  6 Bread room
-  7 Ship's wheel
-  8 Wardroom
-  9 Cartridge filling room
-  10 Powder magazine
-  11 Spirit room
-  12 Cockpit (junior officers' quarters)
-  13 Anchor capstan
-  14 Bilge pumps
-  15 Shot locker
-  16 Spar deck (open)
-  17 Gun deck
-  18 Berthing deck (crew hung its hammocks on this deck)
-  19 Orlop deck (storage)
-  20 Hold
-  21 Ballast
-  22 Anchor cables
-  23 24-pounder guns
-  24 Long boat
-  25 32-pounder carronades
-  26 Galley
-  27 Sail locker
-  28 Sand room
-  29 Rigging blocks
-  30 Sick bay
-  31 Forecastle
-  32 Manger
-  33 Crew's head
-
-
-    [Illustration: _Constitution's_ Sails
-
-Sail area, with studding sails (not shown), was more than 43,000 sq.
-ft.]
-
-
-  1 Flying jib
-  2 Outer jib
-  3 Inner jib
-  4 Fore topmast staysail
-  5 Foresail
-  6 Fore topsail
-  7 Fore topgallant sail
-  8 Fore royal
-  9 Fore skysail
-  10 Mainsail
-  11 Main topsail
-  12 Main topgallant sail
-  13 Main royal
-  14 Main skysail
-  15 Spanker
-  16 Mizzen topsail
-  17 Mizzen topgallant sail
-  18 Mizzen royal
-  19 Mizzen skysail
-
-
-    [Illustration: _Sinking of Union sloop_ Cumberland _by Confederate
-    ironclad_ Virginia (_ex-U.S.S._ Merrimack) _in 1862, by Alexander C.
-    Stuart_.]
-
-
-                      The Coming of Iron and Steam
-
-_Merrimack_, _Virginia_, _Cumberland_: names that point up the ironies
-of war. As the steam frigate _Merrimack_ was being launched in July 1855
-(_see pages 32-33_), the partially built ship-of-the-line _Virginia_ lay
-in another part of the yard. It had been laid down and named in the
-1820s, a more harmonious time. Even if the old 74 had finally come down
-the ways, it is not likely that, amidst the sectional acrimony of the
-1850s, it would have kept the old name--and certainly not after the
-secession of the state whose namesake it was.
-
-A year after _Merrimack's_ launching, the frigate was back in the yard
-after going aground during its shakedown cruise (when the crew becomes
-familiar with a ship and problems are ironed out). While workers
-replaced damaged coppering and repaired the propeller on the big
-warship, a smaller sail frigate waited its turn.
-
-Launched 13 years earlier, _Cumberland_ had served as flagship of the
-African Squadron, whose mission was to suppress slave running. Now back
-home, _Cumberland_ moved into the dry dock soon after _Merrimack_ was
-towed out. It was cut down to a fast sloop-of-war with one gun deck of
-28 guns and a crew of 376.
-
-_Cumberland's_ worth as a leaner warship was proven in the first months
-of the Civil War. Assigned to the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the
-vessel took eight Confederate prizes in three weeks. But the next year
-_Cumberland_, among the last sailing ships launched by the Navy, came up
-hard against the future.
-
-On March 8, 1862, _Cumberland_ and other vessels were on blockade duty
-in Hampton Roads, Virginia, when the men on deck sighted a bizarre new
-war machine steaming out of Norfolk. Approaching them was a dark,
-monolithic vessel--decks awash, no masts, no sails, no sailors. C.S.S.
-(Confederate States Ship) _Virginia_, the much-rumored ironclad
-blockade-breaker, had finally taken the stage.
-
-    [Illustration: _Architect's rendering of the Charlestown machine
-    shop's "Great Chimney," 1858._]
-
-It was a slow, clumsy vessel, but menacing nevertheless. Using a full
-mile to gather momentum, _Virginia_ steamed steadily towards the Union
-vessels. It passed the frigate _Congress_ and headed straight for
-_Cumberland_, its sloping iron casement shedding the Union ships'
-barrage of heavy shot and explosive shell as if they were "peas from a
-pop-gun," in the words of a _Cumberland_ sailor. But _Cumberland_,
-though clearly outmatched, could not avoid engagement. It was at anchor
-in a dead calm, the crew's wash drying in the rigging. The Union sailors
-could only take the punishing return fire, clear the decks for battle,
-and wait for the inevitable.
-
-Longer than _Cumberland_ by half, with a submerged iron ram projecting
-from its bow, the approaching vessel looked to the Union ship's pilot
-like a "huge, half-submerged crocodile." _Virginia_ tore into
-_Cumberland's_ bow below the waterline (_see pages 28-29_), then backed
-off, leaving its ram imbedded in a seven-foot hole. Both vessels now
-loosed volleys at point-blank range; dozens of _Cumberland's_ crew were
-maimed or killed.
-
-As the vessel listed and began to sink, the crew abandoned ship, but 121
-men--already dead, too hurt to save themselves, or firing guns to the
-end--went down with _Cumberland_. (As water flooded the gun deck, a
-young gun crew officer barely saved himself by squeezing through a
-gun-port. He was Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, who in 1890 became
-commandant of the Charlestown Navy Yard.) Before darkness ended the
-fighting, the ironclad also riddled _Congress_, killing more than a
-hundred men and setting the vessel on fire. _Congress_ burned on into
-the night and finally exploded.
-
-The frightening weapon that had handed the U.S. Navy its worst defeat
-began its career as the hull of a wooden steam vessel. A week after the
-surrender of Fort Sumter, the loss of the important Gosport Navy Yard at
-Norfolk to rebel troops became inevitable. Evacuating Union
-forces--under cover of _Cumberland_--burned and scuttled several
-warships to keep them from falling into Confederate hands. But some were
-salvageable, including a large steam frigate on which everything below
-the waterline was intact. Southern engineers converted the vessel into
-an advanced warship, removing the masts and topping the hull with a
-rooflike iron shell. The original name of the vessel they retrieved and
-transformed: U.S.S. _Merrimack_.
-
-
-_Merrimack's_ reincarnation as _Virginia_ embodied two
-technologies--steam and iron (and then steel)--that were advanced during
-the Civil War and that eventually defined the modern Navy. Steam
-engineering had traveled a long road of acceptance in the conservative
-Navy. By 1850, the year the Charlestown Navy Yard built its first
-steamer, Great Britain had built or converted from sail some 25
-propeller and paddlewheel steam warships. The U.S. Navy had launched
-only seven. Steam engines were still considered novelties by many old
-Navy men--at best auxiliary power, at worst dirty and undependable
-nuisances that called for machine tenders rather than sailors.
-
-Their resistance was not entirely unjustified. There was the problem of
-range: _Merrimack_, for instance, could cruise only about 17 days with
-its coal bunker full. American steamers far from home had to depend on
-French or British coaling stations and machine shops in places like Hong
-Kong and Shanghai. Unlike self-reliant sail, steam alone could not meet
-the demands of distant squadrons. And in the early days of steam, it was
-no faster than sail: in fact it was often slower. More crucial, early
-steam engines were inefficient and unreliable, so captains would not
-trust them in combat. And coal took up valuable space needed for
-supplies, crew, and ammunition.
-
-But the main problem was that early steamers were driven by big,
-ungainly sidewheels that caused captains no end of problems (_see page
-35_). They so harmed a vessel's sailing qualities that steam was of
-necessity the primary power source on sidewheelers--but the Navy wanted
-to use steam only as auxiliary power.
-
-Another way of employing steam power for propulsion was needed. The
-propeller (called a "screw") was the answer, allowing naval steam to
-come into its own. Construction of the prototype screw sloop _Princeton_
-began in 1841, before America's first sidewheel warships even went into
-service. The Navy built only eight more deepwater sidewheelers before
-the famous 1854 class of six screw steamers (led by the
-Charlestown-built _Merrimack_) made the cumbersome vessels a footnote in
-naval history. With the advent of the propeller, enough problems were
-solved that auxiliary steam power became feasible in warships. On an
-1858 cruise from Honolulu to Acapulco, _Merrimack_ steamed only three
-days out of 32.
-
-_Merrimack_, whose subsequent adventures we have already followed, was
-in the tradition of large American frigates like _Constitution_. While
-its engines were never very dependable, _Merrimack_ was an excellent
-sailer, powerfully armed, and on its inaugural European cruise inspired
-Britain to build similar vessels with better engines.
-
-    [Illustration: Merrimack _is launched at Charlestown in 1855;_
-    Cumberland _was built in the same shiphouse in 1842_.]
-
-The screw sloop _Hartford_, launched at Charlestown in 1858, was one of
-a follow-up class of steamers. (These and other screw steamers of the
-'50s were all frigates and sloops; no steam ship-of-the-line was built
-at Charlestown or any other yard. As we have seen, the era of such large
-wooden ships was over by the time the Navy was converting to steam.)
-These were smaller vessels with a shallower draft--better suited to
-coastal and river operations. As Rear Admiral David G. Farragut's
-flagship in victories at New Orleans and Mobile Bay, _Hartford_ was
-perhaps the most celebrated steamer in the Union Navy.
-
-With propellers, even the most hidebound captains could appreciate the
-better maneuverability steam gave them during combat. Gradually the
-tactical roles of steam and sail were reversed, with increasingly
-efficient and dependable steam engines officially becoming the primary
-power source and sail the auxiliary. As a matter of economy, however,
-American vessels continued to use sail whenever possible on
-long-distance cruises.
-
-Steam technology demanded a whole new set of skills of Charlestown's
-mechanics. When the steam battery _Fulton II_ docked there in 1839, the
-yard could repair only the vessel's wooden components, having to
-contract work on the engine to local companies. But by 1845 yard
-personnel could fully service the screw sloop _Princeton_. While some
-carpenters may have made the transition, it is more likely that most of
-those working with steam machinery had a background in the field.
-
-As the yard adapted to the new age, it underwent a decade of
-modernization and quickened production preceding the Civil War. The dry
-dock was lengthened; gas lights were installed; the yard began
-manufacturing wire rope in 1857. But the most important improvement was
-a state-of-the-art machine shop--its 240-foot stack long a landmark at
-the yard--that replaced the old smithery in 1859. It contained such
-equipment as a machine that could plane a metal surface 10 feet square
-and a huge lathe capable of handling iron propeller shafts 35 feet long.
-The facility also helped the yard to incorporate a new technology
-dramatized (though not introduced) by C.S.S. _Virginia_: ironcladding.
-
-Sinking of large warships had rarely occurred in naval battle. Solid
-shot either bounced off thick wooden hulls or left a small, patchable
-hole. So warships normally just blasted away at each other until one of
-them, casualties mounting and its deck and rigging a shambles, hauled
-down its colors. Yet _Virginia_ had sunk or caused to eventually sink
-two of them in two hours. Its ironcladding allowed it to get close
-enough to _Cumberland_ to use an ancient but still effective technique,
-ramming, and close enough to _Congress_ to pound the ship at close range
-with its broadside shot and big rifles. While ramming would not remain a
-tactical option, ironcladding was universally adopted as every naval
-power raced to design hulls that could withstand ever more powerful
-explosive shells fired from rifled guns (_see pages 42-43_).
-
-As in every war, technology helped shape strategy in the Civil War and
-strategic considerations helped determine how new technologies were
-applied. The Navy's major role in the war effort was to blockade some
-3,500 miles of Southern coastline. The South's blockade runners were
-typically the most advanced examples of British shipbuilding,
-steam-powered sidewheelers that were often iron- or steel-hulled. In the
-first year of the war, only about one in eleven of these runners were
-caught (partly because sidewheelers were still faster than screw
-steamers), and the Union Navy continued to build, borrow, and buy every
-vessel it could to strengthen the blockade.
-
-                                                   _Continues on page 36_
-
-
-                            Steam Propulsion
-
-When steam was introduced as an auxiliary naval power source in the
-1820s, paddle-wheels were the initial method of propulsion. In the late
-1830s engineers began working with propellers--"screws" in naval
-terminology. Each technology had its partisans: the sidewheel provided
-greater combat maneuverability, was suited to riverine warfare, and
-presented no problems of leakage, as did the screw's underwater shaft
-hole. However, the exposed wheels were vulnerable during combat, ate up
-deck space needed for guns, hindered sail handling, and created more
-drag than a screw when the vessel was under sail. The launching of the
-screw warships H.M.S. _Rattler_ in Britain and U.S.S. _Princeton_ in the
-United States in 1843 signaled the coming ascendancy of screw
-propulsion. In the historic 1845 tug-of-war between _Rattler_ and an
-otherwise-identical sidewheeler, the greater efficiency of the screw was
-publicly confirmed.
-
-    [Illustration: SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE U.S. STEAM FRIGATE MERRIMAC.
-
-_1857 inboard plan of screw frigate_ Merrimack. _Screw could be hoisted
-into a well to reduce drag when the vessel was under sail._]
-
-    [Illustration: Sidewheels: good maneuverability, but vulnerable
-    above the water.]
-
-    [Illustration: The screw: more efficient, and protected below the
-    waterline.]
-
-Thus when naval officers learned of the conversion of _Merrimack_ into
-an armored blockade-breaker, they were understandably worried. In the
-debate over the type of vessel the Navy should develop to counter the
-Southern threat, John Ericsson's proposal for a turreted,
-shallow-drafted coastal ironclad won out over larger, oceangoing designs
-with traditional broadsides. His ironclad, called U.S.S. _Monitor_, was
-the prototype of the turreted ironclad class named after it. (While
-monitors and _Virginia_-type ironclads continued to meet the needs of a
-mostly coastal and riverine naval war, two broadside ironclads were
-built by the Union. One of them, _New Ironsides_, was quite effective.)
-
-_Monitor_ fought _Virginia_ to a standoff the day after the latter sank
-_Cumberland_. It was the first clash between steam-powered ironclads,
-and the world took notice. Captain John Dahlgren, creator of _Monitor's_
-two big guns, put it succinctly: "Now comes the reign of iron--and cased
-sloops are to take the place of wooden ships."
-
-It did not happen immediately: _Monitor_-class iron hulls were not very
-seaworthy. (_Monitor_ sank in late 1862 while being towed during a storm
-off Cape Hatteras.) Wooden ships under both sail and steam power
-continued to fight the Civil War's deepwater battles, but Dahlgren's
-words came true after the war. The evolving iron, and then steel,
-warship incorporated elements from both ironclads: the deeper hull and
-superstructure of _Virginia_ and, rather than multiple-gun broadsides, a
-few large guns in revolving _Monitor_-type turrets that allowed the guns
-to be trained without turning the entire vessel.
-
-Only four monitors were built by navy shipyards, but officers considered
-them the best produced during the war. _Monadnock_, a double-turreted
-monitor built at Charlestown, was generally thought the best of the lot
-and the only one of this class to see action. After the war, it proved
-its unusual seaworthiness by voyaging around Cape Horn to San Francisco.
-
-Other than _Monadnock_, ironcladding work at the Charlestown yard was
-performed on vessels built elsewhere, although the workers clad with
-iron the bulwarks of some of the double-ended sidewheelers built there.
-These vessels, a temporary reprieve for naval sidewheel technology, were
-designed for the narrow, shallow rivers of the South, allowing the
-"brown-water" Navy to reverse direction without turning around. The
-Charlestown yard built five double-enders--the biggest class constructed
-there during the war and, with those built at other yards, the biggest
-class of ships produced in the United States before World War I.
-
-The Charlestown yard had in 1858 initiated its first machinist
-apprenticeship, acknowledging the inevitable transformation of the
-yard's work. Steam had somewhat prepared the way for the yard's artisans
-to work with iron: those already trained as boilermakers could adapt
-their skills to ironcladding. But increasingly the trades related to
-steam machinery and ironcladding were formalized with titles and
-apprenticeships. Through the 1850s and '60s, machinists, iron moulders,
-and boilermakers accounted for an increasingly large part of the
-workforce: from a total of 26 (3 percent) in 1854 to 371 (19 percent) in
-1866. But even though such trades were necessary in the yard by the
-mid-1860s, they were still in the minority and were paid less,
-considered less exacting and more easily mastered than the old wooden
-ship trades.
-
-Samuel Cochran, a longtime employee at Charlestown, recalled later in
-life that when he arrived at the yard as a young man during the Civil
-War "the majority of the men employed were ship carpenters and joiners
-and most of the tools they used were cross cut saws and axes." His own
-job was to turn the grindstone on which they were sharpened.
-
-Cochran went on to paint a vivid picture of the yard during the war
-years when some 3,000 workers held jobs there: the ordnance workers who
-had the dangerous job of retrieving powder from the magazine, donning
-canvas slippers to reduce the chance of sparks; the clandestine barrels
-of liquor in cellars, complete with drinking straws; the yard
-"politicians" who owed their jobs to patronage; sawyers in their
-six-foot-deep sawpits; the sailors ("Jackies") on the receiving ships
-finding new ways to get extra grog on board.
-
-A minor labor grievance in 1861 illustrates how the exigencies of war
-changed the working atmosphere at the yard and reduced the workers'
-leverage. As it had in 1852, the government decided that yard employees
-should work sunrise to sunset from September to March, thus bringing
-their hours in line with those of private yard workers. Again the
-workers protested, although they continued to work, stating in their
-petition that they had no desire to hinder the government's campaign to
-"crush out a foul rebellion." This time the Navy made no concessions.
-Two strikes in 1862 over the same issue were half-hearted and futile;
-the longer hours remained in effect.
-
-
-The sense of urgency and focus engendered by war and the accelerated
-pace of technological change pushed the yard to extraordinary levels of
-production. So it was not surprising that with the coming of peace the
-activity here and at other yards fell off. But the drop was precipitous.
-At war's end, in sheer numbers and in engine technology, the U.S. fleet
-compared favorably with those of the European powers. In the weeks after
-Appomattox, however, the fleet shrank dramatically and continued to
-decline thereafter. In the postwar economic and political climate, the
-government's priorities shifted. Massive funds were needed for
-reconstruction of the southern states and for war-deferred developments
-of the nation's interior. The Navy would have to wait.
-
-European navies, though, were riding the new wave of technology. In the
-1870s their warships began to shed their sailing rigs as steam power
-became routine technology. But in America the old guard reasserted
-itself in peace, and there was a reaction against steam. After 1869, all
-naval vessels, steam or not, were required to have "full sail power,"
-and captains were on notice that they would pay for any coal they
-consumed other than for emergencies. Four-bladed propellers were
-replaced with two blades to reduce drag when under sail--with a
-corresponding loss of steaming efficiency.
-
-As the British and European navies rapidly converted to lighter and
-stronger iron and then steel hulls on their largest ships, virtually all
-U.S. vessels built in the 1860s and '70s were wooden-hulled (although
-some of these contained iron bracing). Even as late as 1885, the _Army
-and Navy Journal_ asserted that "a staunch, fast wooden vessel is still
-the best for cruising purposes." But while wooden-hulled U.S. naval
-vessels were generally acknowledged to be fine examples of their kind,
-many were well past their prime: _Independence_, for example, flagship
-of the first Mediterranean squadron, had been a receiving ship at Mare
-Island Navy Yard in California since 1857.
-
-It was not only romantic tradition that kept naval shipbuilding in its
-antebellum condition. Burning coal in warships cost money; the wind, if
-not as dependable, was free. Sails continued to make good sense on
-long-distance cruises. America still had no foreign coaling stations to
-support a distant steam fleet, and isolationist sentiment hindered their
-acquisition.
-
-    [Illustration: _Marines guard the entrance to Charlestown Navy Yard
-    in 1874. The gate no longer exists, but the building at right,
-    dating to 1813, still stands._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Workers in the gun park, 1890s, load cannon and
-    cannonballs onto a cart. Dry dock and carpenter shop can be seen in
-    the background._]
-
-    [Illustration: _A baseball team of yard workers poses for its
-    picture in front of the machine shop, about 1905._]
-
-For the same political and strategic reasons, America's was a cruising
-navy, made up of ships not intended for naval battle but for scouting,
-showing the flag, and commerce raiding. Wooden hulls sufficed for such
-roles. The government and private enterprise continued to look inland,
-and iron was used instead for rails and bridges to speed westward
-expansion. In any case, American metallurgy lagged behind that of
-Britain, while diminishing timber supplies made British designers look
-to alternate hull materials--not the case in the United States.
-
-If the Navy in general and navy yards in particular declined in the
-1870s, Charlestown's relative position was strong. From after the war to
-the early '80s, Charlestown was the second most productive yard after
-New York. A large number of vessels came to the yard for repair--mostly
-wooden vessels with steam engines. To service these ships, Charlestown
-in the 1870s continued to hire more machinists, engineers, boilermakers,
-and patternmakers while retaining a solid contingent of wooden ship
-tradesmen.
-
-Few new vessels were launched from any yard in this period. In the last
-three decades of the century Charlestown constructed three--all in 1874.
-The screw sloops _Vandalia_ and _Adams_ were launched on successive
-days, the latter (constructed at the yard by a private shipbuilder)
-being the last wooden warship laid down by the Navy. A few months
-earlier the yard had launched its first iron-hulled vessel, the torpedo
-ram _Intrepid_. But it was not part of a general transition to iron. The
-Navy built only four other iron-hulled vessels, none of them major
-warships. The 1874 launchings at the Charlestown yard reflected the U.S.
-Navy's lukewarm and indecisive response to changing naval technology.
-
-The yard by 1880 had changed little since the improvements of the '50s.
-It had greater capacity now with four shiphouses and two building ways,
-but the physical plant also reflected the technological limbo into which
-the Navy had settled. There was a coaling wharf to service steamers and
-a new rolling mill for iron plate. But the large sail loft and wet
-timber dock were still very much in use, and oxen still pulled the
-timbers from dock to sawmill.
-
-The dry dock was occupied by _Hartford_ in 1879-80. It was receiving new
-engines after long tours in the 1860s and '70s on Far Eastern stations.
-Its two-year stay in the dock--longer than normally needed for such a
-job--testified to the general state of affairs. The shrinking fleet had
-reduced the work load and slowed the pace at the yard. Under such
-conditions it was cheaper to use a smaller crew and take longer to do
-the work.
-
-That the Navy was willing to give this much attention to so honored a
-ship as _Hartford_ is understandable. But it symbolized the fact that it
-was only putting off the inevitable--modernization. By the early 1880s
-the U.S. Navy floundered in the wake of Europe's navies--the victim of
-limited funds, tradition-bound officers, political neglect, and popular
-indifference. There were but 48 decaying vessels in commission, most at
-a Civil War or even prewar level of technology. On top of the other
-problems, the corruption associated with the administration of Ulysses
-S. Grant had touched the Navy--including the Charlestown yard--in the
-late 1870s. Here, as at other yards, politicians found jobs for men who
-were then expected to vote as they were told. It is easy to see why one
-historian has characterized this period as the "low water mark" of the
-Navy.
-
-There were rumors of yard closings. Nothing happened immediately, but
-less and less work came to Charlestown. Then, in 1883, the Navy
-suspended all repair and construction work at the yard and reduced its
-role to manufacturing. So began hard times at Charlestown Navy Yard,
-during which it came perilously close to shutting down altogether.
-
-                                                   _Continues on page 45_
-
-
-                       The Yard's First Dry Dock
-
-Before dry docks came into use in the 16th century, the only way to
-service a ship's hull was to "careen" it--heave it over on its side,
-still floating (_see pages 6-7_), or laying in the mud at low tide. It
-was difficult and time-consuming and put great strain on the hull. The
-answer was the dry dock. The concept is simple: float the vessel into a
-three-sided basin, then close the seaward end and remove all the water.
-The vessel settles on a cradle, its hull accessible. To undock: reflood
-the basin, open the seaward end and float the vessel out. But the
-concept's execution required a finely-engineered complex of masonry,
-engines, pumps, reservoir, tunnels, culverts, valves, and gates--in
-effect a huge well-coordinated machine. The Charlestown dry dock and the
-one built concurrently at Norfolk, Va., were the first such naval
-structures in the country. Six years under construction, the Charlestown
-dock was inaugurated in 1833 with the docking of Constitution. It was
-305 feet long (extended in 1856 to 370 feet and again in 1948 to 398
-feet), 60 feet wide, and 30 feet deep--the Navy's largest dry dock until
-the 1890s. It took the original eight pumps four to five hours to empty
-the tremendous basin. Other operations were to some extent governed by
-Boston Harbor's 10-foot tide. After the dock was enlarged the water
-level did not rise as rapidly as the tide during filling, so it took two
-high tides to do the job. For emptying and filling, the caisson was
-filled with water and sunk in place between grooves in the dock walls.
-For docking and undocking, the caisson was emptied and floated out of
-the way on the high tide (_see inset_). It took 24 men working hand
-pumps for an hour and a half to expel the water from the caisson. The
-original wooden caisson lasted until 1901, when the steel caisson still
-in use today was completed.
-
-    [Illustration: The Yard's First Dry Dock]
-
-1. After its 1858 launching, U.S.S. _Hartford_ is docked for
-installation of its steam engine. To empty the dock, workers opened the
-discharge gates (A), releasing water to flow (_red arrows_) down
-discharge culverts (B) (on both sides of dock) to fill the reservoir
-(C).
-
-2. The pumphouse (D), its steam engine driving two pumps in underground
-wells (E), pumped the water from the dock via the reservoir and sent it
-through an underground culvert back to the harbor.
-
-3. To fill the dock, the discharge gates were closed and the filling
-gates (F) were opened. Water flowed (_green arrows_) first to wells (G),
-then into the dock through the same culverts used to empty it.
-
-
-  Steam windlass
-  Timber dock
-  Swing gates (backed up caisson)
-  Caisson ("floating gate")
-
-
-                          Ironclad Technology
-
-The clash of ships at sea embodies the ongoing technological battle
-between arms and armor: between deploying ever more destructive weapons
-and contriving ways to withstand them. As long as solid shot was the
-only way to attack a ship's hull, heavy timbers were usually armor
-enough. Big wooden warships were rarely sunk by even the heaviest shot.
-(_Constitution_ is a particularly good example.) But the rules of the
-game changed with the coming of more powerful and more accurate guns,
-and especially with the development of the practical explosive shell in
-the 19th century. A shell could open a gaping hole in a heretofore
-impervious wooden hull. By 1860 France and then Britain had begun
-building ironclads. In Britain, especially, the rising cost of
-diminishing timber supplies was another incentive to experiment with
-iron, both as armor and for structural elements of the hull. But in the
-United States, wood was still cheaper than iron. Also, though the
-country had earlier experimented with ironcladding, the Navy resisted
-the new technology, putting emphasis on speed rather than armor. But it
-quickly made up for lost time after the beginning of the Civil War. The
-Confederacy took the lead, for the same reason that the United States
-had built "super-frigates" at the end of the 18th century. A country
-that could afford only a small navy had to build state-of-the-art
-warships. The blockade-breaker C.S.S. _Virginia_ showed the lethal
-effectiveness of its ironcladding on its first outing (_see page 28_).
-The next day U.S.S. _Monitor_ fought _Virginia_ to a draw in the first
-battle between ironclads (_right_). The encounter spurred European
-navies to accelerate their ironclad programs, but new breech-loading
-rifled guns were demonstrating greater armor-piercing ability. In
-response iron, and then steel, armor was made thicker and harder,
-leading to still more powerful guns. The gun designers generally stayed
-a step ahead, with the biggest guns able to penetrate the thickest
-armor.
-
-    [Illustration: Monitor and Virginia]
-
-    [Illustration: Inside a Turret]
-
-
-  Pilot house (did not rotate)
-  Turret (23-foot diameter inside) rotated on central spindle
-  Ammunition gantry
-  Two 15-inch Dahlgren guns
-  Ammunition
-
-
-    [Illustration: _The monitor_ Monadnock _(all turreted ironclads were
-    designated monitors) was built at the Charlestown yard in 1862-63.
-    The only monitor built there, it was quite successful, described by
-    Admiral David Dixon Porter as "the best monitor afloat."_]
-
-
-  Ventilation shaft
-  Auxiliary steering position
-  Shot locker
-  Ericsson engine
-  Stokers' quarters
-  Coal bunk
-  Funnel (5-inch armor)
-  Officer's quarters
-  Boilers
-  Crew's quarters
-  Turret rotation gearing
-  Stores
-  Chain locker
-
-
-  Specifications:
-    Length overall: 259.5 ft.
-    Beam (width): 52.5 ft.
-    Displacement: 3295 tons
-    Draft: 12 ft., 8 in.
-    Armor: turrets, 10 in.; pilothouses, 8 in.; over wooden hull, 3-5
-          in.; deck, 1.5 in.
-    Engines: Two Ericsson 1426 HP steam engines, 32-in. cylinders; four
-          boilers
-    Screws: Two 4-bladed screws, 10-ft. diameter
-    Speed: 9 knots
-    Crew: 167
-    Armament: Four 15-in. Dahlgren smoothbore muzzle-loading guns; fired
-          shot or shell
-
-
-    [Illustration: Layers of Protection]
-
-
-  1 Typical ironcladding had wooden backing up to three feet thick.
-  2 A layer of India rubber or felt might be added to help absorb shock
-          and retard corrosion.
-  3 The cladding was often made up of laminated one-inch iron plates.
-  4 Tallow was sometimes applied to the outer surface on the theory that
-          it helped deflect shot.
-
-
-    [Illustration: _Light battleship U.S.S._ Maine _on its first cruise
-    in 1895_. Maine, _part of the new steel navy, blew up in Havana
-    Harbor in 1898 under circumstances still unclear. The resulting
-    Spanish-American War ended Spain's days as a colonial power and made
-    a popular hero of Theodore Roosevelt, who resigned as Assistant
-    Secretary of the Navy to serve in Cuba._]
-
-
-                              The New Navy
-
-On first looking into the cavernous interior of Shiphouse I, a visitor
-during the winter of 1884 would have gotten the impression that
-Charlestown was a busy shipyard. Workers crawled over the almost
-completed ship-of-the-line _Virginia_, swinging hammers, sawing, pumping
-hydraulic jacks--apparently applying the finishing touches. But behind
-the house, growing piles of four-foot lengths of wood told a different
-story. The workers were breaking up the old 74. _Virginia_ had occupied
-the shiphouse for more than 60 years, through all but the first two of
-the yard's launchings. Back in 1824, _Virginia_ had been within two
-months of making its own trip down the ways. Now its day had passed, and
-its great timbers were being reduced to firewood and sold at auction.
-
-Outside the shiphouse, very few workers could have been found among the
-silent buildings. Charlestown was a moribund yard, barely functioning
-since its repair and construction duties had been suspended the year
-before. Only the manufacturing divisions still showed signs of life. In
-1886 the yard would be officially converted to a facility that
-manufactured equipment--especially rope--for vessels built and repaired
-elsewhere.
-
-The yard was also stripped of much of its equipment and ordered to sell
-the vessels in ordinary. Repair work fell to an all-time low: between
-the 1883 docking of the Charlestown-built double-ender _Talapoosa_ and
-1890, the dry dock was used exactly five times to do repair work for the
-U.S. Navy--once on the yard tug and four times on the floating gate for
-the dry dock.
-
-    [Illustration: _Joiner Shop foreman George W. Burroughs, about
-    1901._]
-
-New construction was out of the question. The yard had known for years
-that the vessels already in the shiphouses and on the building ways
-(labeled "Rotten Row" by a local newspaper in 1882) would never be
-launched. So it came as no surprise that the order closing the yard also
-condemned _Virginia_, two wooden steamers, and a monitor--the latter
-three laid down during the Civil War. Still, it was disheartening that
-in the early 1880s a yard that had built and repaired ships was reduced
-to taking them apart.
-
-At least the dismantling of vessels provided employment for the workers,
-who at this point felt quite vulnerable. Throughout the 1880s,
-"suspension" (being laid off) was always hanging over their heads. More
-than 500 men were employed at the yard when work was halted in mid-1883.
-There were around 300 by the end of the year and their ranks continued
-to thin, averaging less than 200 until 1888--most of them ropemakers,
-machinists, laborers, and watchmen.
-
-Until World War I, jobs connected with supply would remain more stable
-than those related to construction and repair. In the late 1880s and
-'90s, managers found ways to transfer men in the latter trades to other
-divisions within the yard in order to keep their services on call. But
-in the early '80s the yard could find virtually no work for men skilled
-in the craft of wooden shipbuilding--formerly the elite of the
-workforce. After _Virginia_ and the other vessels had been turned into
-stacks of wood, those who had done the work were sent home.
-
-
-Now let us look ahead some three decades to 1917, by which time we find
-a yard dramatically transformed. Eleven wharves described a great arc at
-the confluence of the Charles and Mystic Rivers. The familiar old
-shiphouses had been replaced by a large shipbuilding ways and steel
-plate storage yards. The timber basin that had long dominated the center
-of the yard was gone, replaced by a new dry dock twice as long as the
-first one. The other timber basin at the east end of the yard had been
-filled in and was now the site of gas and oil tanks, a locomotive shed,
-and a gas plant for acetylene torches.
-
-It was a vital place, showing an intensity not seen since the Civil War.
-In fact it was again a wartime yard: after almost three years of
-neutrality the United States had entered the global conflict that was
-later called World War I. Some 4,500 workers worked two ten-hour shifts
-or around the clock in three eight-hour shifts, answering to a steam
-whistle instead of the bell that had summoned 19th-century yard workers.
-The wharves and docks were crowded with three- and four-stacker steel
-ships, some carrying the towering cage masts that were a short-lived
-experiment of the period. On the building ways, workers had laid the
-keel of the fuel ship _Brazos_.
-
-Electric lights illuminated the thousands of men working on ships
-through the night. Vessels under repair were alive with the flare of
-welding torches and the tattoo of pneumatic rivet guns. Over them moved
-the arms of great cranes, including a 150-ton floating derrick and a
-colossus that traveled on tracks between dry docks. Materials and
-equipment were transported by yard locomotives that had replaced the
-oxen (although horses still did service). A mechanized coaling plant
-near the old dry dock helped ease the dirty and arduous task of fueling
-ships. But it was apparently undependable, and at times ships were
-coaled the old way.
-
-Charlestown's main responsibility was repairing the warships of a
-greatly enlarged fleet: steel destroyers, armored cruisers and
-battleships, submarines, and wooden sub chasers. The yard also outfitted
-and commissioned new vessels, converted civilian vessels to wartime use,
-armed merchantmen, and altered seized German passenger liners to
-transport U.S. troops to France.
-
-More work came to the yard in 1917-18 than in any other comparable
-period in its history before World War II. Some 450 vessels were
-serviced during those two years. In addition Charlestown was a supply
-depot and embarkation point. In all, an average of 50 ships a day
-arrived at or departed from the yard during the war.
-
-By 1918 some 10,000 skilled workers, laborers, and clericals worked at
-Charlestown. Reflecting the growth of the labor movement over the last
-three decades, many of them belonged to trade unions (although they
-could neither strike nor be represented by the unions in wage
-negotiations). Women working at the yard were mostly naval yeomen, but a
-few worked as radio and telephone operators, radio electricians, and
-ropewalk machine tenders.
-
-Yard employees worked in 17 trade shops, the names of which
-characterized the needs of modern steel shipbuilding: Shipfitters
-(including riveters, drillers, welders, sheet metal workers);
-Electrical; Pattern (for cast metals); Chain; Copper/Pipefitting; and
-other skills employed in raising a steel ship.
-
-Some of the old familiar shops survived in reduced or altered roles. The
-sail loft now produced mostly canvas bags, pea jackets, and hammocks.
-The riggers loft had become a versatile shop responsible for an array of
-shipyard tasks. They still worked aloft on stacks and steel masts;
-directed dry docking and crane operations; prepared shipways for
-launchings; dove beneath ships in hardhat diving suits; and continued to
-do the traditional rigger's handiwork, such as the braided rope fenders
-that protected ships' hulls and the fancy leatherwork and ropework still
-common on naval vessels. The workers in the joiner shop worked on the
-small wooden boats built at the yard, but spent much of their time
-making shipboard furniture. The ropewalk continued to turn out the large
-quantities of rope still needed on steel ships.
-
-    [Illustration: _These young women were working as civilian clerks
-    for the Navy when the U.S. entered World War I. Overnight they
-    became Yeomen-F (female) naval personnel. (Yeomen is the naval term
-    for clerical workers.)_]
-
-    [Illustration: _Joiners were skilled workers in wood and
-    traditionally the elite of the yard workforce. Even in the early
-    days of steel ships, they remained among the highest paid of the
-    workers. Here joiners are photographed in their shop, about 1897._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Yard's floating crane, shown here in 1913, could
-    lift 150 tons. Dry Dock 1 is visible in left background._]
-
-The traditional shipyard hierarchy was virtually unchanged: the crews of
-mechanics, apprentices, and laborers were headed by leadingmen; several
-leadingmen were supervised by quartermen; and the quartermen were under
-a chief quarterman or they answered directly to the master who headed
-the shop.
-
-Unlike the hard times of the 1880s, the employees at Charlestown had
-reason to feel secure. Civil Service reforms of the '90s had already
-gone a long way toward making merit, not political advantage, the
-criterion for hiring and firing. And now, in the hour of war, the Navy
-wanted to keep its shipyard workers. In the months before the United
-States entered the conflict, officials had worried that employees swept
-up in the popular sentiment for preparedness would enlist. Secretary of
-the Navy Josephus Daniels declared it the "patriotic duty" of the
-workers to remain at the yard, asserting that "their services to their
-country ... [are] as important as if they were actually in the field."
-
-When the draft was initiated in 1917, the Navy responded by gaining
-exemptions for crucial classes of yard workers such as supervisors,
-draftsmen, and skilled mechanics and their helpers. The military draft
-gave new meaning to the yard's "six-muster" rule, by which any worker
-missing six successive roll calls for any reason could be fired. One
-week after any worker was dismissed, the yard informed his draft board.
-
-The demand for workers and the boosted war economy drove up wages. No
-doubt prompted by this incentive and by the exemption policy, some
-240,000 men applied for work at the yard in 1917-18. But while
-Charlestown didn't lack for applicants, filling the most skilled
-positions was a continuing problem. To remedy this (and to help workers
-gain exemptions), the yard cut a year from the term of apprenticeship
-and established a trade school to train unskilled workers as mechanics.
-
-
-While World War I sped up Charlestown's evolution from naval backwater
-to modern shipyard, other factors had set the process in motion. Time
-and expected technological advances accounted for some of it. But the
-transition was accelerated at the yard by a larger transformation of the
-Navy, prompted by the country's position in a changing world and
-completed on the stage of the Spanish-American War.
-
-Historians have tagged this transformation the "New Navy." If we simply
-compare the numbers of the 1880 Navy, when its aging fleet of wooden
-vessels ranked 12th in the world, to that of the 1900 Navy, when there
-were in commission or on the stocks 17 steel battleships and a number of
-armored cruisers, the label "new" is certainly accurate. But there was
-more to this than simply building new steel ships to catch up to Europe.
-The Navy's mission underwent a strategic shift in this 20-year period.
-
-The early phase involved a strengthening of the Navy's capacity to carry
-out its mission. For a century its job had been to defend the shores and
-to ensure that other navies allowed American merchant vessels free trade
-anywhere in the world. Its tactical traditions were one-on-one
-engagements and hit-and-run commerce raiding. But it was clear by the
-early 1880s that the U.S. Navy was inadequate for even these limited
-operations. Reformers could point to obvious deficiencies as European
-navies converted to armored steel hulls in the 1870s and '80s. The old
-wooden navy had become a disgrace.
-
-Powerful voices were raised in the House Naval Affairs Committee, and in
-1883 Congress appropriated money for the steel cruisers _Atlanta_,
-_Boston_, and _Chicago_, and the dispatch vessel _Dolphin_. These
-vessels could still spread a large area of sail, and by European
-standards were not formidable, but the so-called "ABCD" ships were the
-core of the New Navy, the first small step towards making the United
-States a true sea power.
-
-For Charlestown, they were a mixed blessing. The New Navy's need for
-maintenance and repair bode well for the future, but the immediate
-effect was devastating. For the same legislation that authorized new
-ships also established a new criterion for repairing existing vessels.
-Only repairs that cost less than 30% (later reduced to 20%) of the cost
-of a new ship of the same size could be performed. This freed up funds
-to build the new ships, but it also meant so little work for shipyards
-that both repair and construction work at Charlestown and three other
-yards was suspended.
-
-In its new role as manufacturing center, the yard kept the ropewalk,
-rigging loft, and sail loft open. The forge began producing chain and
-anchors for the new steel ships. But even these activities were sporadic
-until later in the decade. A survey done one March day in 1884 showed
-that the ropewalk was spinning rope for _Dolphin_--literally the only
-thing done that day to help put warships to sea.
-
-During the worst years of the 1880s the ropewalk almost singlehandedly
-kept the yard alive. It made itself an indispensable facility by
-supplying virtually all of the Navy's rope. Other shops followed its
-lead, and by 1890 the Charlestown yard had become an important general
-manufacturing center, the only naval shipyard producing rope, sail,
-anchors, and chain. It was still unable to service ships, however. In
-August 1890 _Chicago_ was directed to the yard for repairs, only to turn
-back because the old dry dock wasn't in good enough condition to accept
-the steel cruiser. "Repairs to engine bolts" for _Boston_ typified the
-kind of task the yard could perform.
-
-But 1890 also marked the beginning of the yard's rebirth. Congress
-appropriated $152,000 for new machine tools and modernization of
-Charlestown's crumbling facilities. It wasn't enough to remake the yard,
-but it was a start. It was also the year that Commander Alfred Thayer
-Mahan, president of the Naval War College and one-time aide to the
-Charlestown Navy Yard commandant, published _The Influence of Sea Power
-Upon History, 1660-1783_. This important book helped to stimulate the
-world-wide buildup of naval forces prior to World War I. His thesis
-(greatly simplified) was as follows: A combination of geography,
-population size, and "national character" makes a great seafaring
-nation. Essential to the continued well-being of such a nation is a
-government that actively promotes a vigorous maritime commerce. "Sea
-power"--command of the sea lanes--protects this commerce. Only large
-concentrated fleets of capital ships able to engage and destroy the
-enemy's navy can create and maintain sea power.
-
-Mahan's influence, both as author and adviser to the Secretary of the
-Navy, was pivotal. His writings strengthened the hand of imperialists
-and reformers who had called for new strategic thinking. The United
-States, they reasoned, was a growing industrial power with increasing
-overseas interests, and some--among them Mahan disciple and future
-Assistant Secretary of the Navy and President Theodore
-Roosevelt--believed the nation should have a navy befitting its role,
-one able to open markets, protect those economic interests, and project
-U.S. power.
-
-In a burst of enthusiasm recalling that for the ship-of-the-line at the
-end of the War of 1812, Congress in 1890 authorized the country's first
-full-sized battleships. They represented enormous commitments of
-resources, time, and money. Called "coastline" battleships to placate
-still powerful coast defense advocates, they were nevertheless another
-step in the United States' emergence by the turn of the century as a
-world power with a widening sphere of influence. The Navy kept its faith
-in battleships until their vulnerability to air power and the
-superiority of aircraft carriers as attack weapons were demonstrated in
-World War II.
-
-Although a succession of battleships, cruisers, submarines, and other
-vessels were now being laid down, Charlestown didn't immediately reap
-the benefits. The majority of the warships launched between 1883 and
-1905 were built by contract in private yards, and Charlestown built none
-of them. For most of the 1890s, the yard continued to be primarily a
-manufacturing facility. The New Navy's hulls did account for much of the
-yard's repair work. Steel hulls didn't rot, but they more easily fouled
-with barnacles and seaweed than a coppered wooden hull and were less
-resistant to corrosion than iron. Maintaining them became the
-Charlestown yard's bread and butter.
-
-The Spanish-American War broke this pattern, making Charlestown once
-again a repair yard. Besides the new warships the United States was
-trying out against the Spanish navy, there was also the "mosquito fleet"
-(old monitors, converted yachts, and other small craft used for coastal
-defense during the war) to be maintained and repaired. In all some 50
-vessels were serviced by 1,200-1,400 workers.
-
-To beef up its workforce for war, the yard began hiring more foreign
-workers, especially from Scandinavian countries with shipbuilding
-traditions. Charlestown thereafter maintained a workforce averaging over
-2,000 during the two decades before World War I--compared to the fewer
-than 400 workers there through most of the 1890s. The Spanish-American
-War was pivotal, marking a permanent expansion in the size and diversity
-of the Charlestown workforce.
-
-At war's end the United States was recognized as a world power with
-attendant responsibilities. This new status was symbolized by the
-establishment of a coaling station in the recently acquired Philippines.
-The capital ship building program continued apace--given renewed vigor
-by President Theodore Roosevelt, staunch advocate of big ships and a
-strong navy.
-
-The yard continued to be mainly a repair facility with a steadily
-increasing workload. The new 750-foot Dry Dock 2, authorized three
-months after the sinking of _Maine_, was built to receive the Navy's
-biggest ships. But soon after the massive structure's 1905 completion,
-Britain launched H.M.S. _Dreadnought_, ushering in an even larger class
-of battleship the dock could not accommodate.
-
-In this period the yard specialized in the smaller battleships and the
-newest type of warship: destroyers. These fast, versatile ships had
-evolved from British "torpedo boat destroyers" built in the 1880s to
-counter the new torpedo boats. The mobile torpedo, also developed in
-Britain, was a self-propelled explosive device launched from a warship's
-deck, traveling underwater to open the hull of its target.
-
-
-Developments in naval technology from the 1880s to the eve of World War
-II included nothing quite so dramatic as the epochal shifts from sail to
-steam and wood to iron, but the period saw advances in strategic weapons
-such as submarines and aircraft carriers, and major innovations that
-resulted in ships and shipbuilding essentially like what we see today.
-In the period before the age of flight, sophisticated warships were
-highly visible embodiments of the state of a nation's technology, and
-the rapidly expanding U.S. fleet was an unmistakable sign of its growing
-industrial and technological prominence.
-
-    [Illustration: _Charlestown's machine shop in 1913. Overhead belts
-    transferred power from a central steam engine to the machines. The
-    potentially hazardous belts were later replaced with electric motors
-    on each machine._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Lathe operator shapes steam turbine rotor for
-    destroyer tender Whitney in 1923._]
-
-The major innovations were again in hull material and propulsion. The
-transition from iron to steel hulls further liberated naval engineers.
-Lighter, stronger, and less brittle, steel allowed them more play in
-hull size and proportions. Despite extensive use of ironclads by the
-United States during the Civil War, its navy essentially skipped the
-iron stage in seagoing warships, moving from _Hartford_-type wooden
-steamers to the steel ABCD ships of 1883. While the Charlestown yard
-launched no steel warships until the 1930s, it did construct the tug
-_Pentucket_ (1903) and training bark _Cumberland_ (1904), both
-steel-hulled.
-
-As steam engines grew more efficient in the 1880s and '90s, sailing rigs
-were made smaller and vestigial masts served mainly as radio antennae
-and platforms for directing big guns. But a revolution in steam
-technology sent reciprocating engines the way of masts on most large
-naval vessels. Steam turbines, which were much more efficient at
-sustained high speeds, were developed in the 1880s in Europe and used in
-1905 on _Dreadnought_. In America they became truly practical during the
-World War I period.
-
-Along with the introduction of turbines came an innovation in the fuel
-that powered them. During the 1890s oil was introduced, used in
-combination with coal. By 1910 the United States had built its first all
-oil-burning warship. Besides providing greater power more quickly, oil
-needed less storage space and fewer engine room hands than coal.
-
-These advances and refinements completed the evolution of the U.S. Navy
-warship from wooden-hulled sailing vessel to powered steel ship. But
-perfecting the new technology was not the only challenge associated with
-the transition. The demands of modern naval design provoked growing
-controversy over how work should be performed at naval shipyards and how
-those yards should be organized. Charlestown Navy Yard played a central
-role in the debate.
-
-Since 1868 the nation's naval shipyards had each been organized into
-departments corresponding to those at the Navy Department level. Each
-department head, though nominally under the yard commandant, really
-worked for his boss in Washington. So each department became in effect a
-separate plant protecting its own interests and budget. When a yard
-built relatively simple wooden-hulled ships powered by steam engines,
-the tasks of the Construction and Steam Engineering departments differed
-enough that there was little overlap. The old organization was not then
-a problem. But as warships became complex, integrated machines the
-system broke down, providing little coordination between departments and
-a great deal of duplication. By 1910 it was grossly wasteful and
-inefficient, a public scandal.
-
-At about the same time as reformers were calling for a shakeup of naval
-shipyards, the phrase "scientific management" was being bandied about.
-Everyone recognized that the 19th-century industrial system, while
-highly successful, had to be managed differently to best incorporate
-20th-century technology. The most famous of the new management systems
-was that of Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor's system called for the
-strict application of scientific methods to industrial management and
-organization in order to produce the maximum output. Specifically,
-efficiency experts would study workers' tasks and break them down into
-their smallest components; perform time-and-motion studies to eliminate
-wasteful motions and determine the optimum time in which a task should
-be completed; and offer wage incentives and penalties for meeting or
-falling short of the new standards. There would be no reason for
-bargaining or for unions since non-debatable scientific principles,
-rather than human foibles and emotions, would govern management
-decisions.
-
-The workers' response to Taylorism was speedy and unequivocal. They
-fiercely resisted any system that would analyze their movements as if
-they were machines to be fine-tuned (not an exaggeration of Taylor's
-stated beliefs). Such a system, they said, would demean them and their
-skills--robbing them of their autonomy and individuality; eliminating
-craft from the job; turning workers into mere cogs performing sped-up,
-repetitious tasks "to the physical breaking point"--not to mention the
-threat to collective bargaining. So visceral was their reaction to
-Taylorism that any kind of management system became suspect.
-
-Thus when the Navy attempted in 1912 to introduce a British management
-system--less doctrinaire than Taylorism, though with the same ends of
-efficiency and increased production--workers at Charlestown were
-immediately on their guard. The system's reorganization of the yard's
-divisions also upset established power relationships between traditional
-sea (line) officers and newer and often younger engineering (staff)
-types, tilting the balance in favor of the latter. Not surprisingly,
-line and staff were polarized over the merits of the new order, accusing
-each other respectively of obstructing progress and overmanaging.
-
-In this charged atmosphere, when two overzealous junior officers
-attempted to introduce minute Taylor-like task breakdowns at
-Charlestown, the metal workers at the yard took action. They asked their
-congressman to hand-deliver a protest to Assistant Secretary of the Navy
-Franklin D. Roosevelt. While Roosevelt agreed in principle with
-scientific management, he was generally sympathetic to labor and refused
-to implement a system that the yard workers opposed.
-
-    [Illustration: _Machine shop workers pose for a group picture in Dry
-    Dock 1, about 1905. At this time a little more than 2,000 employees
-    worked at the Charlestown yard._]
-
-    [Illustration: _U.S.S._ Whitney _rises amid a forest of scaffolding.
-    The keel of the 484-foot destroyer tender--the largest vessel ever
-    built at Charlestown--was laid down in 1921. It took two and a half
-    years to build. After surviving the Japanese attack on Pearl
-    Harbor_, Whitney _served in the Pacific during World War II_.]
-
-Roosevelt's visit to the yard in 1913, during which he let it be known
-that certain junior officers were being reassigned, focused national
-attention on the controversy and encouraged other yard workers around
-the nation. A delegation representing them lobbied against Taylorism,
-eventually persuading Congress to outlaw such management systems in navy
-yards. Yet when it was all over, the Charlestown yard was organized
-quite differently than in the 19th century, making it a more efficient
-builder and repairer of modern naval vessels and helping it to perform
-as it did during World War I.
-
-U.S.S. _Bridge_, commissioned as the first American troops were enroute
-to France, exemplified the yard's progress since the dark 1880s.
-Following a long campaign by a job-desperate Boston to have the ship
-built at Charlestown, _Bridge_ was laid down in 1914 and launched two
-years later. It was the Navy's first refrigerated supply ship, with a
-steel hull and a boiler that could burn oil or coal. Its 423-foot length
-made _Bridge_ the largest vessel yet built at Charlestown and its first
-major ship since the 1870s.
-
-After demonstrating its competence with _Bridge_, Charlestown was
-assigned _Brazos_, two other fuel ships, and a destroyer tender. The
-war-spurred building program helped Charlestown stay busy when peace
-came, as the last three vessels weren't laid down until after the
-armistice. In fact the number of employees actually rose, to almost
-13,000 in 1919. Besides the shipbuilding, there was work converting
-ships to troop transports to bring the soldiers home and stripping
-military gear from ships returning to civilian service. Charlestown
-repaired a large number of destroyers, subs, and battleships small
-enough for Dry Dock 2. To increase its docking capacity, the yard
-purchased in 1920 a new state-built dry dock in South Boston. At the
-time it was the country's largest dry dock, becoming the nucleus of the
-yard's South Boston Annex.
-
-Events conspired in the 1920s to dampen the yard's postwar prosperity.
-The 1922 Five-Power Treaty limited new ship construction and the overall
-number of vessels, meaning less repair and outfitting work for naval
-shipyards. In any case the political mood was to spend money on other
-things. After the destroyer tender _Whitney_ was launched in 1923, there
-was no more construction at Charlestown, other than a couple of tugs,
-for the rest of the decade. And as the Japanese grew increasingly
-expansionist, much of the fleet was moved to the West Coast, further
-reducing work at the yard.
-
-Nevertheless, Charlestown kept up its steady repair work, especially on
-destroyers, albeit at a more modest level and with a workforce reduced
-to below 3,000 by 1922. The addition of a marine railway in 1919 allowed
-the yard to more easily service smaller ships of up to 2,000 tons.
-
-By the end of the decade further developments seriously threatened the
-Charlestown yard. The London Naval Treaty of 1930 extended the
-moratorium on new capital ship construction for another six years. The
-treaty further required the U.S. to scrap three battleships and 94
-destroyers--the latter a mainstay of Charlestown. The deepening
-Depression also hurt the yard, as the government's austerity program in
-the early years of the crisis reduced work at naval shipyards. The
-Hoover administration threatened to close most federal yards, including
-Charlestown. Yet in the Depression itself we can trace the roots of the
-coming boom.
-
-
-                         Building a Steel Ship
-
-Beginning in the 1880s, steel rapidly supplanted wood as the primary
-material in U.S. naval vessels. Charlestown began building large steel
-vessels in 1915-20, the period depicted below. Stronger per pound than
-wood or iron, steel enabled naval architects to design bigger ships that
-could carry more armament. Steel was also better suited to bearing the
-massive weight of steam engines and boilers. The structural members of
-early steel vessels were riveted together, with limited gas welding in
-use by World War I. Shipyard artisans traded auger, saw, and mallet for
-pneumatic drill, gas cutting torch, and pneumatic rivet gun. Massive
-steam-powered cranes replaced the old hoisting shears. Yet, while a
-riveted steel ship demanded vastly more complicated plans and a higher
-level of coordination between shops, it was assembled in much the same
-way as a wooden vessel. From the keel rose the stem, sternpost, and
-frames. Transverse beams, longitudinals, vertical stanchions, watertight
-bulkheads, decking, and plating completed the hull, all held together by
-rivets. Electric welding (_below_), developed in the 1930s, allowed
-still lighter construction and the prefabrication of sections.
-Designers, however, still called for rivets for some parts of the hull
-throughout World War II.
-
-    [Illustration: _When the Charlestown yard began constructing steel
-    ships in 1915, a new building ways was erected on the site of the
-    shiphouse in which the wooden screw frigate_ Merrimack _had been
-    built 60 years earlier_ (see pages 32-33). _The yard built three
-    475-foot fuel ships ("oilers") on this shipways between 1917 and
-    1921, reducing the time between keel laying and launch from two
-    years for the first ship to less than a year for the last._]
-
-    [Illustration: Electric welding]
-
-
-                           Chain for the Navy
-
-Until World War I, forged iron chain was used on naval vessels, and the
-forge shop at the Charlestown yard was a leader in the industry. But it
-was a laborious process, and the demands of war spurred the development
-of cast steel chain, which could be produced more quickly. Charlestown
-was soon experimenting with detachable links to connect standard chain
-lengths. This led to the development in 1926 of a new chainmaking
-process, in which each link was made from half-links joined in a die
-under a drop-forge hammer--"die-lock" chain. It was clearly superior:
-more uniform, stronger, cheaper to make. By the early 1930s Charlestown
-was producing die-lock chain in several sizes, and by 1936 die-lock had
-superseded cast steel chain for all sizes. The shop made the chain used
-in most U.S. naval vessels built during World War II and was the only
-forge to make chain for the largest postwar aircraft carriers.
-
-    [Illustration: Finished chain is loaded for shipping.]
-
-    [Illustration: Decorative background]
-
-    [Illustration: The Die-lock Chainmaking Process]
-
-1 Rolled nickel-steel rods (from 3/4-inch to 4-3/4-inch in diameter) are
-cut into shorter bars.
-
-2 The cut bars are heated in a gas furnace to 2100�F. The now-malleable
-bars are bent by machine into U-shapes.
-
-3 The U-bars are stamped to form stems, with tapered and ridged ends, or
-they have holes punched in the ends to form sockets.
-
-4 Stem is hooked onto last completed link and placed in die; socket is
-heated, and the two are joined under a 10,000-pound hammer (_next page_
-).
-
-5 Largest 4-1/2-inch chain for supercarriers could withstand up to 2.5
-million pounds. Each two-foot-long link weighed 360 pounds. Red
-undercoat and grey paint helped retard rusting.
-
-    [Illustration: 10,000-pound hammer]
-
-    [Illustration: _At a shift change in 1943, departing workers hurry
-    past destroyer escorts being outfitted for war. At its peak during
-    the war, the Charlestown yard and its annexes employed more than
-    50,000 men and women._]
-
-
-                          The Yard Transformed
-
-It was not a dramatic launch--no gathering speed down the shipways and
-plunging into Boston Harbor. Instead, the water flowing into Dry Dock 1
-rose slowly around U.S.S. _MacDonough_ until the destroyer lifted off
-the keel blocks and was towed out of the dock. The 1934 "floating" was
-low-keyed but significant. _MacDonough_ was the first warship built by
-Charlestown since the wooden screw sloop _Vandalia_ slid down the ways
-in 1874.
-
-The technological leap between the two vessels--partially bridged by the
-steel supply and fuel ships Charlestown built in the World War I
-period--was considerable. Except for its coal-fired auxiliary steam
-propulsion, the 216-foot _Vandalia_ did not differ significantly from
-the old _Constitution_. _MacDonough_ was a modern destroyer--the
-sloop-of-war's 20th-century counterpart--incorporating the advances of
-the past 60 years. It was powered by geared turbines driven by steam
-generated in oil-burning boilers, and relied on sophisticated
-electrical, hydraulic, and communications systems. At 341 feet, its
-steel hull took up most of Dry Dock 1.
-
-As soon as _MacDonough_ was moved out of the dock, the destroyer
-_Monaghan_, just floated from Dry Dock 2, was moved into #1 for
-completion and outfitting. Two more keels were immediately laid in #2.
-It is noteworthy that neither dry dock was being used to repair ships.
-In fact, the whole yard's traditional role as repair facility had given
-way in the past year to a new one as shipbuilder, a status it maintained
-through World War II. Charlestown built 12 destroyers in the 1930s and
-24 more by the end of the war. Of course the yard built and serviced
-other types of vessels--especially destroyer escorts and LSTs (Landing
-Ship Tank)--but Charlestown acquired a reputation as a "destroyer yard"
-and thereafter specialized in this workhorse of the Navy.
-
-    [Illustration: Navy Yard Complex During World War II
-
-_This map of Boston Harbor in 1942 shows the five units of Charlestown
-Navy Yard during World War II. By war's end the South Boston Annex was
-the largest, with dry docks big enough to repair battleships and heavy
-cruisers. The Chelsea and East Boston Annexes repaired small vessels,
-and the Fuel Depot Annex served the great number of naval vessels
-entering the harbor during the war._]
-
-
-  CHELSEA
-    Chelsea Naval Hospital
-    Chelsea Naval Annex
-    Fuel Depot Annex
-  CHARLESTOWN
-    Navy Yard
-  EAST BOSTON
-    East Boston Annex
-    Pipeline
-  DOWNTOWN BOSTON
-  _BOSTON HARBOR_
-    Deep Water Pier
-  SOUTH BOSTON
-    South Boston Annex
-
-
-Ironically, the change had been brought about by the same economic
-crisis that almost put an end to the yard. After considering closing all
-yards but Norfolk and Philadelphia to save money, the Hoover
-administration in 1931 proposed closing only the Charlestown yard.
-Reaction was swift: committees were formed in Boston; petitions
-protesting the closing were signed. But it was probably the fact that
-_MacDonough_ had been ordered a month earlier that tilted the scales in
-the yard's favor. The keel was not laid for two years, however, and 1932
-was the yard's bleakest year since before the Spanish-American War, with
-only 1,500 people employed.
-
-The Roosevelt administration's program to stimulate the economy, provide
-jobs, and pull the nation out of the Depression was the first step in
-Charlestown's transformation into a true ship construction yard. Under
-FDR's 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act, 32 new warships were
-authorized, 20 of them destroyers, of which two were assigned to
-Charlestown. The following year, growing worries about Japanese
-aggression moved Congress to further expand the Navy.
-
-The yard kept a rapid pace in the 1930s, laying two keels simultaneously
-in Dry Dock 2 in 1934 and again in 1935. (As the shipways was inadequate
-for destroyers, all keels were laid in this dock until 1939.) After
-floating, the hulls were moved into Dry Dock 1 for completion, the whole
-process taking about two years.
-
-Repair work was much reduced in the 1930s by federal economy measures
-specifying lengthened maintenance intervals. As both dry docks were in
-any case usually tied up in construction work, and because most of the
-ships in for repair were relatively small, many of these vessels were
-floated into a large cradle and hauled from the water up the tracks of
-the yard's marine railway. Others were taken across the harbor to the
-South Boston dry dock.
-
-
-Technological change transformed many of the yard's oldest trades by the
-1930s, while the growing size and complexity of ships required more and
-more workers. Such large government employers as shipyards were seen by
-policy makers as places to both promote economic stability and save
-money. Early in the Depression these two goals were addressed,
-respectively, with lower and upper limits for each yard's workforce--at
-Charlestown, 1,500 and 1,800. The workforce stayed generally within
-these limits until 1935, when it began growing, reaching some 5,000
-workers by late 1939. (During hard times the yard kept its eye on the
-future, exempting apprentices from layoffs.)
-
-By the time war had begun in Europe in 1939, with "readiness" again
-America's watchword, the yard was operating at an even faster rate of
-production than in the mid-thirties. With the shipways enlarged to
-handle destroyers, six ships were in some stage of construction that
-summer. In October four destroyers were floated out of Dry Dock 2 on the
-same day. The yard also prepared 18 of the old World War I four-stacker
-destroyers for transfer to Britain under the 1940 destroyers-for-bases
-agreement.
-
-Then came the war. If the thirties had been a period of gearing up,
-wartime pushed the yard into overdrive. It took a great war effort for
-the yard to realize its true shipbuilding and manufacturing potential,
-confirming a statement by Secretary of the Navy George von Meyer in
-1910: "Navy yards are primarily for war and only incidentally for
-peace." One historian's conservative estimate: under the goad of war the
-yard built, repaired, overhauled, converted, or outfitted some 6,000
-vessels between 1939 and 1945.
-
-The raid on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 made every naval installation
-fearful of enemy attacks. Charlestown installed anti-aircraft batteries
-on roofs and camouflaged waterfront buildings. Some security measures
-were disruptive of yard routine. Blackouts and dim-outs were in force,
-especially in the early years of the war, to reduce the chances of ships
-being silhouetted against lights. When the air raid whistle blew,
-workers had to stop what they were doing and go to shelters. Throughout
-the war, yard officials juggled the conflicting demands of security and
-production.
-
-Other security measures had more personal consequences. Some yard
-workers were banned from certain areas, and everyone was forbidden to
-speak foreign languages while at work. A number of workers were
-suspended in 1941 as security risks. "Remarks ... inimical to the
-government" were enough to earn an employee a place on the suspension
-list.
-
-The huge number of people working at Charlestown was another sign that
-the yard had been remade by war. The U.S. Navy became the world's
-largest single employer of industrial labor during the conflict, and the
-Charlestown yard held the same status in the Boston area. The yard's
-force rapidly swelled from 5,000 workers in 1939 to a high of about
-50,000 at Charlestown and its annexes in mid-1943, working around the
-clock in three eight-hour shifts.
-
-As in World War I, the yard again had to protect its essential employees
-from the draft board. But voluntary enlistment proved to be the real
-drain on the workforce. Although yard foremen tried to dissuade crucial
-employees from going, some 13,000 workers left the yard to join the
-fight. Throughout the conflict, even when more than 50,000 people worked
-there, the yard was shorthanded.
-
-
-           Mainstays of the Yard: Warship Overhaul and Repair
-
-After the construction boom created by World War II, Charlestown resumed
-its traditional role of "serving the fleet" (the yard's motto). In the
-early 1950s it was the home yard for 121 vessels, including U.S.S.
-_Cassin Young_, the destroyer now on exhibit at the yard. All types of
-ships, but especially destroyers, came for everything from minor repairs
-to overhauls on established cycles. The latter, which often involved
-some degree of modernization, could require 800 to 900 workers a day.
-After the war the yard preserved decommissioned vessels of the Atlantic
-Reserve Fleet berthed at the South Boston Annex. Charlestown also
-prepared ships for transfer to allies, outfitted vessels built
-elsewhere, and repaired equipment, especially sonar.
-
-    [Illustration: U.S.S. Wasp plaque]
-
-    [Illustration: _Charlestown was busy in 1960 with overhauls and
-    modernizations. In the foreground: aircraft carrier_ Wasp _(whose
-    crew presented the yard with the plaque shown above); floating dry
-    dock (in a yard dry dock); heavy cruiser_ Macon (_CA-132_).]
-
-To make up for the shortages, the yard began for the first time hiring
-significant numbers of women and African Americans. Their door of
-opportunity, unlocked by the needs of a war economy, was kept open by
-pressure from civil rights groups on the Roosevelt administration (often
-relayed by a sympathetic Eleanor Roosevelt). Women at the yard had
-traditionally worked in clerical positions and as phone operators, and
-this remained true at war's outset. But more and more women found work
-in the industrial shops, notably as welders and at the ropewalk (the
-latter having employed them during World War I). At least in some shops,
-however, there were restrictions. Gloria Brandenberg, who worked in the
-Paint Shop, recalled that all painter's helpers were female, supervised
-by a woman (the "leading lady"), while all painters were male.
-Brandenberg said there was no chance for advancement.
-
-By 1943 female blue-collar workers outnumbered women in clerical
-positions. Some 7,700 women were on the rolls in late 1944--far above
-their prewar level and about 19 percent of the workforce. Many worked as
-welders on ships under construction, but yard officials wary of contact
-between female workers and male crews barred women from all vessels in
-for repair. Painter's helper Brandenberg recalled that the women were
-not allowed even to talk to sailors.
-
-While African Americans were not officially excluded from Charlestown's
-prewar workforce, few had been employed. When the war created
-opportunities for them, some whites openly resisted their presence in
-skilled positions. But this was not a universal attitude. Allan Crite, a
-black illustrator in the Design Department, said he experienced no
-racial problems. Inevitably, though, tensions arose in some areas.
-Gloria Brandenberg recalled an evening at a social club with her
-coworkers from the Paint Shop, one of whom was African American. She was
-asked to leave. The group talked it over; they all left. But the records
-show no major racial conflict at the yard. At war's end more than 2,300
-African Americans were in the force of 32,000 workers.
-
-By late 1942, the yard had settled into a wartime routine--to the extent
-that routine is possible during war. Normal peacetime constraints didn't
-apply. "During the war there wasn't much emphasis on estimates,"
-recalled plumber Lyman Carlow. "For one thing, there wasn't time. Here's
-the job; we need the ship right away; get it done and whatever it costs
-it costs ... it was just a real frantic pace ... the material just
-flowed in ... plenty of people, so we could really get the work done."
-
-More than the higher level of general activity and the large numbers of
-workers (around 36,000 at this point), it was the volume of new
-construction that characterized the wartime yard. A walk around the yard
-on November 23 would have revealed ships being built in every facility
-but Dry Dock 2, used only for repairs.
-
-Workers generally laid down and launched large vessels in pairs. But
-while floating two at a time out of a dry dock was standard practice, it
-was never approached casually. John Langan, a shipfitter during the war,
-recalled: "It was quite a feat, two destroyers right alongside each
-other, flooding the dock, and not having them crash."
-
-A new shipways built in early 1941 helped quicken the pace of
-production. In that year 10 destroyers were laid down, the most in any
-one year. By late 1941 the yard's workers had pushed the time for
-building a destroyer down to a little over a year and would cut it to
-three or four months from keel to launching by the end of the war.
-
-
-                         Women in the Workforce
-
-  "_We all felt that we were doing our job, and the harder we worked,
-  the faster we would get the ships out and the faster it would get
-  over. Deep down, everyone was very serious about it, because
-  ninety-nine out of a hundred people had a husband or a brother or
-  somebody close to them that was overseas."_
-                   --_Gloria Brandenberg, WW II Charlestown yard worker_
-
-    [Illustration: _Welders at Charlestown during World War II._]
-
-As enlistments and competition from private industry depleted the pool
-of male workers during World War II, the Navy looked to the large
-numbers of women who wanted to do their part for the war effort. Women
-had long worked at the Charlestown yard, although almost exclusively
-(except during World War I) in clerical positions. But beginning in 1942
-the easing of state workweek restrictions for women hastened their
-recruitment into the yard's manufacturing and traditional shipyard
-shops. The intention was to have them replace men in relatively
-unskilled positions requiring little training. And in fact most women
-did work as helpers in their shops, often with little chance of
-advancement. But some moved into the trades as machinists, riveters,
-painters, riggers, pipefitters, and especially as welders and ropewalk
-workers. At the same time women still occupied more than half of the
-yard's clerical positions. Altogether, they made up about one-fifth of
-the yard workforce by 1945. Those in the trades knew their jobs would
-likely end when the war did, but the point had been made. In 1945, a
-yard historian wrote: "Experience over the past two years has proven
-that female employees are able to work efficiently on an equal basis
-with men on many jobs that were formerly considered to be men's jobs."
-
-    [Illustration: _Welders at Charlestown during World War II._]
-
-    [Illustration: _The yard's clerical workers enlisted as Yeomen-F
-    (female) at the outbreak of World War I. Women also worked as radio
-    operators and at the ropewalk._]
-
-    [Illustration: _Many responded to posters urging women to fill an
-    industrial job and "free a man to fight."_]
-
-The new shipways was also used to build destroyer escorts
-(DEs)--smaller, slower, and less expensive versions of destroyers
-designed for escort duty and antisubmarine warfare. Escorted convoys had
-proven to be the only effective way to thwart U-boat "wolf packs"
-preying on allied shipping. In 1942, after the Navy ordered the first of
-more than a thousand DEs, Charlestown built a new dry dock in which it
-could turn out four at a time. The next year 50 DEs were laid down at
-the yard, half of which were destined for Britain in accordance with the
-Lend-Lease Act of 1941. Charlestown got the production of DEs down to an
-art: of the 62 it built, workers launched an impressive 46 in the first
-eleven months of 1943.
-
-If 1941 was the year of the destroyer at the yard and 1943 belonged to
-the DE, 1944 was the year of the LST (Landing Ship, Tank). These
-seagoing assault vessels carried tanks and other vehicles during
-amphibious landings. The yard laid down 30 in 1944, taking only a month
-to complete one of the 328-foot vessels.
-
-In all, Charlestown built 174 large vessels during the war, including 12
-barracks ships and four submarines. There were also hundreds of smaller
-craft, such as wooden motor launches and diver boats. The South Boston
-Annex played a part in the yard's strong wartime performance, doing much
-of the repair and conversion work and fabricating hull sections that
-were towed to Charlestown for incorporation into ships under
-construction.
-
-Not all vessels were built outside: in the summer of 1942, shipfitters
-fabricated in their shop 150 fifty-foot LCMs (Landing Craft,
-Mechanized)--also called "tank lighters"--for the British-American
-invasion of North Africa. Shipfitter John Langan remembered it as a
-"crash program.... We just stopped everything else and concentrated on
-them and delivered them for the invasion."
-
-While this kind of rapid, assembly-line construction was Charlestown's
-specialty during the war, there were other claims on the yard's time. By
-late 1942 war's reality was being brought home to Charlestown in the
-shape of battle-scarred ships needing quick repair. When a damaged ship
-arrived, it was given priority until it was ready to return to combat.
-
-There was another reason for the air of urgency around war repairs: ship
-repair generally called for more skill than did shipbuilding. Because
-workers often had to work blind on battle damage until its nature and
-extent could be determined, such work called on all the workers'
-resourcefulness. John Langan remembered "everybody fighting to get them
-[war-damaged vessels], because it is good work." Langan recalled one
-vessel towed into the yard: it had been "torpedoed and cut right in
-halves ... and the fireroom was open to the seas ... [They had] tied her
-down with big I-beams ... tied them the full length, all the way
-around"--to keep the ship afloat until it reached the yard.
-
-Even without the shell-torn hulls and shredded superstructures, war is
-hard on ships. Pushed faster, farther, and longer under less than ideal
-conditions, they needed more than routine maintenance. And on top of the
-already demanding schedule of ship construction, repair, and
-maintenance, other tasks competed for time and resources. Yard workers
-outfitted naval vessels built at other yards. They converted private
-vessels and old naval ships to wartime uses. They manufactured turbines
-and thousands of tons of die-lock chain (_see pages 60-61_). They
-"degaussed" hulls--neutralized their magnetic fields so they would not
-trip mines. Together these activities suggest the scope and grueling
-pace of the yard's war effort.
-
-In such an atmosphere, mishaps caused by fallible humans dealing with
-complex machinery were inevitable. One particularly embarrassing, and
-nearly tragic, incident was related by electrical shop foreman Mel
-Hooper. His men were completing electrical work on the new submarine
-_Lancefish_ (built at another yard) in 1945. "Some machinist went down,"
-he recalled, "and opened up the front gate on the torpedo tube and
-forgot to close it; then he went back in the ship and opened up the
-inside one and then it started to flood. And they had a hell of a job
-trying to close it, and they couldn't close it, and everybody ran aboard
-the dock to get the hell out of there before they got drowned. And then
-the ship sank."
-
-The stepped-up safety program was almost certainly an improvement on the
-pre-war conditions, when, as remembered by plumber Lyman Carlow, "It
-seemed to me that everyone was supposed to look after himself." But
-while the program called for more protections for workers from open
-machinery, hazardous fumes, and other dangerous conditions, a survey in
-1944 noted that workers were rarely disciplined for safety violations,
-machines lacked guards, and most workers did not wear their hard hats,
-goggles, or ear protection. "You [went] down to the tanks with the
-chipping hammers and riveting guns going all around," recalled Carlow,
-"and you wouldn't be able to hear for a couple of hours afterward. But
-nobody did anything about it, or thought anything of it. You just got
-deaf, and that was it."
-
-A shipyard was a dangerous place to work even in peacetime; war
-multiplied the hazards. Charles Snell, an apprentice rigger at the yard,
-recalled 40 years later, "We had a lot of close escapes, because safety
-wasn't really stressed then as much as it is today ... we lost a lot of
-riggers, strangely enough, and I can never account for this, being run
-over by the cranes ... the operator of the crane, when it was traveling,
-had very limited visibility close ahead. And we lost an inordinate
-number of riggers because they'd stumble and the crane would run over
-them.... We had quite a few falls into the dry dock, not riggers, but
-all trades."
-
-Snell left the yard in 1943 and served in Europe for the duration of the
-war. He recalled his impressions upon returning in 1946, comparing the
-yard to "a runner, which was running for an objective, and all of a
-sudden, the objective wasn't there. The need for everything had suddenly
-evaporated. And it was a question of what do you finish and what don't
-you finish, and what's important."
-
-With peace came the end of Charlestown's brief period as a major
-shipbuilding center. But the war-seasoned yard did not simply revert to
-what it had been before. Charlestown found a new postwar role as a place
-where old vessels were remade from the inside out, transformed into
-modern warships. Old did not necessarily mean long in years. In the
-1950s, ships that had performed admirably in the late war were being
-left behind in a world of accelerating technological change. Charlestown
-extended their careers, installing state-of-the-art electronics. When
-advances in missile technology opened a new era in naval weapons and
-strategy, Charlestown played a leading role in the changeover. The life
-of the crowded and aging yard itself was extended by such activities,
-enabling Charlestown to render another three decades of service to the
-country.
-
-In the months after war's end, the level of activity naturally fell off,
-but the yard remained busy converting transports to bring home the
-troops, inactivating ships, and completing the last few LSTs, barracks
-ships, and subs laid down in 1945. Charlestown also carved a niche for
-itself in sonar, a technology dating to the World War I period and
-considered standard equipment since the 1930s. Beginning in 1948 the
-yard became a center for the repair of sonar equipment, establishing a
-sonar laboratory and developing techniques adopted by other electronics
-repair centers throughout the Navy.
-
-Radar, developed in the 1930s, had come into widespread use during the
-war. The yard undertook a major conversion program in 1950 when it began
-upgrading radar and sonar systems on a number of destroyers and
-destroyer escorts, converting them to radar picket and antisubmarine
-warfare (ASW) roles. Charlestown also planned and designed all
-alterations, wherever they were performed, to cruisers, destroyers,
-escort carriers, LSTs, and several auxiliary vessel types.
-
-While the yard accepted a variety of vessels, including aircraft
-carriers, it continued its traditional specialization in destroyers and
-destroyer escorts. In 1955 the yard converted the 10-year-old _Gyatt_
-into the world's first guided missile destroyer.
-
-That year the yard laid down the keel of its only postwar vessel and the
-last one it built: the LST _Suffolk County_, first of a larger and
-faster class of LSTs. Charlestown also served as the design yard for the
-other six LSTs, built in private yards.
-
-In the 1960s the yard stayed busy with outfittings, missile and ASW
-conversions, and Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhauls
-that added five to seven years of service to aging warships.
-Charlestown's FRAM program specialized in World War II-era destroyers.
-Ranging from brief dockings to major operations of a year or more
-costing millions, these projects involved such sophisticated work as
-installing or upgrading sonar (_see pages 76-77_), radar,
-communications, and computer equipment; major alterations such as
-replacing engines and entire superstructures; and the more prosaic tasks
-the yard had been performing for over a century: cleaning and painting
-hulls, renovating propellers and rudders, and rebricking or replacing
-boilers.
-
-Nevertheless, by 1972 work was falling off at Charlestown, and signs did
-not bode well for the yard's future. For years the Navy had invested
-little there for maintenance or modernization, making it harder to stay
-efficient. The marine railway and ropewalk had been shut down in 1971.
-Elsewhere, superfluous or inefficient military bases were being closed
-to save money. (The New York Navy Yard was closed in 1966.) A massive
-infusion of funds was needed to upgrade the old Charlestown yard--too
-small in any case for proper expansion of its facilities.
-
-The Navy in general was retrenching for economic reasons. The destroyer
-fleet, especially--the lifeblood of the yard in the 20th century--had
-steadily dwindled since 1960. The fewer destroyers there were to
-service, the harder it was to justify the Charlestown yard's existence.
-The failure of the Navy to carry through modernization plans, including
-one whereby the majority of the yard's industrial activity would be
-transferred to an enhanced South Boston facility, helped to hasten the
-inevitable. Many associated with the yard also suspected that
-Massachusetts, as the only state going Democratic in the 1972
-presidential election, would pay a penalty for failing to back the
-winner.
-
-On April 16, 1973, the yard commander, Captain R. L. Arthur, announced
-that the Charlestown yard, along with the yard at Hunter's Point in San
-Francisco, was to close. Over the next year it ceased all fleet
-servicing and manufacturing operations, and on July 1, 1974, nearly 175
-years of service to the nation ended with a formal disestablishment
-ceremony. Only one naval activity remained at Charlestown: the
-protection and maintenance of the old warship long associated with the
-yard, U.S.S. _Constitution_.
-
-    [Illustration: _The launching of a ship celebrates the time, energy,
-    and skill spent in its making. Here U.S.S._ Guest, _one of 24
-    destroyers built at Charlestown during World War II, slips into
-    Boston Harbor in 1942. The big_ Fletcher-_class destroyer took only
-    five months to build_.]
-
-    [Illustration: _A destroyer is traditionally named for a
-    distinguished naval figure, and if possible the closest female
-    relative sponsors the namesake ship. In a centuries-old ritual,
-    DD-461's sponsor Eileen Fairfax Thomson breaks a bottle of champagne
-    against the ship's bow in 1941, sending it down the ways with the
-    words, "I christen thee_ Forrest, _and may God bless all who sail in
-    her." Captain French Forrest commanded the Charlestown-built_
-    Cumberland _in the Mexican War. Siding with the Confederates during
-    the Civil War, he oversaw conversion of the burned U.S.S._ Merrimack
-    _into the ironclad C.S.S._ Virginia--_destroyer of_ Cumberland (see
-    pages 28-29).]
-
-
-                         Ships for World War II
-
-From 1933 to the end of World War II, the Charlestown yard moved outside
-its traditional role as repair yard and became a shipbuilding facility.
-It began with destroyers--ships it had long specialized in
-repairing--averaging two a year in the 1930s. This period of steady
-production was preamble to the World War II crash building program.
-Charlestown launched almost 200 vessels, including 24 destroyers,
-between 1939 and 1945. In 1942 it began building destroyer
-escorts--smaller, less expensive versions of destroyers designed to
-counter German submarines. The final big program was the production of
-LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank) for amphibious assaults in Europe and Asia.
-LSDs (Landing Ship, Dock) for carrying other vessels; submarines; and
-various auxiliary vessels also came down the ways during the war. These
-programs spurred major changes at the yard. Greater specialization, for
-instance, broke up traditional shops. The biggest change was in
-construction methods, most notably prefabrication. Several bow and stern
-sections, each with its own keel, were built separately--many in the
-Shipfitters Shop, but also "in playgrounds and schoolyards and parts of
-the yard, and all around greater Boston," remembered Rigger Charles
-Snell. These were then joined to the midship hull section rising on the
-shipways. "Economy was not the name of the game," recalled Snell. "The
-name of the game was time."
-
-    [Illustration: _Hulls were launched from shipways or dry docks, then
-    moored alongside piers for completion. Here, yard workers, who
-    labored round the clock during the war, outfit a_ Fletcher-_class
-    destroyer as night falls. At top, a five-inch gun is lowered by a
-    mobile crane._]
-
-    [Illustration: Destroyer (36 built)
-
-A fast, versatile, relatively small ship, it was equipped for
-anti-submarine warfare, escort duty, scouting, antiaircraft warfare,
-torpedo or gun surface engagement, and shore bombardment.]
-
-    [Illustration: LST (Landing Ship, Tank; 44 built)
-
-This craft carried tanks and other vehicles for amphibious landings. The
-water ballast system allowed it to vary its draft: deep for stable ocean
-travel and shallow for moving in close to shore.]
-
-    [Illustration: Destroyer Escort (62 built)
-
-This smaller, more quickly built version of the destroyer was designed
-to protect allied shipping convoys from German U-boats, freeing
-destroyers for other duties.]
-
-
-                       New Careers for Old Ships
-
-During the long era of wooden sailing ships, when naval technology
-changed only gradually over the decades, a warship's service lasted as
-long as the materials from which it was built. But as the pace of change
-quickened in the mid-19th century with the advent of steam propulsion
-and iron hulls, a vessel quickly grew obsolete without continual
-incorporation of the latest technology. This state of affairs, which
-intensified in the 20th century, provided Charlestown Navy Yard with a
-new role after World War II: lengthening or transforming the careers of
-old ships, otherwise destined for mothballs, through modernization and
-conversion. Modernization meant updating old electrical, propulsion, or
-weapons systems or performing structural surgery without altering the
-vessel's function. This ranged from installing a sonar dome on the
-bottom of the hull to dismantling the entire superstructure and building
-a new one. The process normally took several months. Conversion, which
-could take years, involved major alteration of a vessel to prepare it
-for a different tactical mission. A typical example would be the
-conversion of a conventional scouting, escorting, and submarine-fighting
-destroyer to a radar picket destroyer, whose role was to provide
-mid-ocean radar warning. A notable postwar task undertaken by the yard
-was the 1956 conversion of the destroyer _Gyatt_ into the world's first
-guided missile destroyer. Basically, the vessel's aft five-inch guns
-were replaced with a twin missile launcher. But the ship had to be
-significantly altered to perform its new function. The yard designed
-automated systems that first affixed a booster charge to the missile and
-then moved it from the air-conditioned belowdecks magazine to the
-launcher. The decks and superstructure had to be reinforced to withstand
-the tremendous pressure and temperature of a launch. A system of ducts
-and blowout plates was installed to minimize damage and injury in the
-event of a premature explosion. Innovative retractable fins at midships
-helped stabilize the vessel for firing. With these and other changes,
-the yard remade _Gyatt_ into a sophisticated missile-firing machine.
-
-    [Illustration: _In the late 1950s the Navy began installing sonar
-    equipment in bow domes. Bow domes reduced hull resistance and were
-    less susceptible to bubble noise. The Charlestown yard, already a
-    leader in sonar technology, performed a prototype dome installation
-    in 1958. To install a dome, workers first cut away part of the old
-    bow, then fitted the prefabricated dome_ (next page, on U.S.S.
-    _Willis A. Lee_ in 1961).]
-
-    [Illustration: _Sonar works actively and passively. In active sonar,
-    the transducer in the dome transmits sound pulses through the water.
-    When the pulses reach an object (or the bottom), they are reflected
-    and received by the transducer as echoes. Distance is determined by
-    time elapsed between transmission and echo. In passive sonar,
-    hydrophones pick up noises generated by underwater sources._]
-
-    [Illustration: Installing a sonar dome]
-
-
-
-
-                Part 2    Visiting Charlestown Navy Yard
-
-
-    [Illustration: _U.S.S._ Cassin Young _at Pier 1_.]
-
-
-                             The Yard Today
-
-The yard offers the visitor a captivating glimpse into the activities
-that for nearly two centuries supported the United States Navy. Here on
-the home front, thousands of civilian workers and navy personnel built,
-repaired, and supplied warships from the majestic sailing vessels of the
-early 19th century to the powerful steel navy of the 20th century. In
-1974, the year of its closing, 30 acres of the historic yard were set
-aside for the National Park Service as a living museum of the Navy's
-activities here. The remaining 100 acres continue to be developed as
-part of the revitalization of Boston's waterfront.
-
-Nineteenth-century buildings, docks, and piers reflect the yard's
-174-year history. The commandant's 1805 hilltop mansion overlooked the
-activities below. Within view are Dry Dock 1, used by U.S.S.
-_Constitution_ as early as 1833 and as late as 1995, the 1842 Carpenter
-Shop, the 1852 Pitch House (Building 10) for caulking wooden vessels,
-the 1833 Officers' Quarters, the 1813 Navy Stores (Building 5), and the
-1811 Marine Barracks.
-
-Two venerable warships, the 1797 frigate U.S.S. _Constitution_ and the
-powerful 1943 destroyer, U.S.S. _Cassin Young_, float alongside the
-working piers, illustrating the changing United States Navy. Both the
-_Constitution_, an active duty Navy warship, and _Cassin Young_,
-maintained by National Park Service rangers and volunteers, offer free
-tours daily.
-
-    [Illustration: Tours of the yard]
-
-A National Park Service exhibit, "Serving the Fleet," and tours of the
-yard (_above_) provide visitors with opportunities to explore the
-history of the site. The USS Constitution Museum offers a rich
-collection of artifacts, paintings, and models relating to the history
-of "Old Ironsides." The museum, located inside the Dry Dock 1 Pumphouse,
-is open daily to visitors.
-
-    [Illustration: Key to map]
-
-
-  Historic structure
-  Historic building name
-  Historic building letter or number
-  Non-historic structure
-  Freedom Trail (route subject to change)
-  National Park Service boundary
-  Public open space
-  Parking
-
-
-                 [Illustration: CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD]
-
-Charlestown Navy Yard's buildings reflect the range of architectural
-styles employed over its long history. These structures served a variety
-of functions within the working yard, which was home to naval officers
-and their families as well as an industrial work place.
-
-Beginning in 1853, the civilian shipyard workers living in surrounding
-communities, primarily Charlestown, assembled each morning to the
-ringing of the bell atop the octagonal Muster House. For most of the
-19th century, the workers mustered there three times daily, in the
-morning at sunrise, at lunch, and once more in the evening before
-retiring to their homes at sunset.
-
-    [Illustration: Muster House]
-
-Directing the activities was the shipyard commandant, who lived with his
-family and personal staff in the impressive mansion constructed in 1805.
-Built on the yard's high ground, the Commandant's House provided a
-bird's-eye view of the construction and repair activities going on
-below.
-
-    [Illustration: Commandant's House]
-
-Today the house is open to the public for special tours, and numerous
-activities, such as historical military encampments, take place on the
-expansive lawn through the summer months.
-
-    [Illustration: Historical military encampments]
-
-    [Illustration: The Chain Forge houses the massive hammers once used
-    to forge die-lock chain, a unique process developed here in 1926.]
-
-    [Illustration: The country's only remaining full-length ropewalk was
-    for more than 130 years the sole facility in the Navy manufacturing
-    rope for U.S. warships. Both buildings (not open to the public)
-    await restoration and preservation work as part of the National Park
-    Service's ongoing efforts to preserve the significant industrial
-    heritage of the Charlestown Navy Yard.]
-
-
-                        The Ships at Charlestown
-
-The Navy's oldest commissioned warship, United States Ship
-_Constitution_ and the Charlestown Navy Yard share a long history.
-Constructed in Boston between 1794 and 1797, "Old Ironsides" was
-repaired and supplied here many times during its active career. U.S.S.
-_Constitution_ was permanently berthed in Charlestown in 1897 and has
-since been open to the public for tours. Like all wooden vessels,
-_Constitution_ needs constant attention. In the 1920s, a major overhaul
-was capped with a nationwide tour. Between 1992 and 1995, _Constitution_
-underwent the most significant restoration to date in the yard's Dry
-Dock 1. Newly discovered drawings and descriptions were used to help
-skilled naval shipwrights restore the vessel to its original appearance.
-
-    [Illustration: _Constitution_ settles on dry dock blocks in
-    preparation for its 1990s restoration.]
-
-    [Illustration: A view off the bow of the venerable warship.]
-
-    [Illustration: Caulkers use traditional caulking hammers to seal the
-    gun decks.]
-
-The World War II destroyer U.S.S. _Cassin Young_ (DD-793) reflects a
-very different kind of sea power than does _Constitution_. Yet both
-warships, constructed 150 years apart, served much the same purpose.
-Like frigates, destroyers (known as the workhorses of the modern navy)
-are smaller and less powerful than the heaviest warships, but they are
-fast and remarkably versatile. Boasting five 5-inch guns and made of
-steel, _Cassin Young_ was built on the West Coast in 1943 and took part
-in major Pacific engagements, including the Saipan landing and the
-Battle of Leyte Gulf, where its crew rescued over 100 sailors from the
-attack on U.S.S. _Princeton_.
-
-    [Illustration: Free tours let visitors see where the "tin can
-    sailors" lived during their long months at sea.]
-
-    [Illustration: Aboard _Cassin Young_, "Rosie the Riveter" programs
-    introduce visitors to the work and lives of the women who wielded
-    rivet guns and welding rods during World War II.]
-
-    [Illustration: _Cassin Young's_ bow offers views of the historic
-    yard and harbor.]
-
-
-                              The Exhibits
-
-Today, exhibits and educational activities help bring alive the navy
-yard and Boston's maritime history. At the USS Constitution Museum,
-located in the historic Dry Dock 1 Pumphouse and adjacent buildings,
-hands-on activities help visitors to appreciate the skills of a
-19th-century seaman and get a sense of his life aboard a sailing
-warship. Load and fire a replica cannon, try out a sailor's sleeping
-quarters, take a turn at the great wheel of a square-rigger, or command
-U.S.S. _Constitution_ in battle on a computer screen.
-
-The museum houses the frigate's logs, weapons, documents, charts,
-journals, decorative arts, and other items illustrating the epic role of
-"Old Ironsides" in U.S. history. Skilled craftsmen demonstrate ship
-model building, while films and special programs provide greater insight
-into the ship's story. A museum store offers other items relating to
-_Constitution's_ history and to the nation's maritime heritage.
-
-    [Illustration: USS Constitution Museum]
-
-    [Illustration: USS Constitution Museum]
-
-    [Illustration: A permanent exhibit, "Serving the Fleet," which
-    focuses on the history of the navy yard, is open to the public on a
-    seasonal basis in the navy yard's Paint Shop (Building 125).]
-
-
-                                 Index
-
-
-   _Numbers in italics refer to photographs, illustrations, or maps._
-
-
-                                   A
-  "ABCD ships" 50, 54
-  Aircraft carrier 51, 60, _66_, 72
-
-
-                                    B
-  Bainbridge, William 11, _12_, 13, 15, 17
-  Barbary States 9, 14, 15-16
-  Battleship 11, 47, 49, 51, 57
-  Brig-of-war _14_
-  British Navy 11, 13, 15, 16
-  Burroughs, George W. _46_
-
-
-                                    C
-  Chain 50, _60-61_, 70, _83_
-  Charlestown Navy Yard: annexes 64;
-      and Boston Harbor _4-5_, 13, 15, 16, _64_;
-      and NPS _78-79_, 80-86;
-      Civil War _28-29_, 29-31, 34, 36-37;
-      founding 16;
-      improvements 17, 34, 46-47;
-      map _64_, _81_;
-      mission 16, 45, 47, 50, 63;
-      post-Civil War 37, 39;
-      post-WW I 57;
-      post-WW II 71-72, _76-77_;
-      Spanish-American War 46, 49, 51;
-      South Boston Annex 57, 65, 70;
-      view _back cover_;
-      War of 1812 11-15, 16;
-      WW I 46-49, 57;
-      WW II 62, 63-71, 73, _74-75_
-  Coaling plant 47
-  C.S.S. (Confederate States Ship): _Virginia_ _28_, 29-31, 34, 36,
-          _43_, 73
-  Conversion, ship 72, _76-77_
-  Cruiser 47, 50, 51, _66_
-
-
-                                    D
-  Dahlgren, John 36
-  Daniels, Josephus 49
-  Decatur, Stephen 15
-  Destroyer escort 70, 72, 75
-  Destroyer 47, 51, 57, 63, 65, 67, 72, _73_, _74-75_
-  Dry dock: #1 4, 17, _23_, 34, 39, _40-41_, 45, 50, _56_, 63, 64;
-      #2 47, 51, 57, 63, 64, 65, 67
-
-
-                                    E
-  Ericsson, John 36
-
-
-                                    F
-  Farragut, David G. 34
-  Five-Power Treaty 57
-  FRAM (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization) 72
-  Frigate _14_, 16, 17, _26-27_. See also U.S.S. ship names
-  Fuel 31, 37, 47, 51, 54, 57, 64
-
-
-                                    H
-  Hartt, Edmund 13
-  Hartt, Edward 13
-  H.M.S. (His Majesty's Ship): _Dreadnought_ 51, 54;
-      _Java_ 11
-  Hull, Isaac 15, 18
-  Hull: iron 37, 39;
-      steel 37, 49-54, _58-59_;
-      wooden _24-25_, 34, 37, 39, 49
-
-
-                                    I
-  Ironclad _28-29_, 30-31, 34, 36, _42-43_
-
-
-                                    L
-  Launching 13, 15, 18, _32-33_, 63, 67, _73_
-  LCM (Landing Craft Mechanized) 70
-  LST (Landing Ship Tank) 64, 70, 71, 72, _75_;
-      _Suffolk County_ 72
-
-
-                                    M
-  Machinery 34, _52-53_, _54_
-  Machine shop _30_, 34, _52-53_
-  Mahan, Alfred Thayer 50
-  Manufacturing 39, 45, 50, 51, _60-61_
-  Marine railway 57, 64-65, 72
-  Monitor 36, _42-43_, 46
-  "Mosquito fleet" 51
-
-
-                                    O
-  "ordinary [in ...]" 2, _4_, 17-18
-
-
-                                    P
-  Propeller 31, 34, _35_, _37_
-
-
-                                    R
-  Radar 72, 77
-  Railway, yard 47
-  Receiving ship 2, _4_, 14, 37
-  Repair, ship 16, _23_, 39, 50, 51, 57, 63, _66_, 70
-  Roosevelt, Franklin D. 55, 57, 64, 67
-  Roosevelt, Theodore 46, 50
-  Ropewalk 17, _20-21_, 45, 49, 50, 67, 69, 72, _83_
-
-
-                                    S
-  Sail power 17, 18, _19_, _26-27_, 31, 34, 37, 50, 54
-  Shipbuilding _24-25_, 36, 54, _58-59_, 63
-  Shipbuilding ways _24-25_, 39, 46, _56_, 57, _58-59_, 64, 67
-  Shiphouse 13, 18, _32-33_, 39, 45, 46, _back cover_
-  Ship-of-the-line 11, _14_, 16-17, 18, 34. See also U.S.S. ship
-          names
-  Shipyards, naval _8-9_
-  Sidewheeler 17, 31, 34, _35_
-  Sloop-of-war _14_, 16, _23_, _28_, 29, 34. See also U.S.S. ship
-          names
-  Sonar 71-72, _76-77_
-  Steam propulsion 17, 31, 34, _35_, 37
-  Stoddert, Benjamin 16
-  Submarine 47, 51, 70, 71, 74
-
-
-                                    T
-  Tar house 17, 20
-  Taylor, Frederick W. 55
-  Taylorism 55, 57
-  Technology, naval 31, 34, 37, 51, 54, 63, 72, _76-77_
-  Torpedo 51
-  Trade shops 17, _30_, 34, 47, 49, 50
-
-
-                                    U
-  U.S. Marines 13, _38_
-  U.S. Navy 15-16, 18, 22, 31, 34, 36, 37, 39, 55;
-      policy 16, 37, 49-50, 65, 72
-  U.S.S. (United States Ship): _Adams_ 39;
-      _Atlanta_ 50;
-      _Boston_ 50;
-      _Brazos_ 47, 57;
-      _Bridge_ 57;
-      _Cassin Young_ 66, _85_;
-      _Chesapeake_ 12, 13;
-      _Chicago_ 50;
-      _Congress_ 30-31, 34;
-      _Constellation_ 16;
-      _Constitution_ _6-7_, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, _26-27_, 72,
-          _84_;
-      _Cumberland_ 16, 18, _28_, 29-31, 34, 73;
-      _Dolphin_ 50;
-      _Forrest_ _73_;
-      _Fulton II_ 17;
-      _Guest_ _73_;
-      _Gyatt_ 72, 77;
-      _Hartford_ 31, 34, 39;
-      _Independence_ _10_, 12, 13, _14_, 15, 17, 18, 37;
-      _Intrepid_ 39;
-      _MacDonough_ 63, 64;
-      _Macon_ _66_;
-      _Maine_ _44_, 46;
-      _Merrimack_ 29-31, _32-33_, _35_, 59, 73 (See also C.S.S.
-          _Virginia_);
-      _Monadnock_ 36, _42-43_;
-      _Monaghan_ 63;
-      _Monitor_ 36, 42, _43_;
-      _New Hampshire_ 18;
-      _New Ironsides_ 36;
-      _Pentucket_ 54;
-      _Princeton_ 31, 34, 35;
-      _Talapoosa_ 45;
-      _United States_ 16;
-      _Vandalia_ 39, 63;
-      _Vermont_ 17, 18;
-      _Virginia_ 17, 18, 45, 46;
-      _Wasp_ _66_;
-      _Whitney_ _54_, _56_, 57
-
-
-                                    V
-  Von Meyer, George 65
-
-
-                                    W
-  Workforce: African Americans 67;
-      management 55, 57;
-      size 18, 25, 46, 51, 57, 64, 65, 67;
-      skills 18, 34, 36, 39, 47, 58;
-      women 47, _48_, 67, _68-69_;
-      work conditions 18, 22, 37, 65, 67, 71;
-      workers _19-21_, _23_, _38_, _46_, _48_, _52-53_, _54_, _56_,
-          _60-61_, _62-63_, _77_
-
-
-
-
-                         National Park Service
-
-
-The National Park Service is indebted to all those persons who made the
-production of this book possible. The text greatly benefited from
-suggestions by naval architect and historian John G. Arrison and
-historian Frederick R. Black. The primary source for the yard history
-was the National Park Service report, _The Charlestown Navy Yard
-1800-1973_ (_1800-1842_ by Edwin C. Bearss; _1842-1890_ by Edwin C.
-Bearss and Frederick R. Black; _1890-1973_ by Frederick R. Black). Other
-important sources were Kenneth J. Hagan's _This People's Navy: The
-Making of American Sea Power_, 1991; Howard I. Chapelle's _The History
-of the American Sailing Navy_, 1949; and Donald L. Canney's _The Old
-Steam Navy_, 1990. The handbook was produced by the staff of the
-Division of Publications, National Park Service: Susan Barkus, designer;
-William Gordon, editor; Nancy Morbeck Haack, cartographer, assisted by
-the staff of Boston National Historical Park.
-
-
-  _All photos not credited are from the files of Boston National
-          Historical Park._
-  Mary Altier 84 (bottom left)
-  John Batchelor 24-25, 26-27, 40-41, 42-43, 58-59, 60, 74-75
-  _Battles and Leaders of the Civil War_ 43 (top)
-  Boston Athenaeum 4-5, 30, 32-33
-  The Bostonian Society/Old State House 10-11, 46
-  George Eastman House 23
-  Louis Glanzman 19
-  Greg Harlin 21 (right)
-  James Higgins 66 (top), 78-79, 82-83, 84 (bottom right), 85, 86 (top,
-          bottom)
-  _The Kedge-Anchor_, by William N. Brady 14 (bottom)
-  Mariner's Museum back cover
-  James McFalls cover, 2-3
-  National Archives 14 (top; painting by Rear Admiral J.W. Schmidt), 35
-          (top), 69 (bottom)
-  Jack Pare 84 (top)
-  The Paul Revere Life Insurance Co. 6-7 (painting by A. Lassell Ripley)
-  Robert Tope 8-9
-  U.S. Marine Corps Museum 28-29
-  U.S. Naval Academy 44-45 (painting by Frank Christian Muller)
-  USS Constitution Museum 86 (center; photo by Jerry Margolycz)
-
-
-
-
-                    U.S. Department of the Interior
-
-
-As the nation's principal conservation agency, the department of the
-Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally-owned public
-lands and natural resources. This includes fostering the wisest use of
-our land and water resources, protecting our fish and wildlife,
-preserving the environmental and cultural values of our national parks
-and historical places, and providing for the enjoyment of life through
-outdoor recreation. The Department assesses our energy and mineral
-resources to ensure that their development is in the best interest of
-all our people. The Department also has a major responsibility for
-American Indian reservation communities and for people who live in
-island territories under U.S. administration.
-
-National Park Handbooks are published to promote understanding and
-enjoyment of more than 360 National Park System sites representing our
-natural and cultural heritage. The handbooks are sold at parks and can
-be purchased by mail from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
-Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.
-
-
-  _Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data_
-  Charlestown Navy Yard: Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts.
-  p. cm.--(Official National Park handbook; 152)
-  Includes index.
-  Supt. of Docs. no.: I29.9/5:152
-  ISBN 0-912627-60-3
-  1. Boston Naval Shipyard (Boston, Mass.)--History.
-  2. Charlestown Navy Yard (Mass.)--History. I. United States. National
-          Park Service. Division of Publications. II. Series: Handbook
-          (United States. National Park Service. Division of
-          Publications); 152.
-  VA70.B68C48 1995
-  359.7'09744'61--dc20 95-12868 CIP
-
-
-    [Illustration: _1840 view of Charlestown Navy Yard by George Curtis
-    depicts the shiphouses that covered four of the yard's shipbuilding
-    ways during the 19th century._]
-
-_For 174 years, the U.S. Naval Shipyard at Boston, now called
-Charlestown Navy Yard, played a significant role in the creation and
-growth of the U.S. Navy. By the time it closed in 1974, it had built
-more than 200 warships and repaired thousands. Historic black and white
-photographs, color photos and illustrations, and detailed diagrams tell
-the story of evolving technology and naval policy and how they affected
-the fortunes of the yard and its workers._
-
-
-
-
-                          Transcriber's Notes
-
-
---Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
-  is public-domain in the country of publication.
-
---Relocated all image captions to be immediately under the corresponding
-  images, removing redundant references like "preceding page".
-
---Silently corrected a few palpable typos.
-
---In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
-  _underscores_.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-End of Project Gutenberg's Charlestown Navy Yard, by National Park Service
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD ***
-
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-<pre>
-
-Project Gutenberg's Charlestown Navy Yard, by National Park Service
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Charlestown Navy Yard
-       Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts
-
-Author: National Park Service
-
-Release Date: June 30, 2017 [EBook #55010]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, MFR and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
-
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-</pre>
-
-<div id="cover" class="img">
-<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts" width="500" height="710" />
-</div>
-<div class="box">
-<h1>Charlestown Navy Yard</h1>
-<p class="tbcenter"><span class="ss">Boston National Historical Park
-<br />Massachusetts</span></p>
-<p class="center"><span class="ss">Produced by the
-<br />Division of Publications
-<br />National Park Service</span></p>
-<p class="center"><span class="ss">U.S. Department of the Interior
-<br />Washington, DC</span></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_2">2</div>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/i02.jpg" alt="U.S.S. Constitution in Boston Harbor" width="1000" height="743" />
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_3">3</div>
-<h2 class="center">Contents</h2>
-<dl class="toc">
-<dt><a href="#c1"><span class="cn">Part 1 </span>The Making of a Navy</a> 6</dt>
-<dd><a href="#c2">Prologue</a> 9</dd>
-<dd><a href="#c3">Growth of the Yard</a> 11</dd>
-<dd><a href="#c4">The Coming of Iron and Steam</a> 29</dd>
-<dd><a href="#c5">The New Navy</a> 45</dd>
-<dd><a href="#c6">The Yard Transformed</a> 63</dd>
-<dt><a href="#c7"><span class="cn">Part 2 </span>Visiting Charlestown Navy Yard</a> 78</dt>
-</dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_4">4</div>
-<p class="tb"><i><b>Deep within Boston Harbor, Charlestown Navy Yard
-was birthplace, repair center, outfitting base, and
-port of refuge for thousands of U.S. naval vessels. This is
-the story of the yard, the ships it served, and the people
-who kept them seaworthy.</b></i></p>
-<div class="img" id="fig1">
-<img src="images/i03.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="562" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Boston Harbor; about 1870. Visible in the
-foreground are Charlestown Navy Yard&rsquo;s timber dock</i> (left)
-<i>and dry dock</i> (center left, with docked vessel). <i>The ships
-anchored off the navy yard piers are</i> (left) <i>U.S.S.</i> Ohio, <i>the
-yard&rsquo;s receiving ship (for housing recruits and sailors transferring
-between vessels), and U.S.S.</i> Wabash <i>&ldquo;in ordinary&rdquo; (that
-is, out of commission and in storage).</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_6">6</div>
-<h2 id="c1"><span class="small">Part 1<span class="hst"> The Making of a Navy</span></span></h2>
-<div class="img" id="fig2">
-<img src="images/i04.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="717" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>In 1803, U.S.S.</i> Constitution <i>was careened at a
-Boston wharf for recoppering before sailing for the Mediterranean
-to confront the Barbary States.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_8">8</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig3">
-<img src="images/i05.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="746" />
-<p class="pcap"><span class="ss">U.S. Naval Shipyards</span></p>
-</div>
-<dl class="undent pcap"><dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Puget Sound</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">Washington 1891-present</span></dd>
-<dd>Rebuilt five battleships damaged during 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.</dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Mare Island</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">California 1853-1996</span></dd>
-<dd>Established for naval expansion into Pacific.</dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Hunter&rsquo;s Point</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">California 1939-1974</span></dd>
-<dd>Repaired 600 ships during WW II.</dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Long Beach</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">California 1935-50; 1951-98</span></dd>
-<dd>Reactivated for Korean War. In 1982, modernized battleship New Jersey for missiles.</dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Pearl Harbor</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">Hawaii 1900-present</span></dd>
-<dd>Serviced growing Pacific fleet after Spanish-American War. Damaged by Japanese air attack in 1941.</dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Mound City</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">Illinois 1862-74</span></dd>
-<dd>Repair facility for Union&rsquo;s Mississippi Squadron during Civil War.</dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Pensacola</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">Florida 1825-1911</span></dd>
-<dd>Burned by Confederates during Civil War. Has served as air training facility since yard closing.</dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Charleston</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">South Carolina 1901-96</span></dd>
-<dd>Specialized in the construction of destroyer escorts and LSTs in WW II.</dd>
-<dt>Strategically located Great Lakes shipyards built gunboats and sloops during the War of 1812.</dt>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Presque Isle</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">Pennsylvania 1812-25</span></dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Sackets Harbor</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">New York 1812-1870s</span></dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Washington</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">District of Columbia 1800-83</span></dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Brooklyn</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">New York 1800-1966</span></dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Portsmouth</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">New Hampshire 1800-present</span></dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Philadelphia</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">Pennsylvania 1801-1995</span></dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Charlestown</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">Massachusetts 1800-1974</span></dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">Norfolk</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">Virginia 1801-present</span></dd>
-<dd>Of the six original navy yards, only Norfolk and Portsmouth still service naval vessels.</dd>
-<dt><span class="ss"><span class="large">New London</span></span></dt>
-<dd><span class="ss">Connecticut 1868-83</span></dd>
-<dd>During WW I was developed as major submarine base.</dd></dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_9">9</div>
-<h3 id="c2">Prologue</h3>
-<p>The U.S. government established
-Charlestown Navy Yard as the newly-formed
-republic was meeting early challenges
-to its merchant shipping. In the
-decade after gaining independence, the
-young nation kept no standing navy. But
-continuing raids on U.S. commerce by
-Barbary pirates and French privateers in
-the 1790s spurred Congress to authorize
-the construction of new warships.</p>
-<p>Realizing that existing private shipyards
-were inadequate for the increasingly
-ambitious shipbuilding program,
-the Secretary of the Navy established
-in 1800-1801 six federal yards to build,
-outfit, repair, and supply naval vessels.
-These facilities at Portsmouth, N.H.;
-Boston; New York; Philadelphia;
-Washington, D.C.; and Norfolk, Va.,
-were the nucleus of the naval shipyard
-system. Except during the Civil War,
-they launched most of the Navy&rsquo;s vessels
-until the advent of steel hulls in the
-1880s, when private yards began building
-them in greater numbers.</p>
-<p>As with the first six, later naval shipyards
-were sometimes created to fill an
-immediate military need. The War of
-1812, for instance, prompted the building
-of the two Great Lakes yards. The
-Mound City yard was established during
-the Civil War, strategically located
-near the confluence of the Mississippi
-and Ohio Rivers to build and repair
-Union gunboats. Although U.S. naval
-vessels are today built in private shipyards,
-four navy yards still actively
-serve the fleet.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_10">10</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig4">
-<img src="images/i06.jpg" alt="" width="834" height="800" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>1833 view of one of the yard&rsquo;s wharves, by William Bennett. Beyond,
-decommissioned</i> Independence <i>and</i> Columbus <i>are roofed over for protection</i>.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_11">11</div>
-<h3 id="c3">Growth of the Yard</h3>
-<p>When Captain William Bainbridge arrived
-in Boston aboard U.S.S. (United States
-Ship) <i>Constitution</i> in February 1813, he
-had reason to be satisfied. While the U.S.
-Army faltered early in the War of 1812, a
-string of naval victories over British ships
-was boosting public confidence. Two
-months earlier, the big frigate commanded
-by Bainbridge had engaged H.M.S. (His
-Majesty&rsquo;s Ship) <i>Java</i> off the coast of
-Brazil. <i>Java</i> was the faster ship, but <i>Constitution</i>
-had heavier guns. By skillful maneuvering.
-<i>Constitution</i> kept them trained on
-the British frigate, pounding <i>Java</i> with
-broadsides until its colors came down.</p>
-<p>Crew and commander were met with
-parades in Boston, but Bainbridge had little
-time to enjoy the acclaim. He was
-immediately faced with a task that, if not
-as exciting as a sea battle, was nevertheless
-formidable. He had temporarily relinquished
-command of the Charlestown
-Navy Yard when he sailed on <i>Constitution</i>.
-While he was gone, Navy Secretary Paul
-Hamilton charged the yard with building
-one of the nation&rsquo;s first ships-of-the-line&mdash;the
-battleships of their day. As things now
-stood, that was an impossibility: Charlestown
-simply lacked the facilities for such
-an undertaking.</p>
-<p>Bainbridge, who at 37 had already seen
-extensive naval action and been imprisoned
-by Barbary pirates, wrote soon after
-becoming commandant in 1812: &ldquo;No period
-of my naval life has been more industrious
-or fatiguing.&rdquo; He was shorthanded and
-hampered by bad weather, conditions that
-must have sorely tested the endurance of a
-man with his temperament: aggressive,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_12">12</span>
-volatile, not noted for his patience. When
-he took command of the Charlestown
-yard, Bainbridge pressed the Washington
-bureaucracy to authorize improvements to
-a facility that suffered, in his words, from
-&ldquo;mismanagement and neglect.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig5">
-<img src="images/i07.jpg" alt="" width="337" height="801" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Captain William Bainbridge
-was the Charlestown yard&rsquo;s
-second commandant (1812-15)
-and captain of the first
-ship built there, U.S.S.</i> Independence.</p>
-</div>
-<p>Years later, Bainbridge was typically
-blunt in depicting for the Secretary of the
-Navy what he saw as the Herculean task
-assigned him in 1812. The yard had been
-&ldquo;in a state of perfect chaos. The public
-property in a state of ruin and decay ... a
-boat could not approach at certain periods
-of the tide within five hundred feet of the
-shore ... it was even exposed to the inroads
-of the cattle from [the] highway.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Even allowing for Bainbridge&rsquo;s penchant
-for the dramatic, his description was accurate.
-The buildings were too few, too
-small, and in need of repair. The timber
-needed to complete the repair of the
-frigate <i>Chesapeake</i> was decayed beyond
-use. But most pressing was the need for a
-large stone wharf and building slip. Here
-was a naval shipyard that could not service
-a sloop-of-war, let alone build a large
-frigate or ship-of-the-line. Small vessels
-could tie up at the modest wooden wharf,
-but the yard had to rent private wharves
-for repairing warships. <i>Chesapeake</i> had
-been languishing since 1809 in a rented
-berth at $1500 a year.</p>
-<p>The commandant&rsquo;s hilltop house surveyed
-25 acres of scattered buildings and
-grassy tidal flats directly across the
-&ldquo;stream&rdquo; (the Charles River) from Boston.
-There was a marine barracks, a
-parade ground, carpenter and blacksmith
-shops, a timber shed, a small hospital, a
-saltwater timber dock, and piles of cannon,
-shot, iron, and ballast. The facility
-Bainbridge took over in 1812 was in truth
-more supply depot than shipyard.</p>
-<p>So why, after his exploits aboard <i>Constitution</i>,
-when another ship command and
-the chance for further glory were his for
-the asking, did Bainbridge return to
-<span class="pb" id="Page_13">13</span>
-Charlestown? Because he had also asked
-to command the powerful 74-gun ship-of-the-line
-the yard would build, and he
-wanted to oversee construction.</p>
-<p>On resuming command in March 1813
-he lobbied again for a wharf and building
-slip. As a well-known ship&rsquo;s captain he
-was used to getting the attention of the
-Navy Department. But his sphere of
-activity had shifted from quarterdeck to
-desktop, and he had to watch coveted
-funds go to ships bound for sea. He was
-not, however, one to hold his tongue. He
-bombarded the Secretary of the Navy
-with letters (the tone of which, in this and
-other matters, sometimes bordered on
-sarcasm) until the wharf and slip were
-finally begun in April 1813. After the laying
-of the 74&rsquo;s keel in May, Bainbridge
-was relentless in his requests for more
-improvements&mdash;a navy store, capstans for
-hauling out ships, &ldquo;shears&rdquo; (a simple
-crane) for installing masts, a ropewalk.</p>
-<p>But his real passion was the great ship
-he could watch taking shape from his
-window. He even suggested the name:
-<i>Independence</i>. Bainbridge chafed to &ldquo;give
-John Bull an opportunity of testing the
-strength of an American 74&rdquo;&mdash;especially
-after <i>Chesapeake</i> had finally left the yard
-in June only to be captured practically
-within sight of Boston by the British
-frigate <i>Shannon</i>.</p>
-<p>The combative commandant was rarely
-put off by obstacles&mdash;or someone else&rsquo;s
-reputation. Having clashed with workers
-over compensation they demanded for
-days lost to bad weather, he shut out the
-source of trouble by ordering a shiphouse
-210 feet long and 50 feet high built over
-the 74&rsquo;s building slip. To oversee ship
-construction Bainbridge hired Edmund
-Hartt and his son Edward&mdash;well-regarded
-Boston shipbuilders in whose yard was
-built the hugely successful <i>Constitution</i>.
-But in a dispute with Edward Hartt the
-angry Bainbridge grabbed him &ldquo;by the
-shoulder and carried him out of my
-office.&rdquo; Hartt&rsquo;s father quit in protest,
-whereupon Bainbridge quickly engaged
-another shipbuilder to finish the job.</p>
-<p>Bainbridge&rsquo;s other main duty as commander
-of the yard was the defense of
-Boston Harbor&mdash;the importance of
-which was underscored by the <i>Shannon-Chesapeake</i>
-engagement. By spring of
-1814 British warships were raiding the
-New England coast almost at will, and
-the Boston citizenry (many of whom vigorously
-opposed the war) was anxious
-over an anticipated attack on the city.
-The rising 74, Bainbridge knew, made a
-tempting target while it was unarmed and
-immobile on the ways. He asked for the
-New England Guards, a Boston militia
-company, to stand ready at the yard as
-<i>Independence</i> neared completion.</p>
-<p>Guarding United States property at the
-Charlestown yard was normally the responsibility
-of the U.S. Marines, stationed
-there since 1802. But it was a small
-detachment, not enough to defend the
-yard and its ships against a serious attack.
-Bainbridge, who earlier protested the
-vulnerability of the yard, had other problems
-with the marines. Though they were
-under naval command while at sea, on
-shore the Navy had no authority over
-them. Bainbridge deplored this situation,
-complaining that his inability to mete out
-the same corporal punishment to marines
-as was used on sailors was &ldquo;productive of
-insubordination.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In any case <i>Independence</i> was ready for
-launching by June 1814. But the much-anticipated
-ceremony on the 18th was an
-embarrassing failure. <i>Independence</i> hung
-up halfway down the launching ways,
-much to the satisfaction of a Federalist
-quoted in the <i>Boston Gazette</i>: &ldquo;It was no
-wonder she stuck ... the war itself sticks.&rdquo;
-The next day, when workers attempted
-to move the vessel by winch with the
-New England Guards pitching in to haul
-on the lines, a block flew apart and killed
-master joiner William Champney.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_14">14</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig6">
-<img src="images/i08.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="538" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>U.S.S.</i> <span class="norm">Independence</span>, <i>built at
-Charlestown in 1815, was the
-nation&rsquo;s first ship-of-the-line.
-On its maiden voyage the 74-gun
-vessel served as flagship
-of the Mediterranean squadron
-in the Barbary Wars.
-After the Charlestown yard
-removed one gun deck in
-1835, turning the slow 74
-into a fast, powerful frigate
-(above)</i>, Independence
-<i>served as flagship of the
-Brazil and Pacific squadrons.
-The frigate spent the last
-60 years of its career as receiving
-ship (temporary sailors&rsquo;
-quarters) at Mare Island Navy
-Yard near San Francisco Bay,
-where it ended a century of
-service in 1914.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig7">
-<img src="images/i08a.jpg" alt="" width="518" height="370" />
-<p class="pcap"><i><b>Ships-of-the-Line</b> were
-the battleships of their day,
-carrying 64 to 100 guns
-or more on two or three
-gun decks (below the
-open decks). Ship-rigged
-(square sails on three
-masts), these warships
-took their place in the line
-of battle in huge fleet
-actions.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig8">
-<img src="images/i08b.jpg" alt="" width="518" height="376" />
-<p class="pcap"><i><b>Frigates</b> had 22 to 44 guns
-on one gun deck. They
-were ship-rigged counterparts
-of today&rsquo;s cruisers,
-excelling in single engagements
-and as commerce
-destroyers. Frigates also
-did convoy duty and
-served as scouts for battle
-fleets.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig9">
-<img src="images/i08c.jpg" alt="" width="452" height="301" />
-<p class="pcap"><i><b>Sloops-of-War</b> had 8 to
-24 guns on an open deck
-and were ship-rigged. Fast
-and versatile&mdash;the destroyers
-of their day&mdash;sloops
-provided escort protection
-and harassed enemy shipping.
-Their shallow draft
-made them useful in coast
-defense and in lake
-squadrons.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig10">
-<img src="images/i08d.jpg" alt="" width="508" height="336" />
-<p class="pcap"><i><b>Brigs-of-War</b> had about
-20 smaller guns on an
-open gun deck and carried
-square sails on two masts.
-Designed as small, fast
-cruisers, they served as
-scouts, blockade runners,
-commerce raiders, and in
-anti-piracy and slaveship
-patrols.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_15">15</div>
-<p>Then, to worsen an already grim situation,
-the British warships that had blockaded
-Boston Harbor for over a year
-became an immediate threat. A raiding
-party from the frigate <i>Nymphe</i> rowed
-into the harbor in the early morning
-darkness of the 21st and burned a small
-sloop within a mile of the yard. The next
-day, with the charred remains of the vessel
-tied up at a Charlestown wharf, the
-leader of the raid publicly taunted Bainbridge.
-In an open letter in the <i>Boston
-Patriot</i>, Bainbridge was warned to better
-defend his &ldquo;unfledged Independence.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the afternoon of June 22, under the
-eye of the Guards, the vessel finally slid
-down the ways into Boston Harbor. The
-launching was celebrated by a gun salute
-from <i>Constitution</i> and cheers from a
-crowd of 20,000. Bainbridge&rsquo;s friend, the
-author Washington Irving, couldn&rsquo;t
-attend but wrote Bainbridge that he
-would drink a &ldquo;potation bottle ... to the
-success of your first cruise.&rdquo; In the same
-spirit Bainbridge entertained with food
-and drink 300 mechanics and laborers
-who had, he said, &ldquo;worked cheap, and
-done their work most faithfully.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>But the war he wanted so badly to join
-remained out of Bainbridge&rsquo;s reach.
-Desertions, along with financial and outfitting
-delays, held up the vessel until
-1815, by which time peace with England
-had been concluded.</p>
-<p>Another opportunity soon presented
-itself. The predatory corsairs of the North
-African Barbary States&mdash;Tunisia, Tripolitania,
-Algeria, and Morocco&mdash;had long
-been a thorn in the side of American
-merchant shipping. Bainbridge, with
-<i>Independence</i> as his flagship, won command
-of a squadron whose mission was
-to display to the Barbaries the new power
-of the U.S. Navy. The assignment was
-particularly attractive to Bainbridge, who
-earlier in his career had surrendered a
-ship to the Tripolitans and had another
-commandeered by the Algerians. But a
-second squadron under Captain Stephen
-Decatur beat Bainbridge across the
-Atlantic and defeated the Algerians in
-battle. His role was thus reduced to persuading
-the other Barbaries at gunpoint
-to end their extortionist ways. The suppression
-of the Barbary pirates was nevertheless
-satisfying to Bainbridge. As
-senior officer, he had the honor of commanding
-the squadron that initiated a
-permanent U.S. presence in the Mediterranean&mdash;the
-first of the Navy&rsquo;s &ldquo;distant
-station&rdquo; squadrons.</p>
-<p>Upon Bainbridge&rsquo;s return to Boston he
-attempted to regain command of the yard
-from his replacement, Captain Isaac Hull.
-Unsuccessful, he was instead appointed
-Port Captain (&ldquo;commander afloat&rdquo; of all
-naval vessels in Boston Harbor), with
-<i>Independence</i> designated station flagship.
-Bainbridge settled down to a career as a
-senior officer, serving as commandant at
-the yard twice more in the 1820s and &rsquo;30s.
-He had helped put Charlestown on the
-map as the builder of a major warship.
-More significantly, after the War of 1812
-the yard began building a reputation as
-an important repair and supply facility.</p>
-<p class="tb">The Charlestown yard, and the U.S. Navy
-itself, owed their existence in part to the
-same Barbary pirates who occasioned
-<i>Independence&rsquo;s</i> first cruise. The severing
-of ties with Britain during the Revolution
-also meant the loss of protection from the
-Barbaries long provided by the Mother
-Country&rsquo;s powerful navy and by the
-&ldquo;tribute&rdquo; Britain paid them. The United
-States had no navy to protect its seaborne
-commerce&mdash;so essential to a coastal
-nation dependent on overseas trade&mdash;and
-the treasury could not bear the tribute
-payments or the ransom demands for
-captured ships and sailors.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_16">16</div>
-<p>Thus after independence the Mediterranean
-trade had been virtually closed to
-the United States. There was much unresolved
-debate about the problem, but
-when the pirates spilled out into the
-Atlantic in 1793 and took 11 American
-vessels in a few months, Congress took
-action. The following year it authorized
-six frigates, three of which were launched
-in 1797: <i>United States</i>, <i>Constellation</i>, and
-<i>Constitution</i>.</p>
-<p>Congress was spurred to finish the job
-by the actions of Revolutionary France
-during its war with Britain. French commerce
-raiders so terrorized American
-neutral shipping that in 1798 an angry
-U.S. government created the Navy Department
-and prepared for war. (There
-were a number of engagements at sea,
-but war was never declared.) Congress
-authorized funds to build, borrow, or
-accept as gifts 49 vessels, ranging from
-galleys to six 74-gun ships-of-the-line.</p>
-<p>The 74s were never built, but while the
-program was still alive, naval shipyards to
-build them were established in Portsmouth,
-Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
-Washington, and Norfolk. Boston, wrote
-Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert
-to President John Adams, from &ldquo;the natural
-strength of its situation [meaning its
-large, deep, and defensible harbor], the
-great number of ship carpenters in its
-vicinity, and of its seamen, must always
-remain a building place and place of rendezvous
-for our navy of the first importance.&rdquo;
-Thus in 1800 the Charlestown
-Navy Yard was established.</p>
-<p>For most of its history Charlestown&rsquo;s
-primary mission was to keep the fleet sailing.
-That is not to say the yard wasn&rsquo;t a
-shipbuilder; it built more than 200 warships
-over its 174 years of operation. But
-most of the new ships were built to meet
-the immediate demands of war. (Three
-quarters of them were launched during
-World War II alone.) For fully half of
-those years no new ships came down the
-ways. The pattern established in the
-yard&rsquo;s early years was one of ongoing
-repair, outfitting, supply, and conversion
-work punctuated by occasional new
-launchings.</p>
-<p>The classes of ships that came down the
-ways at Charlestown and other naval
-yards were the outcome of strategic and
-political deliberations in Washington.
-U.S. naval policy devised during the first
-half of the 19th century had its roots in
-the War of 1812. Before the British
-blockade bottled up its warships, the tiny
-U.S. Navy had successfully fought a brief
-<i>guerre de course</i> against Britain, using a
-strategy that emphasized single ship
-actions and raids on enemy shipping with
-relatively small, fast frigates and sloops-of-war.
-The early naval successes prompted
-Congress in 1813 to authorize six new
-frigates (three of which were built) and
-six sloops. These, and the nine frigates
-authorized in 1816 and laid down in the
-1820s (including the Charlestown-built
-<i>Cumberland</i>), formed the backbone of
-the Navy until just before the Civil War.</p>
-<p>But the War of 1812, which helped
-shape a practical role for the 19th-century
-Navy, also led lawmakers into an expensive
-attempt to compete with European
-navies on their terms. Using the argument
-that large, powerful ships were
-essential to the defense of the nation&rsquo;s
-shores (and perhaps remembering the
-crucial role of French 74s at Yorktown),
-Congress also authorized four 74-gun
-ships-of-the-line in the 1813 act.</p>
-<p>While ships-of-the-line were traditionally
-used in fleet actions with set lines of
-battle (hence their name), they were also
-deployed to break blockades and to
-&ldquo;show the flag&rdquo;&mdash;that is, remind other
-nations of the United States&rsquo; military
-reach. Postwar nationalism, a popular
-navy still basking in the nation&rsquo;s praise,
-and the country&rsquo;s demonstrated vulnerability
-<span class="pb" id="Page_17">17</span>
-to blockade prompted appropriations
-in 1816 for additional 74s.</p>
-<p>Between 1813 and 1822 fourteen 74s
-were laid down, including <i>Independence</i>
-(1813), <i>Vermont</i> (1818), and <i>Virginia</i>
-(1822) at Charlestown. But in the decade
-after the war strategists cast a skeptical
-eye on such large ships. The expensive,
-provocative, and easily outmaneuvered
-behemoths, they said, were only a drag
-on the Navy&mdash;inappropriate for a young
-nation that wanted to stay out of European
-conflicts. By 1825 only five 74s had
-gone into service.</p>
-<p>In 1835 <i>Independence</i> took a turn in its
-career that was emblematic of naval policy.
-The 74 had lain idle at Charlestown
-for 13 years. It was a sluggish sailer, and
-its great weight and design flaws brought
-the lower lee guns too close to the water
-to be useful during combat. So <i>Independence</i>
-was &ldquo;razeed,&rdquo; cut down from three
-decks to two, and transformed from an
-unsuccessful ship-of-the-line into a very
-good 54-gun frigate&mdash;the largest and one
-of the fastest in the Navy.</p>
-<p>Only a few present at its 1837 recommissioning
-realized that <i>Independence</i>
-was also among the last of its kind. Fast
-approaching was a technology that would
-displace naval sail; steam would drive the
-Navy of the future. In 1839 the Navy&rsquo;s
-first commissioned steamer&mdash;the two-year-old
-harbor battery <i>Fulton II</i>&mdash;arrived
-at Charlestown for repairs. A
-local paper called it &ldquo;the oddest looking
-fish we have ever set our eyes on.&rdquo; Four
-towering stacks spouting black smoke
-rose from the deck, on which were
-mounted engine cylinders four feet in
-diameter. The sidewheel covers, likened
-to &ldquo;immense fungi,&rdquo; barely cleared the
-sides of the dry dock.</p>
-<p class="tb">With the dock and other improvements,
-the Charlestown yard had by the 1840s
-taken shape as an important repair and
-shipbuilding facility. The dry dock (<i>see
-pages <a class="pgref" href="#Page_40">40</a>-41</i>), five years abuilding, had
-opened in 1833 amid much ceremony.
-Vice President Martin Van Buren and
-other dignitaries watched as the already-venerable
-<i>Constitution</i>, stripped and
-demasted, inaugurated the dock. Much of
-the tidal flats had been reclaimed behind
-a granite quay (the yard would triple its
-original size by 1869), and the rest of the
-yard&rsquo;s uneven grounds had been leveled.
-A high stone wall, built to help stop pilfering
-and protect the ships, stretched
-between the Charles and Mystic rivers.</p>
-<p>The yard had become more self-sufficient.
-The boilers for the dry dock pump
-engines also provided steam for the new
-sawmill and blockmaking and armorer&rsquo;s
-shops. In 1837, the yard&rsquo;s ropewalk (also
-steam-powered) and tar house had been
-completed (<i>see pages <a class="pgref" href="#Page_20">20</a>-21</i>). The yard
-now made its own paint in the &ldquo;oil
-house,&rdquo; while hardware was supplied by a
-large smithy with 12 forges.</p>
-<p>Other significant additions: masting
-shears looming over the new shear wharf;
-a sparmaker&rsquo;s shed, masthouse, and sail
-loft; new timber docks; a steam chest for
-bending wood; an armory with thousands
-of muskets, bayonets, and swords; and
-neat ranks of guns, shot, and anchors in
-their respective &ldquo;parks.&rdquo; Hundreds of elm
-trees planted by order of Commodore
-Bainbridge softened the yard&rsquo;s industrial
-setting.</p>
-<p>Anchored out in the harbor were several
-vessels &ldquo;in ordinary.&rdquo; A vessel in ordinary
-was out of service and in storage
-with a skeleton crew until recommissioned.
-The ship was demasted, salted to
-retard dry rot, whitewashed inside, tightly
-caulked, and its sides and decks &ldquo;payed&rdquo;
-with a thick coat of varnish and tar. Tubular
-windsails directing air belowdecks and
-holes cut in the bulkheads insured good
-air circulation. Some vessels in ordinary at
-Charlestown had protective wood and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_18">18</span>
-canvas sheds over their decks, an innovation
-of Captain Hull.</p>
-<p><i>Vermont</i>, <i>Virginia</i>, and the frigate <i>Cumberland</i>,
-begun in 1825, had become permanent
-fixtures in their great shiphouses.
-They were still officially under construction
-and near completion, but were really
-in ordinary. (<i>Virginia</i> was something of
-an ill-starred vessel. Over the years at
-least three people had died in accidents
-around the ship, and its reputation was
-reconfirmed in 1845 when a visitor fell to
-his death from its scaffolding.) Construction
-on <i>Virginia</i> and <i>Vermont</i> had slowed
-to a standstill after critics questioned the
-strategic value of ships-of-the-line. But
-economic considerations played at least
-as big a role; ordinary was a cheap way to
-keep expensive-to-sail vessels, including
-big frigates like <i>Cumberland</i> (launched in
-1842), ready for war.</p>
-<p>In 1848 <i>Vermont</i> was finally launched to
-&ldquo;a vast concourse of people and the firing
-of cannons.&rdquo; But the day of the big 74s
-was over. Neither <i>Vermont</i> nor <i>New
-Hampshire</i> (built at Portsmouth Navy
-Yard), the last two ships-of-the-line completed
-by the Navy, ever saw service as a
-commissioned warship. In fact most 74s
-had short careers of little strategic consequence.
-<i>Independence</i>, first of the class,
-was the only one still serving as a warship
-at mid-century, but it had been cut down
-to a frigate.</p>
-<p>The launching of <i>Vermont</i> also closed a
-chapter in the yard&rsquo;s history. The second
-ship laid down at Charlestown 30 years
-before, <i>Vermont</i> was the last all sail-powered
-warship launched there&mdash;obsolescent
-even as it came down the ways.</p>
-<p class="tb">Although this was a U.S. Navy Yard run
-by naval officers, throughout its history
-those wielding the caulking mallets and
-rivet guns were civilians working for civilian
-foremen. During the first half of the
-19th century the yard&rsquo;s workforce steadily
-increased from 89 in 1822 to 370 in 1853.
-At mid-century the records show most of
-them were born in New England&mdash;half
-from Massachusetts. Some 15 percent were
-Irish, the majority working as laborers.</p>
-<p>So complicated an undertaking as the
-building of a warship required an array of
-specialized occupations falling under the
-general label of &ldquo;mechanics&rdquo;: carpenters,
-sawyers, joiners, sparmakers, blockmakers,
-painters, gun carriage makers, armorers,
-sailmakers, blacksmiths, caulkers, riggers,
-boatbuilders, coopers, ropemakers,
-masons, machinists, plumbers, and coppersmiths.
-A force of unskilled laborers was at
-times supplemented by the ordinary crews
-and by the sailors stationed at the yard.</p>
-<p>Each shop had its master, quartermen
-(leaders of several crews), leadingmen
-(crew leaders), and crews of mechanics,
-apprentices, laborers, and a few boys
-(before child labor laws eliminated such
-positions). In the early years, when the
-yard&rsquo;s facilities were sparse, it was not
-unusual for the master to have his own
-shop outside of the yard. The commandant
-would in effect contract with the master to
-do the work there with his own men. In the
-1840s and &rsquo;50s the Navy tightened the regulations,
-giving the masters less leeway in
-hiring and ordering supplies. By the Civil
-War they were all yard employees.</p>
-<p>A look at the young men in the apprenticeship
-program, started in 1817, gives a
-clearer picture of the yard employees they
-would become. Those applying for the program&mdash;generally
-at age 16&mdash;had to show
-good character and be physically able to
-perform the tasks of their trade. They had
-to demonstrate the ability to read, write,
-and do simple math. The terms of the five-year
-indenture (later reduced to four) were
-generally clear: in return for exhibiting
-growing mastery of his trade, the apprentice
-received from the Navy room and
-board, increasing pay, and continuing education
-in reading, writing, arithmetic, and
-theories of the trade. But because the
-indenture was technically a personal contract
-between the boy&rsquo;s parents or
-guardian and the master, not the Navy,
-questions of obligation sometimes arose
-when a new man became master. At the
-end of the apprenticeship&mdash;usually at age
-21&mdash;the boy became a yard employee.</p>
-<p><span class="lr"><span class="small"><i>Continues on <a href="#Page_22">page 22</a></i></span></span></p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_19">19</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">Navy Yard Tradesmen in the Age of Sail</h4>
-<p>During the early 19th century,
-Charlestown&rsquo;s shipyard bell
-called several hundred civilian
-tradesmen and laborers to
-work each morning. Laboring
-from sunrise to sunset under
-the supervision of naval officers
-and civilian shop masters,
-these yard employees built,
-repaired, and supplied United
-States warships for naval duty
-around the globe. Fluctuating
-government budgets, changing
-seasons, and the uneven
-demands of war and peace
-made navy yard work intermittent
-and unpredictable.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig11">
-<img src="images/i09.jpg" alt="" width="575" height="800" />
-<p class="pcap">A navy yard rigger tightens a warship&rsquo;s mast shrouds.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_20">20</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">The Ropewalk</h4>
-<p>Several factors enticed the U.S. Navy into constructing its only ropemaking facility at the
-Charlestown Navy Yard in the 1830s: skilled labor, access to raw materials, and technical
-expertise. The port of Boston already boasted more than a dozen ropewalks employing
-many skilled artisans. Perhaps most importantly, the Navy was eager to take
-advantage of newly developed labor-saving machines like those already in use in
-New England&rsquo;s textile mills. Because rope had to be twisted in a straight line, the maximum
-length that could be produced was determined by the length of the ropewalk (so
-called because workers spinning the hemp fibers by hand walked the length of the
-building). The Charlestown ropewalk&rsquo;s quarter-mile length allowed production of
-rope up to 1200 feet long. Designed by architect Alexander Parris (best known for
-Boston&rsquo;s Quincy Market), the ropewalk complex included the rope &ldquo;laying&rdquo; area running
-the length of the building, spinning and preparing machine rooms, the hemp
-house, and the tar house. The complex was powered by massive steam engines and
-tended by men and boys. The Navy&rsquo;s move to mechanized rope production came at a
-critical time, as machine-spun rope began to replace intricate hand-spinning techniques.
-The hand spinners&rsquo; resistance inspired contests in the 1840s, in which they
-challenged the quality of machine-made rope. The results of such a challenge to
-the Charlestown ropewalk were somewhat ironic. Though its machine-made
-rope proved to be stronger and cheaper to produce, hand-spun rope was superior
-in the smaller sizes, and the mechanized ropewalk began producing some hand-spun
-rope, doing so until the end of the 19th century.</p>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/i10.jpg" alt="Ropewalk, building" width="1000" height="523" />
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_21">21</div>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/i10a.jpg" alt="Ropewalk, machinery" width="600" height="287" />
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig12">
-<img src="images/i10b.jpg" alt="" width="607" height="179" />
-<p class="pcap"><span class="ss">Spinning</span> <span class="hst">Combed</span> bundled fibers
-called &ldquo;roving&rdquo; are fed from a can
-onto the spinning frame. At the
-spindle they are spun counterclockwise
-into yarn, which is
-wound on a bobbin.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig13">
-<img src="images/i10c.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="178" />
-<p class="pcap"><span class="ss">Forming the Strand</span> <span class="hst">Bobbins</span> are
-mounted on the twisting frame.
-The yarns are threaded through
-the register plate to equalize tension
-and tied to a rotating hook on
-the rolling &ldquo;jack.&rdquo; The jack pulls
-yarns from the bobbins and twists
-them clockwise into a strand.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig14">
-<img src="images/i10d.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="161" />
-<p class="pcap"><span class="ss">Laying the Rope</span> <span class="hst">Three</span> or four
-strands are tied to a rotating hook
-on the jack. While clockwise tension
-is kept on the other ends by rotating
-hooks, the strands are
-twisted counterclockwise
-into rope.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_22">22</div>
-<p>Budget-minded Naval Commissioners
-in Washington allowed the commandant
-to pay just enough to hold on to his workers.
-He generally matched the rates of
-private shipyards in the area to keep
-workers from being lured away. The daily
-rates thus fell with the coming of cold
-weather and the slowing of work, since
-the workers were then in low demand
-elsewhere. The Navy defended this hard-nosed
-practice, maintaining that with
-fewer daylight hours (workers mustered
-at sunrise and were dismissed at sunset),
-the yard got less work out of the men.
-The niggardly pay policies sometimes
-backfired: in 1821 the low-paid sailmakers
-left en masse to work at private yards.</p>
-<p>More than the skilled craftsmen, the
-laborers&rsquo; jobs depended on the amount
-of work at the yard, but most of the
-workforce awaited the coming of cold
-weather with some anxiety. The yard&rsquo;s
-practice was to retain only as many people
-as it could keep working, and bad
-weather sharply reduced the volume of
-work. The completion of a new ship or of
-a major repair job also meant the letting
-go of large numbers of workers, at least
-until the next job. In effect many in the
-workforce were not given permanent
-jobs, but only hired on to perform seasonal
-work, much like house carpenters,
-or to complete a single project.</p>
-<p>Though the situation was normally
-weighted in favor of the employer, the
-scales could occasionally tip the other
-way, especially for skilled workers. In
-1825, when the coming of spring coincided
-with a surge in building brought on by
-a recent Boston fire, Commandant William
-Crane was forced to raise wages to compete
-for skilled workers. He sent his Master
-Builder Josiah Barker up the coast as
-far as Portland to recruit mechanics.</p>
-<p>At times skilled workers attempted to
-force the Navy&rsquo;s hand, organizing to protest
-conditions. When the caulkers struck
-for higher wages in January 1835, the commandant,
-Commodore Jesse Elliott, fired
-them and quickly found others willing to
-work at the established rate. Two days later
-the &ldquo;refractory caulkers,&rdquo; unable to find
-work in the middle of the winter, asked to
-be rehired at their old wages. Wanting to
-remain on good terms with his employees,
-Elliott allowed the men to return.</p>
-<p>Sometimes the walkout worked. Yard
-workers considered unreasonable a change
-in their working hours made in 1852. By
-this time they were working a straight 10-hour
-day. But under the new policy, they
-had to work sunrise to sunset if that period
-contained even a minute less than 11
-hours, thus adding up to an hour to their
-day during the winter. They walked off the
-job, forcing the Navy to rescind the policy.</p>
-<p>These actions represent a period when
-the yard workers, though not yet unionized,
-could strike&mdash;an option later denied
-to government employees. While workers
-were generally forced to accept the prevailing
-pay and conditions at the yard, they
-were not completely without power.</p>
-<p>In the Charlestown Navy Yard&rsquo;s first
-half-century, world events, U.S. politics,
-and sectional rivalries affected the ebb and
-flow of work and the hiring and firing of
-men. The yard was born in the midst of a
-world at war and grew to prominence in a
-time of relative calm&mdash;in retrospect, the
-lull before the storm of civil war.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_23">23</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig15">
-<img src="images/i11.jpg" alt="" width="692" height="994" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Sloop-of-war</i> (<i>U.S.S.</i> Decatur
-<i>or</i> Dale) <i>dry docked in Charlestown has its rigging
-tarred and its hull sheathed with copper, about 1852</i>.</p>
-</div>
-<p><span class="lr"><span class="small"><i>Continues on <a href="#Page_29">page 29</a></i></span></span></p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_24">24</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">Building a Wooden Ship</h4>
-<p>The creation of a wooden
-warship began in the mold
-loft. There carpenters translated
-specifications from
-standard plans for each class
-of vessel into full-sized wooden
-patterns. These were used
-to fashion hull members, for
-which white oak or live oak
-were the favored woods.
-(Some 2,000 trees were
-required for a 74-gun ship-of-the-line.)
-On the slightly
-inclined building ways, joiners
-first laid the keel, the great
-spine of the ship running
-along the bottom of the hull.
-Then they attached the stem
-and the stern post to the keel
-and raised the frames&mdash;the
-vessel&rsquo;s ribs. The frames
-formed the contours of the
-hull and, together with horizontal
-deck beams and vertical
-stanchions beneath the
-beams, provided a strong
-skeleton. After 1829, iron and
-copper bolts and spikes
-replaced many of the wooden
-&ldquo;treenails&rdquo; that secured the
-structural members and fastened
-the deck and hull planking.
-The rudder was hung, the
-hull caulked and sheathed
-with copper to protect it from
-teredo worms, and the ship
-was launched. Riggers then
-&ldquo;stepped&rdquo; masts to the keelson,
-a lengthwise beam bolted
-to the keel (<i>see <a href="#Page_19">page 19</a></i>).
-After they rigged the horizontal
-spars, cordage, and sails,
-the new warship was ready
-for outfitting.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_25">25</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig16">
-<img src="images/i12.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="555" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Expanding U.S. interests in the Pacific spurred Congress
-in 1825 to authorize a new class of sloop-of-war to protect those interests. Charlestown
-Navy Yard constructed three of them between 1825 and 1827.</i></p>
-</div>
-<dl class="undent pcap"><dt>1 Building ways</dt>
-<dt>2 &ldquo;Shears&rdquo;: hoisted heavy pieces</dt>
-<dt>3 Keel</dt>
-<dt>4 Stern post</dt>
-<dt>5 Frames</dt>
-<dt>6 Deck beams</dt>
-<dt>7 Planking</dt>
-<dt>8 Drag chains: arrested ship after launch</dt>
-<dt>9 Shiphouse</dt></dl>
-<dl class="undent pcap"><dt>The Workforce in 1835</dt>
-<dd>138 Carpenters</dd>
-<dd>56 Ropemakers</dd>
-<dd>40 Laborers</dd>
-<dd>37 Joiners</dd>
-<dd>34 Blacksmiths</dd>
-<dd>25 Sailmakers</dd>
-<dd>19 Riggers</dd>
-<dd>18 Coopers</dd>
-<dd>17 Plumbers</dd>
-<dd>16 Boatbuilders</dd>
-<dd>14 Sparmakers</dd>
-<dd>12 Blockmakers</dd>
-<dd>11 Painters</dd>
-<dd>6 Caulkers</dd>
-<dd>6 Masons</dd>
-<dd>6 Sawyers</dd></dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_26">26</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">The Frigate <i>Constitution</i></h4>
-<p>The first three warships ordered for the infant U.S. Navy
-in 1794&mdash;one of them the Boston-built <i>Constitution</i>&mdash;were
-frigates unlike any others. Naval strategists knew
-the nation could afford to build only a few vessels, so
-they had to be formidable warships. They were inspired
-by French &ldquo;razees,&rdquo; ships-of-the-line (<i>see <a href="#Page_14">page 14</a></i>) that had
-one gun deck removed, transforming them into large, heavily armed frigates. The sharp
-lines of <i>Constitution&rsquo;s</i> hull gave it a frigate&rsquo;s speed, but
-in size and stoutness it was comparable to a small ship-of-the-line. (Its heavy oak
-frames, spaced close together and sheathed with thick planking, proved virtually
-impenetrable in battle&mdash;hence the name &ldquo;Old Ironsides.&rdquo;)
-The theory was that <i>Constitution</i> would be powerful enough to fight any frigate,
-quick enough to flee anything bigger. The British, though, scorned the new frigates,
-asserting that they lacked the tactical strengths of either frigates or
-ships-of-the-line: too slow to engage the former, too weak to stand up to
-the latter. But <i>Constitution</i> more than lived up to U.S. expectations
-in the War of 1812, when it bested two British frigates in separate
-battles, escaped two more, and captured a frigate and a sloop-of-war in a third
-engagement. <i>Constitution</i> fought no more battles, but served honorably for another
-40 years. Throughout its career <i>Constitution</i> has been
-closely associated with the Charlestown Navy Yard,
-undergoing several overhauls there. The first was in 1833,
-when the frigate inaugurated the yard&rsquo;s dry dock. In 1992-95
-it was serviced in the same dock. Since 1897 the
-yard has been home port for <i>Constitution</i>, the Navy&rsquo;s oldest
-commissioned warship.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig17">
-<img src="images/i13.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="423" />
-<p class="pcap">The 24-Pounder Long Gun</p>
-<p class="pcapc">A gun crew of 6 to 14 men
-wrestled with this 5,600-pound
-gun. To adjust elevation,
-a crew member
-placed a handspike on
-one of the steps (A) and
-levered the breech (B) up
-or down; the gun captain
-slid the quoin (C) in or out.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="map1">
-<img src="images/mapa_lr.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="256" />
-<p class="center">U.S.S. Constitution<br /><a class="ab1" href="images/mapa_hr.jpg">High-resolution Map</a></p>
-</div>
-<dl class="undent"><dt>Specifications:</dt>
-<dd>Length overall: 204 ft.</dd>
-<dd>Beam (width): 43.5 ft.</dd>
-<dd>Displacement: 2,200 tons</dd>
-<dd>Draft: 22.5 ft.</dd>
-<dd>Hull: 15 to 20 in. thick</dd>
-<dd>Speed: 13-14 knots</dd>
-<dd>Crew: 450-470</dd>
-<dd>Armament in 1812: 30, 24-pounders; 22, 32-pounder carronades; two 24-pounder &amp; one 18-pounder bow chasers on the forecastle</dd></dl>
-<dl class="undent"><dt><b>1</b> Quarter boat</dt>
-<dt><b>2</b> Quarterdeck</dt>
-<dt><b>3</b> Captain&rsquo;s quarters</dt>
-<dt><b>4</b> Captain&rsquo;s day cabin</dt>
-<dt><b>5</b> Officers&rsquo; staterooms</dt>
-<dt><b>6</b> Bread room</dt>
-<dt><b>7</b> Ship&rsquo;s wheel</dt>
-<dt><b>8</b> Wardroom</dt>
-<dt><b>9</b> Cartridge filling room</dt>
-<dt><b>10</b> Powder magazine</dt>
-<dt><b>11</b> Spirit room</dt>
-<dt><b>12</b> Cockpit (junior officers&rsquo; quarters)</dt>
-<dt><b>13</b> Anchor capstan</dt>
-<dt><b>14</b> Bilge pumps</dt>
-<dt><b>15</b> Shot locker</dt>
-<dt><b>16</b> Spar deck (open)</dt>
-<dt><b>17</b> Gun deck</dt>
-<dt><b>18</b> Berthing deck (crew hung its hammocks on this deck)</dt>
-<dt><b>19</b> Orlop deck (storage)</dt>
-<dt><b>20</b> Hold</dt>
-<dt><b>21</b> Ballast</dt>
-<dt><b>22</b> Anchor cables</dt>
-<dt><b>23</b> 24-pounder guns</dt>
-<dt><b>24</b> Long boat</dt>
-<dt><b>25</b> 32-pounder carronades</dt>
-<dt><b>26</b> Galley</dt>
-<dt><b>27</b> Sail locker</dt>
-<dt><b>28</b> Sand room</dt>
-<dt><b>29</b> Rigging blocks</dt>
-<dt><b>30</b> Sick bay</dt>
-<dt><b>31</b> Forecastle</dt>
-<dt><b>32</b> Manger</dt>
-<dt><b>33</b> Crew&rsquo;s head</dt></dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_27">27</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig18">
-<img src="images/i13b.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="396" />
-<p class="pcap"><span class="ss"><i>Constitution&rsquo;s</i> Sails</span></p>
-<p class="pcapc">Sail area, with studding sails (not shown), was more than 43,000 sq. ft.</p>
-</div>
-<dl class="undent pcap"><dt><b>1</b> Flying jib</dt>
-<dt><b>2</b> Outer jib</dt>
-<dt><b>3</b> Inner jib</dt>
-<dt><b>4</b> Fore topmast staysail</dt>
-<dt><b>5</b> Foresail</dt>
-<dt><b>6</b> Fore topsail</dt>
-<dt><b>7</b> Fore topgallant sail</dt>
-<dt><b>8</b> Fore royal</dt>
-<dt><b>9</b> Fore skysail</dt>
-<dt><b>10</b> Mainsail</dt>
-<dt><b>11</b> Main topsail</dt>
-<dt><b>12</b> Main topgallant sail</dt>
-<dt><b>13</b> Main royal</dt>
-<dt><b>14</b> Main skysail</dt>
-<dt><b>15</b> Spanker</dt>
-<dt><b>16</b> Mizzen topsail</dt>
-<dt><b>17</b> Mizzen topgallant sail</dt>
-<dt><b>18</b> Mizzen royal</dt>
-<dt><b>19</b> Mizzen skysail</dt></dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_28">28</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig19">
-<img src="images/i14.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="787" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Sinking of Union sloop</i> Cumberland <i>by Confederate ironclad</i> Virginia
-(<i>ex-U.S.S.</i> Merrimack) <i>in 1862, by Alexander C. Stuart</i>.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_29">29</div>
-<h3 id="c4">The Coming of Iron and Steam</h3>
-<p><i>Merrimack</i>, <i>Virginia</i>, <i>Cumberland</i>: names
-that point up the ironies of war. As the
-steam frigate <i>Merrimack</i> was being
-launched in July 1855 (<i>see pages <a href="#Page_32">32-33</a></i>),
-the partially built ship-of-the-line <i>Virginia</i>
-lay in another part of the yard. It had been
-laid down and named in the 1820s, a more
-harmonious time. Even if the old 74 had
-finally come down the ways, it is not likely
-that, amidst the sectional acrimony of the
-1850s, it would have kept the old name&mdash;and
-certainly not after the secession of the
-state whose namesake it was.</p>
-<p>A year after <i>Merrimack&rsquo;s</i> launching, the
-frigate was back in the yard after going
-aground during its shakedown cruise
-(when the crew becomes familiar with a
-ship and problems are ironed out). While
-workers replaced damaged coppering and
-repaired the propeller on the big warship,
-a smaller sail frigate waited its turn.</p>
-<p>Launched 13 years earlier, <i>Cumberland</i>
-had served as flagship of the African
-Squadron, whose mission was to suppress
-slave running. Now back home, <i>Cumberland</i>
-moved into the dry dock soon after
-<i>Merrimack</i> was towed out. It was cut down
-to a fast sloop-of-war with one gun deck of
-28 guns and a crew of 376.</p>
-<p><i>Cumberland&rsquo;s</i> worth as a leaner warship
-was proven in the first months of the Civil
-War. Assigned to the Atlantic Blockading
-Squadron, the vessel took eight Confederate
-prizes in three weeks. But the next
-year <i>Cumberland</i>, among the last sailing
-ships launched by the Navy, came up hard
-against the future.</p>
-<p>On March 8, 1862, <i>Cumberland</i> and other
-vessels were on blockade duty in Hampton
-<span class="pb" id="Page_30">30</span>
-Roads, Virginia, when the men on
-deck sighted a bizarre new war machine
-steaming out of Norfolk. Approaching
-them was a dark, monolithic vessel&mdash;decks
-awash, no masts, no sails, no sailors. C.S.S.
-(Confederate States Ship) <i>Virginia</i>, the
-much-rumored ironclad blockade-breaker,
-had finally taken the stage.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig20">
-<img src="images/i15.jpg" alt="" width="342" height="799" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Architect&rsquo;s rendering of the Charlestown machine shop&rsquo;s
-&ldquo;Great Chimney,&rdquo; 1858.</i></p>
-</div>
-<p>It was a slow, clumsy vessel, but menacing
-nevertheless. Using a full mile to gather
-momentum, <i>Virginia</i> steamed steadily
-towards the Union vessels. It passed the
-frigate <i>Congress</i> and headed straight for
-<i>Cumberland</i>, its sloping iron casement
-shedding the Union ships&rsquo; barrage of
-heavy shot and explosive shell as if they
-were &ldquo;peas from a pop-gun,&rdquo; in the words
-of a <i>Cumberland</i> sailor. But <i>Cumberland</i>,
-though clearly outmatched, could not
-avoid engagement. It was at anchor in a
-dead calm, the crew&rsquo;s wash drying in the
-rigging. The Union sailors could only take
-the punishing return fire, clear the decks
-for battle, and wait for the inevitable.</p>
-<p>Longer than <i>Cumberland</i> by half, with a
-submerged iron ram projecting from its
-bow, the approaching vessel looked to the
-Union ship&rsquo;s pilot like a &ldquo;huge, half-submerged
-crocodile.&rdquo; <i>Virginia</i> tore into
-<i>Cumberland&rsquo;s</i> bow below the waterline
-(<i>see pages <a class="pgref" href="#Page_28">28</a>-29</i>), then backed off, leaving
-its ram imbedded in a seven-foot hole.
-Both vessels now loosed volleys at point-blank
-range; dozens of <i>Cumberland&rsquo;s</i> crew
-were maimed or killed.</p>
-<p>As the vessel listed and began to sink,
-the crew abandoned ship, but 121 men&mdash;already
-dead, too hurt to save themselves,
-or firing guns to the end&mdash;went down with
-<i>Cumberland</i>. (As water flooded the gun
-deck, a young gun crew officer barely
-saved himself by squeezing through a gun-port.
-He was Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge,
-who in 1890 became commandant of
-the Charlestown Navy Yard.) Before darkness
-ended the fighting, the ironclad also
-riddled <i>Congress</i>, killing more than a hundred
-<span class="pb" id="Page_31">31</span>
-men and setting the vessel on fire.
-<i>Congress</i> burned on into the night and
-finally exploded.</p>
-<p>The frightening weapon that had handed
-the U.S. Navy its worst defeat began its
-career as the hull of a wooden steam vessel.
-A week after the surrender of Fort
-Sumter, the loss of the important Gosport
-Navy Yard at Norfolk to rebel troops
-became inevitable. Evacuating Union
-forces&mdash;under cover of <i>Cumberland</i>&mdash;burned
-and scuttled several warships to
-keep them from falling into Confederate
-hands. But some were salvageable, including
-a large steam frigate on which everything
-below the waterline was intact.
-Southern engineers converted the vessel
-into an advanced warship, removing the
-masts and topping the hull with a rooflike
-iron shell. The original name of the vessel
-they retrieved and transformed: U.S.S.
-<i>Merrimack</i>.</p>
-<p class="tb"><i>Merrimack&rsquo;s</i> reincarnation as <i>Virginia</i>
-embodied two technologies&mdash;steam and
-iron (and then steel)&mdash;that were advanced
-during the Civil War and that eventually
-defined the modern Navy. Steam engineering
-had traveled a long road of acceptance
-in the conservative Navy. By 1850,
-the year the Charlestown Navy Yard built
-its first steamer, Great Britain had built or
-converted from sail some 25 propeller and
-paddlewheel steam warships. The U.S.
-Navy had launched only seven. Steam
-engines were still considered novelties by
-many old Navy men&mdash;at best auxiliary
-power, at worst dirty and undependable
-nuisances that called for machine tenders
-rather than sailors.</p>
-<p>Their resistance was not entirely unjustified.
-There was the problem of range:
-<i>Merrimack</i>, for instance, could cruise only
-about 17 days with its coal bunker full.
-American steamers far from home had to
-depend on French or British coaling stations
-and machine shops in places like
-Hong Kong and Shanghai. Unlike self-reliant
-sail, steam alone could not meet
-the demands of distant squadrons. And in
-the early days of steam, it was no faster
-than sail: in fact it was often slower. More
-crucial, early steam engines were inefficient
-and unreliable, so captains would
-not trust them in combat. And coal took
-up valuable space needed for supplies,
-crew, and ammunition.</p>
-<p>But the main problem was that early
-steamers were driven by big, ungainly
-sidewheels that caused captains no end of
-problems (<i>see <a href="#Page_35">page 35</a></i>). They so harmed a
-vessel&rsquo;s sailing qualities that steam was of
-necessity the primary power source on
-sidewheelers&mdash;but the Navy wanted to
-use steam only as auxiliary power.</p>
-<p>Another way of employing steam power
-for propulsion was needed. The propeller
-(called a &ldquo;screw&rdquo;) was the answer, allowing
-naval steam to come into its own.
-Construction of the prototype screw sloop
-<i>Princeton</i> began in 1841, before America&rsquo;s
-first sidewheel warships even went
-into service. The Navy built only eight
-more deepwater sidewheelers before the
-famous 1854 class of six screw steamers
-(led by the Charlestown-built <i>Merrimack</i>)
-made the cumbersome vessels a footnote
-in naval history. With the advent of the
-propeller, enough problems were solved
-that auxiliary steam power became feasible
-in warships. On an 1858 cruise from
-Honolulu to Acapulco, <i>Merrimack</i>
-steamed only three days out of 32.</p>
-<p><i>Merrimack</i>, whose subsequent adventures
-we have already followed, was in the
-tradition of large American frigates like
-<i>Constitution</i>. While its engines were never
-very dependable, <i>Merrimack</i> was an
-excellent sailer, powerfully armed, and on
-its inaugural European cruise inspired
-Britain to build similar vessels with better
-engines.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_32">32</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig21">
-<img src="images/i16.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="711" />
-<p class="pcap">Merrimack <i>is launched at Charlestown in
-1855;</i> Cumberland <i>was built in the same shiphouse in 1842</i>.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_34">34</div>
-<p>The screw sloop <i>Hartford</i>, launched at
-Charlestown in 1858, was one of a follow-up
-class of steamers. (These and other
-screw steamers of the &rsquo;50s were all frigates
-and sloops; no steam ship-of-the-line was
-built at Charlestown or any other yard. As
-we have seen, the era of such large wooden
-ships was over by the time the Navy was
-converting to steam.) These were smaller
-vessels with a shallower draft&mdash;better suited
-to coastal and river operations. As Rear
-Admiral David G. Farragut&rsquo;s flagship in
-victories at New Orleans and Mobile Bay,
-<i>Hartford</i> was perhaps the most celebrated
-steamer in the Union Navy.</p>
-<p>With propellers, even the most hidebound
-captains could appreciate the better
-maneuverability steam gave them during
-combat. Gradually the tactical roles of
-steam and sail were reversed, with increasingly
-efficient and dependable steam
-engines officially becoming the primary
-power source and sail the auxiliary. As a
-matter of economy, however, American
-vessels continued to use sail whenever possible
-on long-distance cruises.</p>
-<p>Steam technology demanded a whole
-new set of skills of Charlestown&rsquo;s mechanics.
-When the steam battery <i>Fulton II</i>
-docked there in 1839, the yard could repair
-only the vessel&rsquo;s wooden components, having
-to contract work on the engine to local
-companies. But by 1845 yard personnel
-could fully service the screw sloop <i>Princeton</i>.
-While some carpenters may have
-made the transition, it is more likely that
-most of those working with steam machinery
-had a background in the field.</p>
-<p>As the yard adapted to the new age, it
-underwent a decade of modernization and
-quickened production preceding the Civil
-War. The dry dock was lengthened; gas
-lights were installed; the yard began manufacturing
-wire rope in 1857. But the most
-important improvement was a state-of-the-art
-machine shop&mdash;its 240-foot stack long a
-landmark at the yard&mdash;that replaced the
-old smithery in 1859. It contained such
-equipment as a machine that could plane a
-metal surface 10 feet square and a huge
-lathe capable of handling iron propeller
-shafts 35 feet long. The facility also helped
-the yard to incorporate a new technology
-dramatized (though not introduced) by
-C.S.S. <i>Virginia</i>: ironcladding.</p>
-<p>Sinking of large warships had rarely occurred
-in naval battle. Solid shot either
-bounced off thick wooden hulls or left a
-small, patchable hole. So warships normally
-just blasted away at each other until one
-of them, casualties mounting and its deck
-and rigging a shambles, hauled down its
-colors. Yet <i>Virginia</i> had sunk or caused to
-eventually sink two of them in two hours.
-Its ironcladding allowed it to get close
-enough to <i>Cumberland</i> to use an ancient
-but still effective technique, ramming, and
-close enough to <i>Congress</i> to pound the
-ship at close range with its broadside shot
-and big rifles. While ramming would not
-remain a tactical option, ironcladding was
-universally adopted as every naval power
-raced to design hulls that could withstand
-ever more powerful explosive shells fired
-from rifled guns (<i>see pages <a class="pgref" href="#Page_42">42</a>-43</i>).</p>
-<p>As in every war, technology helped
-shape strategy in the Civil War and strategic
-considerations helped determine how
-new technologies were applied. The
-Navy&rsquo;s major role in the war effort was to
-blockade some 3,500 miles of Southern
-coastline. The South&rsquo;s blockade runners
-were typically the most advanced examples
-of British shipbuilding, steam-powered
-sidewheelers that were often iron- or
-steel-hulled. In the first year of the war,
-only about one in eleven of these runners
-were caught (partly because sidewheelers
-were still faster than screw steamers), and
-the Union Navy continued to build, borrow,
-and buy every vessel it could to
-strengthen the blockade.</p>
-<p><span class="lr"><span class="small"><i>Continues on <a href="#Page_36">page 36</a></i></span></span></p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_35">35</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">Steam Propulsion</h4>
-<p>When steam was introduced as an auxiliary naval power
-source in the 1820s, paddle-wheels were the initial method
-of propulsion. In the late 1830s engineers began working with
-propellers&mdash;&ldquo;screws&rdquo; in naval terminology. Each technology
-had its partisans: the sidewheel provided greater combat
-maneuverability, was suited to riverine warfare, and
-presented no problems of leakage, as did the screw&rsquo;s
-underwater shaft hole. However, the exposed wheels
-were vulnerable during combat, ate up deck space needed
-for guns, hindered sail handling, and created more drag
-than a screw when the vessel was under sail. The launching
-of the screw warships H.M.S. <i>Rattler</i> in Britain and U.S.S.
-<i>Princeton</i> in the United States in 1843 signaled the coming
-ascendancy of screw propulsion. In the historic 1845 tug-of-war
-between <i>Rattler</i> and an otherwise-identical sidewheeler,
-the greater efficiency of the screw was publicly confirmed.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig22">
-<img src="images/i17.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="666" />
-<p class="pcap">SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE U.S. STEAM FRIGATE MERRIMAC.</p>
-<p class="pcapc"><i>1857 inboard plan of screw frigate</i> Merrimack. <i>Screw
-could be hoisted into a well to reduce drag when the vessel
-was under sail.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig23">
-<img src="images/i17a.jpg" alt="" width="356" height="181" />
-<p class="pcap"><span class="ss">Sidewheels:</span> good maneuverability,
-but vulnerable above the water.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig24">
-<img src="images/i17b.jpg" alt="" width="213" height="148" />
-<p class="pcap"><span class="ss">The screw:</span> more efficient, and
-protected below the waterline.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_36">36</div>
-<p>Thus when naval officers learned of the
-conversion of <i>Merrimack</i> into an armored
-blockade-breaker, they were understandably
-worried. In the debate over the type
-of vessel the Navy should develop to
-counter the Southern threat, John Ericsson&rsquo;s
-proposal for a turreted, shallow-drafted
-coastal ironclad won out over larger,
-oceangoing designs with traditional
-broadsides. His ironclad, called U.S.S.
-<i>Monitor</i>, was the prototype of the turreted
-ironclad class named after it. (While monitors
-and <i>Virginia</i>-type ironclads continued
-to meet the needs of a mostly coastal and
-riverine naval war, two broadside ironclads
-were built by the Union. One of
-them, <i>New Ironsides</i>, was quite effective.)</p>
-<p><i>Monitor</i> fought <i>Virginia</i> to a standoff the
-day after the latter sank <i>Cumberland</i>. It
-was the first clash between steam-powered
-ironclads, and the world took notice. Captain
-John Dahlgren, creator of <i>Monitor&rsquo;s</i>
-two big guns, put it succinctly: &ldquo;Now
-comes the reign of iron&mdash;and cased sloops
-are to take the place of wooden ships.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>It did not happen immediately: <i>Monitor</i>-class
-iron hulls were not very seaworthy.
-(<i>Monitor</i> sank in late 1862 while being
-towed during a storm off Cape Hatteras.)
-Wooden ships under both sail and steam
-power continued to fight the Civil War&rsquo;s
-deepwater battles, but Dahlgren&rsquo;s words
-came true after the war. The evolving iron,
-and then steel, warship incorporated elements
-from both ironclads: the deeper hull
-and superstructure of <i>Virginia</i> and, rather
-than multiple-gun broadsides, a few large
-guns in revolving <i>Monitor</i>-type turrets that
-allowed the guns to be trained without
-turning the entire vessel.</p>
-<p>Only four monitors were built by navy
-shipyards, but officers considered them
-the best produced during the war. <i>Monadnock</i>,
-a double-turreted monitor built at
-Charlestown, was generally thought the
-best of the lot and the only one of this
-class to see action. After the war, it proved
-its unusual seaworthiness by voyaging
-around Cape Horn to San Francisco.</p>
-<p>Other than <i>Monadnock</i>, ironcladding
-work at the Charlestown yard was performed
-on vessels built elsewhere,
-although the workers clad with iron the
-bulwarks of some of the double-ended
-sidewheelers built there. These vessels, a
-temporary reprieve for naval sidewheel
-technology, were designed for the narrow,
-shallow rivers of the South, allowing the
-&ldquo;brown-water&rdquo; Navy to reverse direction
-without turning around. The Charlestown
-yard built five double-enders&mdash;the biggest
-class constructed there during the war and,
-with those built at other yards, the biggest
-class of ships produced in the United
-States before World War I.</p>
-<p>The Charlestown yard had in 1858 initiated
-its first machinist apprenticeship,
-acknowledging the inevitable transformation
-of the yard&rsquo;s work. Steam had somewhat
-prepared the way for the yard&rsquo;s artisans
-to work with iron: those already
-trained as boilermakers could adapt their
-skills to ironcladding. But increasingly the
-trades related to steam machinery and
-ironcladding were formalized with titles
-and apprenticeships. Through the 1850s
-and &rsquo;60s, machinists, iron moulders, and
-boilermakers accounted for an increasingly
-large part of the workforce: from a total
-of 26 (3 percent) in 1854 to 371 (19 percent)
-in 1866. But even though such trades
-were necessary in the yard by the mid-1860s,
-they were still in the minority and
-were paid less, considered less exacting
-and more easily mastered than the old
-wooden ship trades.</p>
-<p>Samuel Cochran, a longtime employee
-at Charlestown, recalled later in life that
-when he arrived at the yard as a young
-man during the Civil War &ldquo;the majority of
-the men employed were ship carpenters
-and joiners and most of the tools they used
-were cross cut saws and axes.&rdquo; His own job
-was to turn the grindstone on which they
-were sharpened.</p>
-<p>Cochran went on to paint a vivid picture
-of the yard during the war years when
-some 3,000 workers held jobs there: the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_37">37</span>
-ordnance workers who had the dangerous
-job of retrieving powder from the magazine,
-donning canvas slippers to reduce the
-chance of sparks; the clandestine barrels of
-liquor in cellars, complete with drinking
-straws; the yard &ldquo;politicians&rdquo; who owed
-their jobs to patronage; sawyers in their
-six-foot-deep sawpits; the sailors (&ldquo;Jackies&rdquo;)
-on the receiving ships finding new
-ways to get extra grog on board.</p>
-<p>A minor labor grievance in 1861 illustrates
-how the exigencies of war changed
-the working atmosphere at the yard and
-reduced the workers&rsquo; leverage. As it had in
-1852, the government decided that yard
-employees should work sunrise to sunset
-from September to March, thus bringing
-their hours in line with those of private
-yard workers. Again the workers protested,
-although they continued to work, stating
-in their petition that they had no desire
-to hinder the government&rsquo;s campaign to
-&ldquo;crush out a foul rebellion.&rdquo; This time the
-Navy made no concessions. Two strikes in
-1862 over the same issue were half-hearted
-and futile; the longer hours remained in
-effect.</p>
-<p class="tb">The sense of urgency and focus engendered
-by war and the accelerated pace of
-technological change pushed the yard to
-extraordinary levels of production. So it
-was not surprising that with the coming of
-peace the activity here and at other yards
-fell off. But the drop was precipitous. At
-war&rsquo;s end, in sheer numbers and in engine
-technology, the U.S. fleet compared favorably
-with those of the European powers.
-In the weeks after Appomattox, however,
-the fleet shrank dramatically and continued
-to decline thereafter. In the postwar
-economic and political climate, the government&rsquo;s
-priorities shifted. Massive funds
-were needed for reconstruction of the
-southern states and for war-deferred developments
-of the nation&rsquo;s interior. The
-Navy would have to wait.</p>
-<p>European navies, though, were riding
-the new wave of technology. In the 1870s
-their warships began to shed their sailing
-rigs as steam power became routine technology.
-But in America the old guard
-reasserted itself in peace, and there was a
-reaction against steam. After 1869, all
-naval vessels, steam or not, were required
-to have &ldquo;full sail power,&rdquo; and captains
-were on notice that they would pay for
-any coal they consumed other than for
-emergencies. Four-bladed propellers were
-replaced with two blades to reduce drag
-when under sail&mdash;with a corresponding
-loss of steaming efficiency.</p>
-<p>As the British and European navies
-rapidly converted to lighter and stronger
-iron and then steel hulls on their largest
-ships, virtually all U.S. vessels built in the
-1860s and &rsquo;70s were wooden-hulled
-(although some of these contained iron
-bracing). Even as late as 1885, the <i>Army
-and Navy Journal</i> asserted that &ldquo;a
-staunch, fast wooden vessel is still the best
-for cruising purposes.&rdquo; But while wooden-hulled
-U.S. naval vessels were generally
-acknowledged to be fine examples of their
-kind, many were well past their prime:
-<i>Independence</i>, for example, flagship of the
-first Mediterranean squadron, had been a
-receiving ship at Mare Island Navy Yard
-in California since 1857.</p>
-<p>It was not only romantic tradition that
-kept naval shipbuilding in its antebellum
-condition. Burning coal in warships cost
-money; the wind, if not as dependable,
-was free. Sails continued to make good
-sense on long-distance cruises. America
-still had no foreign coaling stations to support
-a distant steam fleet, and isolationist
-sentiment hindered their acquisition.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_38">38</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig25">
-<img src="images/i18.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="448" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Marines guard the entrance to Charlestown Navy Yard in 1874. The gate
-no longer exists, but the building at right, dating to 1813, still stands.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig26">
-<img src="images/i18a.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="450" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Workers in the gun park, 1890s, load cannon and cannonballs onto a cart.
-Dry dock and carpenter shop can be seen in the background.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig27">
-<img src="images/i18b.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="448" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>A baseball team of yard workers poses for its picture in front of the machine
-shop, about 1905.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_39">39</div>
-<p>For the same political and strategic reasons,
-America&rsquo;s was a cruising navy, made
-up of ships not intended for naval battle
-but for scouting, showing the flag, and
-commerce raiding. Wooden hulls sufficed
-for such roles. The government and private
-enterprise continued to look inland,
-and iron was used instead for rails and
-bridges to speed westward expansion. In
-any case, American metallurgy lagged
-behind that of Britain, while diminishing
-timber supplies made British designers
-look to alternate hull materials&mdash;not the
-case in the United States.</p>
-<p>If the Navy in general and navy yards in
-particular declined in the 1870s, Charlestown&rsquo;s
-relative position was strong. From
-after the war to the early &rsquo;80s, Charlestown
-was the second most productive yard
-after New York. A large number of vessels
-came to the yard for repair&mdash;mostly
-wooden vessels with steam engines. To
-service these ships, Charlestown in the
-1870s continued to hire more machinists,
-engineers, boilermakers, and patternmakers
-while retaining a solid contingent of
-wooden ship tradesmen.</p>
-<p>Few new vessels were launched from
-any yard in this period. In the last three
-decades of the century Charlestown constructed
-three&mdash;all in 1874. The screw
-sloops <i>Vandalia</i> and <i>Adams</i> were
-launched on successive days, the latter
-(constructed at the yard by a private shipbuilder)
-being the last wooden warship
-laid down by the Navy. A few months earlier
-the yard had launched its first iron-hulled
-vessel, the torpedo ram <i>Intrepid</i>.
-But it was not part of a general transition
-to iron. The Navy built only four other
-iron-hulled vessels, none of them major
-warships. The 1874 launchings at the
-Charlestown yard reflected the U.S.
-Navy&rsquo;s lukewarm and indecisive response
-to changing naval technology.</p>
-<p>The yard by 1880 had changed little
-since the improvements of the &rsquo;50s. It had
-greater capacity now with four shiphouses
-and two building ways, but the physical
-plant also reflected the technological limbo
-into which the Navy had settled. There
-was a coaling wharf to service steamers
-and a new rolling mill for iron plate. But
-the large sail loft and wet timber dock were
-still very much in use, and oxen still pulled
-the timbers from dock to sawmill.</p>
-<p>The dry dock was occupied by <i>Hartford</i>
-in 1879-80. It was receiving new engines
-after long tours in the 1860s and &rsquo;70s on Far
-Eastern stations. Its two-year stay in the
-dock&mdash;longer than normally needed for
-such a job&mdash;testified to the general state of
-affairs. The shrinking fleet had reduced the
-work load and slowed the pace at the yard.
-Under such conditions it was cheaper to
-use a smaller crew and take longer to do
-the work.</p>
-<p>That the Navy was willing to give this
-much attention to so honored a ship as
-<i>Hartford</i> is understandable. But it symbolized
-the fact that it was only putting off the
-inevitable&mdash;modernization. By the early
-1880s the U.S. Navy floundered in the
-wake of Europe&rsquo;s navies&mdash;the victim of
-limited funds, tradition-bound officers,
-political neglect, and popular indifference.
-There were but 48 decaying vessels in commission,
-most at a Civil War or even prewar
-level of technology. On top of the other
-problems, the corruption associated with
-the administration of Ulysses S. Grant had
-touched the Navy&mdash;including the Charlestown
-yard&mdash;in the late 1870s. Here, as at
-other yards, politicians found jobs for men
-who were then expected to vote as they
-were told. It is easy to see why one historian
-has characterized this period as the &ldquo;low
-water mark&rdquo; of the Navy.</p>
-<p>There were rumors of yard closings.
-Nothing happened immediately, but less
-and less work came to Charlestown. Then,
-in 1883, the Navy suspended all repair and
-construction work at the yard and reduced
-its role to manufacturing. So began hard
-times at Charlestown Navy Yard, during
-which it came perilously close to shutting
-down altogether.</p>
-<p><span class="lr"><span class="small"><i>Continues on <a href="#Page_45">page 45</a></i></span></span></p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_40">40</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">The Yard&rsquo;s First Dry Dock</h4>
-<p>Before dry docks came into use in the 16th century, the only way to service a ship&rsquo;s
-hull was to &ldquo;careen&rdquo; it&mdash;heave it over on its side, still floating
-(<i>see pages <a href="#Page_6">6-7</a></i>), or laying in the mud at low tide. It was difficult
-and time-consuming and put great strain on the hull. The answer was the dry dock.
-The concept is simple: float the vessel into a three-sided basin, then close the seaward
-end and remove all the water. The vessel settles on a cradle, its hull accessible. To undock:
-reflood the basin, open the seaward end and float the vessel out. But the concept&rsquo;s execution
-required a finely-engineered complex of masonry, engines, pumps, reservoir, tunnels, culverts, valves, and
-gates&mdash;in effect a huge well-coordinated machine. The Charlestown dry dock and the
-one built concurrently at Norfolk, Va., were the first such naval structures in the country.
-Six years under construction, the Charlestown dock was inaugurated in 1833 with
-the docking of Constitution. It was 305 feet long (extended in
-1856 to 370 feet and again in 1948 to 398 feet), 60 feet wide, and 30 feet deep&mdash;the Navy&rsquo;s
-largest dry dock until the 1890s. It took the original eight pumps four to five hours
-to empty the tremendous basin. Other operations were to some extent governed by
-Boston Harbor&rsquo;s 10-foot tide. After the dock was enlarged the water level did not rise as
-rapidly as the tide during filling, so it took two high tides to do the job.
-For emptying and filling, the caisson was filled with water and sunk in place between
-grooves in the dock walls. For docking and undocking, the caisson was emptied and
-floated out of the way on the high tide (<i>see inset</i>). It took 24
-men working hand pumps for an hour and a half to expel the water from the caisson. The
-original wooden caisson lasted until 1901, when the steel caisson still in use today was completed.</p>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/i19.jpg" alt="The Yard&rsquo;s First Dry Dock" width="1000" height="679" />
-</div>
-<p><b>1.</b> After its 1858 launching, U.S.S. <i>Hartford</i> is docked
-for installation of its steam engine. To empty the dock, workers opened the discharge
-gates (A), releasing water to flow (<i>red arrows</i>) down discharge
-culverts (B) (on both sides of dock) to fill the reservoir (C).</p>
-<p><b>2.</b> The pumphouse (D), its steam engine driving two pumps in underground
-wells (E), pumped the water from the dock via the reservoir and sent it through an underground
-culvert back to the harbor.</p>
-<p><b>3.</b> To fill the dock, the discharge gates were closed and the filling
-gates (F) were opened. Water flowed (<i>green arrows</i>) first to wells (G), then
-into the dock through the same culverts used to empty it.</p>
-<dl class="undent pcap"><dt>Steam windlass</dt>
-<dt>Timber dock</dt>
-<dt>Swing gates (backed up caisson)</dt>
-<dt>Caisson (&ldquo;floating gate&rdquo;)</dt></dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_42">42</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">Ironclad Technology</h4>
-<p>The clash of ships at sea
-embodies the ongoing technological
-battle between arms
-and armor: between deploying
-ever more destructive
-weapons and contriving ways
-to withstand them. As long as
-solid shot was the only way to
-attack a ship&rsquo;s hull, heavy timbers
-were usually armor
-enough. Big wooden warships
-were rarely sunk by even the
-heaviest shot. (<i>Constitution</i> is
-a particularly good example.)
-But the rules of the game
-changed with the coming of
-more powerful and more
-accurate guns, and especially
-with the development of the
-practical explosive shell in the
-19th century. A shell could
-open a gaping hole in a
-heretofore impervious wooden
-hull. By 1860 France and
-then Britain had begun building
-ironclads. In Britain, especially,
-the rising cost of diminishing
-timber supplies was
-another incentive to experiment
-with iron, both as armor
-and for structural elements of
-the hull. But in the United
-States, wood was still cheaper
-than iron. Also, though the
-country had earlier experimented
-with ironcladding, the
-Navy resisted the new technology,
-putting emphasis on
-speed rather than armor. But
-it quickly made up for lost
-time after the beginning of the
-Civil War. The Confederacy
-took the lead, for the same
-reason that the United States
-had built &ldquo;super-frigates&rdquo; at
-the end of the 18th century. A
-country that could afford only
-a small navy had to build
-state-of-the-art warships. The
-blockade-breaker C.S.S. <i>Virginia</i>
-showed the lethal effectiveness
-of its ironcladding on
-its first outing (<i>see <a href="#Page_28">page 28</a></i>).
-The next day U.S.S. <i>Monitor</i>
-fought <i>Virginia</i> to a draw in the
-first battle between ironclads
-(<i>right</i>). The encounter spurred
-European navies to accelerate
-their ironclad programs, but
-new breech-loading rifled
-guns were demonstrating
-greater armor-piercing ability.
-In response iron, and then
-steel, armor was made thicker
-and harder, leading to still
-more powerful guns. The gun
-designers generally stayed a
-step ahead, with the biggest
-guns able to penetrate the
-thickest armor.</p>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/i19b.jpg" alt="Monitor and Virginia" width="700" height="437" />
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig28">
-<img src="images/i20.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="461" />
-<p class="pcap"><span class="ss">Inside a Turret</span></p>
-</div>
-<dl class="undent"><dt>Pilot house (did not rotate)</dt>
-<dt>Turret (23-foot diameter inside) rotated on central spindle</dt>
-<dt>Ammunition gantry</dt>
-<dt>Two 15-inch Dahlgren guns</dt>
-<dt>Ammunition</dt></dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_43">43</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig29">
-<img src="images/i20a.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="241" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>The monitor</i> Monadnock <i>(all turreted ironclads were
-designated monitors) was built at the Charlestown yard
-in 1862-63. The only monitor built there, it was quite successful,
-described by Admiral David Dixon Porter as
-&ldquo;the best monitor afloat.&rdquo;</i></p>
-</div>
-<dl class="undent pcap"><dt>Ventilation shaft</dt>
-<dt>Auxiliary steering position</dt>
-<dt>Shot locker</dt>
-<dt>Ericsson engine</dt>
-<dt>Stokers&rsquo; quarters</dt>
-<dt>Coal bunk</dt>
-<dt>Funnel (5-inch armor)</dt>
-<dt>Officer&rsquo;s quarters</dt>
-<dt>Boilers</dt>
-<dt>Crew&rsquo;s quarters</dt>
-<dt>Turret rotation gearing</dt>
-<dt>Stores</dt>
-<dt>Chain locker</dt></dl>
-<dl class="undent pcap"><dt>Specifications:</dt>
-<dd>Length overall: 259.5 ft.</dd>
-<dd>Beam (width): 52.5 ft.</dd>
-<dd>Displacement: 3295 tons</dd>
-<dd>Draft: 12 ft., 8 in.</dd>
-<dd>Armor: turrets, 10 in.; pilothouses, 8 in.; over wooden hull, 3-5 in.; deck, 1.5 in.</dd>
-<dd>Engines: Two Ericsson 1426 HP steam engines, 32-in. cylinders; four boilers</dd>
-<dd>Screws: Two 4-bladed screws, 10-ft. diameter</dd>
-<dd>Speed: 9 knots</dd>
-<dd>Crew: 167</dd>
-<dd>Armament: Four 15-in. Dahlgren smoothbore muzzle-loading guns; fired shot or shell</dd></dl>
-<div class="img" id="fig30">
-<img src="images/i20c.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="528" />
-<p class="pcap">Layers of Protection</p>
-</div>
-<dl class="undent pcap"><dt><span class="ss">1</span> Typical ironcladding had wooden backing up to three feet thick.</dt>
-<dt><span class="ss">2</span> A layer of India rubber or felt might be added to help absorb shock and retard corrosion.</dt>
-<dt><span class="ss">3</span> The cladding was often made up of laminated one-inch iron plates.</dt>
-<dt><span class="ss">4</span> Tallow was sometimes applied to the outer surface on the theory that it helped deflect shot.</dt></dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_44">44</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig31">
-<img src="images/i21.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="788" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Light battleship U.S.S.</i> Maine <i>on its first cruise in 1895</i>. Maine,
-<i>part of the new steel navy, blew up in Havana Harbor in 1898 under circumstances still
-unclear. The resulting Spanish-American War ended Spain&rsquo;s days as a colonial
-power and made a popular hero of Theodore Roosevelt, who resigned as Assistant
-Secretary of the Navy to serve in Cuba.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_45">45</div>
-<h3 id="c5">The New Navy</h3>
-<p>On first looking into the cavernous interior
-of Shiphouse I, a visitor during the winter
-of 1884 would have gotten the impression
-that Charlestown was a busy shipyard.
-Workers crawled over the almost
-completed ship-of-the-line <i>Virginia</i>, swinging
-hammers, sawing, pumping hydraulic
-jacks&mdash;apparently applying the finishing
-touches. But behind the house, growing
-piles of four-foot lengths of wood told a
-different story. The workers were breaking
-up the old 74. <i>Virginia</i> had occupied
-the shiphouse for more than 60 years,
-through all but the first two of the yard&rsquo;s
-launchings. Back in 1824, <i>Virginia</i> had
-been within two months of making its own
-trip down the ways. Now its day had
-passed, and its great timbers were being
-reduced to firewood and sold at auction.</p>
-<p>Outside the shiphouse, very few workers could have been found among the silent
-buildings. Charlestown was a moribund yard, barely functioning since its repair
-and construction duties had been suspended the year before. Only the manufacturing
-divisions still showed signs of life. In 1886 the yard would be officially converted
-to a facility that manufactured equipment&mdash;especially rope&mdash;for vessels built
-and repaired elsewhere.</p>
-<p>The yard was also stripped of much of its
-equipment and ordered to sell the vessels
-in ordinary. Repair work fell to an all-time
-low: between the 1883 docking of the
-Charlestown-built double-ender <i>Talapoosa</i>
-and 1890, the dry dock was used
-exactly five times to do repair work for the
-U.S. Navy&mdash;once on the yard tug and four
-times on the floating gate for the dry dock.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_46">46</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig32">
-<img src="images/i22.jpg" alt="" width="487" height="799" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Joiner Shop foreman George W. Burroughs, about 1901.</i></p>
-</div>
-<p>New construction was out of the question.
-The yard had known for years that
-the vessels already in the shiphouses and
-on the building ways (labeled &ldquo;Rotten
-Row&rdquo; by a local newspaper in 1882) would
-never be launched. So it came as no surprise
-that the order closing the yard also
-condemned <i>Virginia</i>, two wooden steamers,
-and a monitor&mdash;the latter three laid
-down during the Civil War. Still, it was disheartening
-that in the early 1880s a yard
-that had built and repaired ships was
-reduced to taking them apart.</p>
-<p>At least the dismantling of vessels provided
-employment for the workers, who at
-this point felt quite vulnerable. Throughout
-the 1880s, &ldquo;suspension&rdquo; (being laid off)
-was always hanging over their heads. More
-than 500 men were employed at the yard
-when work was halted in mid-1883. There
-were around 300 by the end of the year
-and their ranks continued to thin, averaging
-less than 200 until 1888&mdash;most of them
-ropemakers, machinists, laborers, and
-watchmen.</p>
-<p>Until World War I, jobs connected with
-supply would remain more stable than
-those related to construction and repair. In
-the late 1880s and &rsquo;90s, managers found
-ways to transfer men in the latter trades to
-other divisions within the yard in order to
-keep their services on call. But in the early
-&rsquo;80s the yard could find virtually no work
-for men skilled in the craft of wooden shipbuilding&mdash;formerly
-the elite of the workforce.
-After <i>Virginia</i> and the other vessels
-had been turned into stacks of wood, those
-who had done the work were sent home.</p>
-<p class="tb">Now let us look ahead some three decades
-to 1917, by which time we find a yard dramatically
-transformed. Eleven wharves
-described a great arc at the confluence of
-the Charles and Mystic Rivers. The familiar
-old shiphouses had been replaced by a
-large shipbuilding ways and steel plate
-storage yards. The timber basin that had
-<span class="pb" id="Page_47">47</span>
-long dominated the center of the yard was
-gone, replaced by a new dry dock twice as
-long as the first one. The other timber
-basin at the east end of the yard had been
-filled in and was now the site of gas and
-oil tanks, a locomotive shed, and a gas
-plant for acetylene torches.</p>
-<p>It was a vital place, showing an intensity
-not seen since the Civil War. In fact it was
-again a wartime yard: after almost three
-years of neutrality the United States had
-entered the global conflict that was later
-called World War I. Some 4,500 workers
-worked two ten-hour shifts or around the
-clock in three eight-hour shifts, answering
-to a steam whistle instead of the bell that
-had summoned 19th-century yard workers.
-The wharves and docks were crowded
-with three- and four-stacker steel ships,
-some carrying the towering cage masts
-that were a short-lived experiment of the
-period. On the building ways, workers had
-laid the keel of the fuel ship <i>Brazos</i>.</p>
-<p>Electric lights illuminated the thousands
-of men working on ships through the
-night. Vessels under repair were alive with
-the flare of welding torches and the tattoo
-of pneumatic rivet guns. Over them
-moved the arms of great cranes, including
-a 150-ton floating derrick and a colossus
-that traveled on tracks between dry docks.
-Materials and equipment were transported
-by yard locomotives that had replaced
-the oxen (although horses still did service).
-A mechanized coaling plant near
-the old dry dock helped ease the dirty and
-arduous task of fueling ships. But it was
-apparently undependable, and at times
-ships were coaled the old way.</p>
-<p>Charlestown&rsquo;s main responsibility was
-repairing the warships of a greatly enlarged
-fleet: steel destroyers, armored
-cruisers and battleships, submarines, and
-wooden sub chasers. The yard also outfitted
-and commissioned new vessels, converted
-civilian vessels to wartime use,
-armed merchantmen, and altered seized
-German passenger liners to transport U.S.
-troops to France.</p>
-<p>More work came to the yard in 1917-18
-than in any other comparable period in its
-history before World War II. Some 450
-vessels were serviced during those two
-years. In addition Charlestown was a supply
-depot and embarkation point. In all,
-an average of 50 ships a day arrived at or
-departed from the yard during the war.</p>
-<p>By 1918 some 10,000 skilled workers,
-laborers, and clericals worked at Charlestown.
-Reflecting the growth of the labor
-movement over the last three decades,
-many of them belonged to trade unions
-(although they could neither strike nor be
-represented by the unions in wage negotiations).
-Women working at the yard were
-mostly naval yeomen, but a few worked as
-radio and telephone operators, radio electricians,
-and ropewalk machine tenders.</p>
-<p>Yard employees worked in 17 trade
-shops, the names of which characterized
-the needs of modern steel shipbuilding:
-Shipfitters (including riveters, drillers,
-welders, sheet metal workers); Electrical;
-Pattern (for cast metals); Chain; Copper/Pipefitting;
-and other skills employed
-in raising a steel ship.</p>
-<p>Some of the old familiar shops survived
-in reduced or altered roles. The sail loft
-now produced mostly canvas bags, pea
-jackets, and hammocks. The riggers loft
-had become a versatile shop responsible
-for an array of shipyard tasks. They still
-worked aloft on stacks and steel masts;
-directed dry docking and crane operations;
-prepared shipways for launchings;
-dove beneath ships in hardhat diving suits;
-and continued to do the traditional rigger&rsquo;s
-handiwork, such as the braided rope
-fenders that protected ships&rsquo; hulls and the
-fancy leatherwork and ropework still
-common on naval vessels. The workers in
-the joiner shop worked on the small
-wooden boats built at the yard, but spent
-much of their time making shipboard furniture.
-The ropewalk continued to turn
-out the large quantities of rope still needed
-on steel ships.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_48">48</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig33">
-<img src="images/i23.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="451" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>These young
-women were working as civilian clerks for the Navy when the U.S. entered World War I. Overnight
-they became Yeomen-F (female) naval personnel. (Yeomen is the naval term for clerical workers.)</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig34">
-<img src="images/i23a.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="446" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Joiners were skilled workers in wood and traditionally
-the elite of the yard workforce. Even in the early days of steel ships, they
-remained among the highest paid of the workers. Here joiners are photographed in
-their shop, about 1897.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig35">
-<img src="images/i23b.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="449" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Yard&rsquo;s floating crane, shown here
-in 1913, could lift 150 tons. Dry Dock 1 is visible in left background.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_49">49</div>
-<p>The traditional shipyard hierarchy was
-virtually unchanged: the crews of mechanics,
-apprentices, and laborers were headed
-by leadingmen; several leadingmen were
-supervised by quartermen; and the quartermen
-were under a chief quarterman or
-they answered directly to the master who
-headed the shop.</p>
-<p>Unlike the hard times of the 1880s, the
-employees at Charlestown had reason to
-feel secure. Civil Service reforms of the
-&rsquo;90s had already gone a long way toward
-making merit, not political advantage, the
-criterion for hiring and firing. And now, in
-the hour of war, the Navy wanted to keep
-its shipyard workers. In the months before
-the United States entered the conflict,
-officials had worried that employees
-swept up in the popular sentiment for preparedness
-would enlist. Secretary of the
-Navy Josephus Daniels declared it the
-&ldquo;patriotic duty&rdquo; of the workers to remain
-at the yard, asserting that &ldquo;their services
-to their country ... [are] as important as if
-they were actually in the field.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>When the draft was initiated in 1917, the
-Navy responded by gaining exemptions
-for crucial classes of yard workers such as
-supervisors, draftsmen, and skilled mechanics
-and their helpers. The military draft
-gave new meaning to the yard&rsquo;s &ldquo;six-muster&rdquo;
-rule, by which any worker missing
-six successive roll calls for any reason
-could be fired. One week after any worker
-was dismissed, the yard informed his
-draft board.</p>
-<p>The demand for workers and the boosted
-war economy drove up wages. No
-doubt prompted by this incentive and by
-the exemption policy, some 240,000 men
-applied for work at the yard in 1917-18.
-But while Charlestown didn&rsquo;t lack for
-applicants, filling the most skilled positions
-was a continuing problem. To remedy
-this (and to help workers gain exemptions),
-the yard cut a year from the term
-of apprenticeship and established a trade
-school to train unskilled workers as
-mechanics.</p>
-<p class="tb">While World War I sped up Charlestown&rsquo;s
-evolution from naval backwater to
-modern shipyard, other factors had set the
-process in motion. Time and expected
-technological advances accounted for
-some of it. But the transition was accelerated
-at the yard by a larger transformation
-of the Navy, prompted by the country&rsquo;s
-position in a changing world and
-completed on the stage of the Spanish-American
-War.</p>
-<p>Historians have tagged this transformation
-the &ldquo;New Navy.&rdquo; If we simply compare
-the numbers of the 1880 Navy, when
-its aging fleet of wooden vessels ranked
-12th in the world, to that of the 1900
-Navy, when there were in commission or
-on the stocks 17 steel battleships and a
-number of armored cruisers, the label
-&ldquo;new&rdquo; is certainly accurate. But there was
-more to this than simply building new
-steel ships to catch up to Europe. The
-Navy&rsquo;s mission underwent a strategic shift
-in this 20-year period.</p>
-<p>The early phase involved a strengthening
-of the Navy&rsquo;s capacity to carry out its
-mission. For a century its job had been to
-defend the shores and to ensure that other
-navies allowed American merchant vessels
-free trade anywhere in the world. Its
-tactical traditions were one-on-one
-engagements and hit-and-run commerce
-raiding. But it was clear by the early 1880s
-that the U.S. Navy was inadequate for
-even these limited operations. Reformers
-could point to obvious deficiencies as
-European navies converted to armored
-steel hulls in the 1870s and &rsquo;80s. The old
-wooden navy had become a disgrace.</p>
-<p>Powerful voices were raised in the
-House Naval Affairs Committee, and in
-<span class="pb" id="Page_50">50</span>
-1883 Congress appropriated money for
-the steel cruisers <i>Atlanta</i>, <i>Boston</i>, and
-<i>Chicago</i>, and the dispatch vessel <i>Dolphin</i>.
-These vessels could still spread a large
-area of sail, and by European standards
-were not formidable, but the so-called
-&ldquo;ABCD&rdquo; ships were the core of the New
-Navy, the first small step towards making
-the United States a true sea power.</p>
-<p>For Charlestown, they were a mixed
-blessing. The New Navy&rsquo;s need for maintenance
-and repair bode well for the
-future, but the immediate effect was devastating.
-For the same legislation that
-authorized new ships also established a
-new criterion for repairing existing vessels.
-Only repairs that cost less than 30%
-(later reduced to 20%) of the cost of a
-new ship of the same size could be performed.
-This freed up funds to build the
-new ships, but it also meant so little work
-for shipyards that both repair and construction
-work at Charlestown and three
-other yards was suspended.</p>
-<p>In its new role as manufacturing center,
-the yard kept the ropewalk, rigging loft,
-and sail loft open. The forge began producing
-chain and anchors for the new
-steel ships. But even these activities were
-sporadic until later in the decade. A survey
-done one March day in 1884 showed
-that the ropewalk was spinning rope for
-<i>Dolphin</i>&mdash;literally the only thing done
-that day to help put warships to sea.</p>
-<p>During the worst years of the 1880s the
-ropewalk almost singlehandedly kept the
-yard alive. It made itself an indispensable
-facility by supplying virtually all of the
-Navy&rsquo;s rope. Other shops followed its
-lead, and by 1890 the Charlestown yard
-had become an important general manufacturing
-center, the only naval shipyard
-producing rope, sail, anchors, and chain.
-It was still unable to service ships, however.
-In August 1890 <i>Chicago</i> was directed
-to the yard for repairs, only to turn back
-because the old dry dock wasn&rsquo;t in good
-enough condition to accept the steel
-cruiser. &ldquo;Repairs to engine bolts&rdquo; for
-<i>Boston</i> typified the kind of task the yard
-could perform.</p>
-<p>But 1890 also marked the beginning of
-the yard&rsquo;s rebirth. Congress appropriated
-$152,000 for new machine tools and modernization
-of Charlestown&rsquo;s crumbling
-facilities. It wasn&rsquo;t enough to remake the
-yard, but it was a start. It was also the
-year that Commander Alfred Thayer
-Mahan, president of the Naval War College
-and one-time aide to the Charlestown
-Navy Yard commandant, published
-<i>The Influence of Sea Power Upon History,
-1660-1783</i>. This important book
-helped to stimulate the world-wide
-buildup of naval forces prior to World
-War I. His thesis (greatly simplified) was
-as follows: A combination of geography,
-population size, and &ldquo;national character&rdquo;
-makes a great seafaring nation. Essential
-to the continued well-being of such a
-nation is a government that actively promotes
-a vigorous maritime commerce.
-&ldquo;Sea power&rdquo;&mdash;command of the sea
-lanes&mdash;protects this commerce. Only
-large concentrated fleets of capital ships
-able to engage and destroy the enemy&rsquo;s
-navy can create and maintain sea power.</p>
-<p>Mahan&rsquo;s influence, both as author and
-adviser to the Secretary of the Navy, was
-pivotal. His writings strengthened the
-hand of imperialists and reformers who
-had called for new strategic thinking. The
-United States, they reasoned, was a growing
-industrial power with increasing overseas
-interests, and some&mdash;among them
-Mahan disciple and future Assistant Secretary
-of the Navy and President Theodore
-Roosevelt&mdash;believed the nation
-should have a navy befitting its role, one
-able to open markets, protect those economic
-interests, and project U.S. power.</p>
-<p>In a burst of enthusiasm recalling that
-for the ship-of-the-line at the end of the
-War of 1812, Congress in 1890 authorized
-<span class="pb" id="Page_51">51</span>
-the country&rsquo;s first full-sized battleships.
-They represented enormous commitments
-of resources, time, and money.
-Called &ldquo;coastline&rdquo; battleships to placate
-still powerful coast defense advocates,
-they were nevertheless another step in the
-United States&rsquo; emergence by the turn of
-the century as a world power with a widening
-sphere of influence. The Navy kept
-its faith in battleships until their vulnerability
-to air power and the superiority of
-aircraft carriers as attack weapons were
-demonstrated in World War II.</p>
-<p>Although a succession of battleships,
-cruisers, submarines, and other vessels
-were now being laid down, Charlestown
-didn&rsquo;t immediately reap the benefits. The
-majority of the warships launched between
-1883 and 1905 were built by contract
-in private yards, and Charlestown
-built none of them. For most of the 1890s,
-the yard continued to be primarily a manufacturing
-facility. The New Navy&rsquo;s hulls
-did account for much of the yard&rsquo;s repair
-work. Steel hulls didn&rsquo;t rot, but they more
-easily fouled with barnacles and seaweed
-than a coppered wooden hull and were
-less resistant to corrosion than iron. Maintaining
-them became the Charlestown
-yard&rsquo;s bread and butter.</p>
-<p>The Spanish-American War broke this
-pattern, making Charlestown once again a
-repair yard. Besides the new warships the
-United States was trying out against the
-Spanish navy, there was also the &ldquo;mosquito
-fleet&rdquo; (old monitors, converted yachts,
-and other small craft used for coastal
-defense during the war) to be maintained
-and repaired. In all some 50 vessels were
-serviced by 1,200-1,400 workers.</p>
-<p>To beef up its workforce for war, the
-yard began hiring more foreign workers,
-especially from Scandinavian countries
-with shipbuilding traditions. Charlestown
-thereafter maintained a workforce averaging
-over 2,000 during the two decades
-before World War I&mdash;compared to the
-fewer than 400 workers there through
-most of the 1890s. The Spanish-American
-War was pivotal, marking a permanent
-expansion in the size and diversity of the
-Charlestown workforce.</p>
-<p>At war&rsquo;s end the United States was recognized
-as a world power with attendant
-responsibilities. This new status was symbolized
-by the establishment of a coaling
-station in the recently acquired Philippines.
-The capital ship building program
-continued apace&mdash;given renewed vigor by
-President Theodore Roosevelt, staunch
-advocate of big ships and a strong navy.</p>
-<p>The yard continued to be mainly a
-repair facility with a steadily increasing
-workload. The new 750-foot Dry Dock 2,
-authorized three months after the sinking
-of <i>Maine</i>, was built to receive the Navy&rsquo;s
-biggest ships. But soon after the massive
-structure&rsquo;s 1905 completion, Britain
-launched H.M.S. <i>Dreadnought</i>, ushering
-in an even larger class of battleship the
-dock could not accommodate.</p>
-<p>In this period the yard specialized in the
-smaller battleships and the newest type of
-warship: destroyers. These fast, versatile
-ships had evolved from British &ldquo;torpedo
-boat destroyers&rdquo; built in the 1880s to
-counter the new torpedo boats. The mobile
-torpedo, also developed in Britain,
-was a self-propelled explosive device
-launched from a warship&rsquo;s deck, traveling
-underwater to open the hull of its target.</p>
-<p class="tb">Developments in naval technology from
-the 1880s to the eve of World War II
-included nothing quite so dramatic as the
-epochal shifts from sail to steam and
-wood to iron, but the period saw advances
-in strategic weapons such as submarines
-and aircraft carriers, and major innovations
-that resulted in ships and shipbuilding
-essentially like what we see today. In
-the period before the age of flight, sophisticated
-warships were highly visible
-embodiments of the state of a nation&rsquo;s
-technology, and the rapidly expanding
-U.S. fleet was an unmistakable sign of its
-growing industrial and technological
-prominence.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_52">52</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig36">
-<img src="images/i24.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="726" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Charlestown&rsquo;s machine shop in 1913.
-Overhead belts transferred power from a central steam
-engine to the machines. The potentially hazardous belts
-were later replaced with electric motors on each machine.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_54">54</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig37">
-<img src="images/i25.jpg" alt="" width="641" height="800" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Lathe operator shapes steam
-turbine rotor for destroyer
-tender Whitney in 1923.</i></p>
-</div>
-<p>The major innovations were again in
-hull material and propulsion. The transition
-from iron to steel hulls further liberated
-naval engineers. Lighter, stronger,
-and less brittle, steel allowed them more
-play in hull size and proportions. Despite
-extensive use of ironclads by the United
-States during the Civil War, its navy
-essentially skipped the iron stage in
-seagoing warships, moving from <i>Hartford</i>-type
-wooden steamers to the steel
-ABCD ships of 1883. While the Charlestown
-yard launched no steel warships
-until the 1930s, it did construct the tug
-<i>Pentucket</i> (1903) and training bark <i>Cumberland</i>
-(1904), both steel-hulled.</p>
-<p>As steam engines grew more efficient
-in the 1880s and &rsquo;90s, sailing rigs were
-made smaller and vestigial masts served
-mainly as radio antennae and platforms
-for directing big guns. But a revolution in
-steam technology sent reciprocating
-engines the way of masts on most large
-naval vessels. Steam turbines, which were
-much more efficient at sustained high
-speeds, were developed in the 1880s in
-Europe and used in 1905 on <i>Dreadnought</i>.
-In America they became truly
-practical during the World War I period.</p>
-<p>Along with the introduction of turbines
-came an innovation in the fuel that powered
-them. During the 1890s oil was
-introduced, used in combination with
-coal. By 1910 the United States had built
-its first all oil-burning warship. Besides
-providing greater power more quickly,
-oil needed less storage space and fewer
-engine room hands than coal.</p>
-<p>These advances and refinements completed
-the evolution of the U.S. Navy
-warship from wooden-hulled sailing vessel
-to powered steel ship. But perfecting
-the new technology was not the only
-<span class="pb" id="Page_55">55</span>
-challenge associated with the transition.
-The demands of modern naval design
-provoked growing controversy over how
-work should be performed at naval shipyards
-and how those yards should be
-organized. Charlestown Navy Yard
-played a central role in the debate.</p>
-<p>Since 1868 the nation&rsquo;s naval shipyards had each been organized into departments
-corresponding to those at the Navy Department level. Each department
-head, though nominally under the yard commandant, really worked for his boss
-in Washington. So each department became in effect a separate plant protecting
-its own interests and budget. When a yard built relatively simple wooden-hulled
-ships powered by steam engines, the tasks of the Construction and Steam
-Engineering departments differed enough that there was little overlap. The old organization
-was not then a problem. But as warships became complex, integrated
-machines the system broke down, providing little coordination between departments
-and a great deal of duplication. By 1910 it was grossly wasteful and inefficient,
-a public scandal.</p>
-<p>At about the same time as reformers were calling for a shakeup of naval shipyards,
-the phrase &ldquo;scientific management&rdquo; was being bandied about. Everyone
-recognized that the 19th-century industrial system, while highly successful,
-had to be managed differently to best incorporate 20th-century technology. The
-most famous of the new management systems was that of Frederick Winslow Taylor.
-Taylor&rsquo;s system called for the strict application of scientific methods to industrial
-management and organization in order to produce the maximum output.
-Specifically, efficiency experts would study workers&rsquo; tasks and break them
-down into their smallest components; perform time-and-motion studies to eliminate
-wasteful motions and determine the optimum time in which a task should be
-completed; and offer wage incentives and penalties for meeting or falling short of
-the new standards. There would be no reason for bargaining or for unions since
-non-debatable scientific principles, rather than human foibles and emotions, would
-govern management decisions.</p>
-<p>The workers&rsquo; response to Taylorism was speedy and unequivocal. They fiercely
-resisted any system that would analyze their movements as if they were machines
-to be fine-tuned (not an exaggeration of Taylor&rsquo;s stated beliefs). Such a system,
-they said, would demean them and their skills&mdash;robbing them of their autonomy
-and individuality; eliminating craft from the job; turning workers into mere cogs
-performing sped-up, repetitious tasks &ldquo;to the physical breaking point&rdquo;&mdash;not to
-mention the threat to collective bargaining. So visceral was their reaction to Taylorism
-that any kind of management system became suspect.</p>
-<p>Thus when the Navy attempted in 1912 to introduce a British management system&mdash;less
-doctrinaire than Taylorism, though with the same ends of efficiency
-and increased production&mdash;workers at Charlestown were immediately on their
-guard. The system&rsquo;s reorganization of the yard&rsquo;s divisions also upset established
-power relationships between traditional sea (line) officers and newer and often
-younger engineering (staff) types, tilting the balance in favor of the latter. Not surprisingly,
-line and staff were polarized over the merits of the new order, accusing
-each other respectively of obstructing progress and overmanaging.</p>
-<p>In this charged atmosphere, when two overzealous junior officers attempted to
-introduce minute Taylor-like task breakdowns at Charlestown, the metal workers
-at the yard took action. They asked their congressman to hand-deliver a protest to
-Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. While Roosevelt agreed in
-principle with scientific management, he was generally sympathetic to labor and
-refused to implement a system that the yard workers opposed.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_56">56</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig38">
-<img src="images/i26.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="677" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Machine shop workers pose for a group picture in Dry Dock 1, about 1905.
-At this time a little more than 2,000 employees worked at the Charlestown yard.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig39">
-<img src="images/i26a.jpg" alt="" width="711" height="696" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>U.S.S.</i> Whitney <i>rises amid a forest of scaffolding.
-The keel of the 484-foot destroyer tender&mdash;the largest vessel ever built at
-Charlestown&mdash;was laid down in 1921. It took two and a half years to build. After
-surviving the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor</i>, Whitney <i>served in the Pacific
-during World War II</i>.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_57">57</div>
-<p>Roosevelt&rsquo;s visit to the yard in 1913, during
-which he let it be known that certain
-junior officers were being reassigned,
-focused national attention on the controversy
-and encouraged other yard workers
-around the nation. A delegation representing
-them lobbied against Taylorism,
-eventually persuading Congress to outlaw
-such management systems in navy yards.
-Yet when it was all over, the Charlestown
-yard was organized quite differently than
-in the 19th century, making it a more efficient
-builder and repairer of modern
-naval vessels and helping it to perform as
-it did during World War I.</p>
-<p>U.S.S. <i>Bridge</i>, commissioned as the first
-American troops were enroute to France,
-exemplified the yard&rsquo;s progress since the
-dark 1880s. Following a long campaign by
-a job-desperate Boston to have the ship
-built at Charlestown, <i>Bridge</i> was laid
-down in 1914 and launched two years later.
-It was the Navy&rsquo;s first refrigerated supply
-ship, with a steel hull and a boiler that
-could burn oil or coal. Its 423-foot length
-made <i>Bridge</i> the largest vessel yet built at
-Charlestown and its first major ship since
-the 1870s.</p>
-<p>After demonstrating its competence
-with <i>Bridge</i>, Charlestown was assigned
-<i>Brazos</i>, two other fuel ships, and a
-destroyer tender. The war-spurred building
-program helped Charlestown stay
-busy when peace came, as the last three
-vessels weren&rsquo;t laid down until after the
-armistice. In fact the number of employees
-actually rose, to almost 13,000 in 1919.
-Besides the shipbuilding, there was work
-converting ships to troop transports to
-bring the soldiers home and stripping military
-gear from ships returning to civilian
-service. Charlestown repaired a large
-number of destroyers, subs, and battleships
-small enough for Dry Dock 2. To
-increase its docking capacity, the yard purchased
-in 1920 a new state-built dry dock
-in South Boston. At the time it was the
-country&rsquo;s largest dry dock, becoming the
-nucleus of the yard&rsquo;s South Boston Annex.</p>
-<p>Events conspired in the 1920s to dampen
-the yard&rsquo;s postwar prosperity. The 1922
-Five-Power Treaty limited new ship construction
-and the overall number of vessels,
-meaning less repair and outfitting
-work for naval shipyards. In any case the
-political mood was to spend money on other
-things. After the destroyer tender <i>Whitney</i>
-was launched in 1923, there was no
-more construction at Charlestown, other
-than a couple of tugs, for the rest of the
-decade. And as the Japanese grew increasingly
-expansionist, much of the fleet was
-moved to the West Coast, further reducing
-work at the yard.</p>
-<p>Nevertheless, Charlestown kept up its
-steady repair work, especially on destroyers,
-albeit at a more modest level and with
-a workforce reduced to below 3,000 by
-1922. The addition of a marine railway in
-1919 allowed the yard to more easily service
-smaller ships of up to 2,000 tons.</p>
-<p>By the end of the decade further developments
-seriously threatened the Charlestown
-yard. The London Naval Treaty of
-1930 extended the moratorium on new
-capital ship construction for another six
-years. The treaty further required the U.S.
-to scrap three battleships and 94 destroyers&mdash;the
-latter a mainstay of Charlestown.
-The deepening Depression also hurt the
-yard, as the government&rsquo;s austerity program
-in the early years of the crisis
-reduced work at naval shipyards. The
-Hoover administration threatened to close
-most federal yards, including Charlestown.
-Yet in the Depression itself we can trace
-the roots of the coming boom.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_58">58</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">Building a Steel Ship</h4>
-<p>Beginning in the 1880s, steel rapidly supplanted wood as the primary material in U.S.
-naval vessels. Charlestown began building large steel vessels in 1915-20, the period
-depicted below. Stronger per pound than wood or iron, steel enabled naval architects
-to design bigger ships that could carry more armament. Steel was also better suited to
-bearing the massive weight of steam engines and boilers. The structural members of
-early steel vessels were riveted together, with limited gas welding in use by World War I.
-Shipyard artisans traded auger, saw, and mallet for pneumatic drill, gas cutting
-torch, and pneumatic rivet gun. Massive steam-powered cranes replaced the old hoisting
-shears. Yet, while a riveted steel ship demanded vastly more complicated plans and
-a higher level of coordination between shops, it was assembled in much the same way as
-a wooden vessel. From the keel rose the stem, sternpost, and frames. Transverse
-beams, longitudinals, vertical stanchions, watertight bulkheads, decking, and plating
-completed the hull, all held together by rivets. Electric welding (<i>below</i>), developed in
-the 1930s, allowed still lighter construction and the prefabrication of sections. Designers,
-however, still called for rivets for some parts of the hull throughout World War II.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_59">59</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig40">
-<img src="images/i27.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="576" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>When the Charlestown yard
-began constructing steel
-ships in 1915, a new building
-ways was erected on the
-site of the shiphouse in
-which the wooden screw
-frigate</i> Merrimack <i>had been
-built 60 years earlier</i> (see
-pages <a class="pgref" href="#Page_32">32</a>-33). <i>The yard built
-three 475-foot fuel ships
-(&ldquo;oilers&rdquo;) on this shipways
-between 1917 and 1921,
-reducing the time between
-keel laying and launch from
-two years for the first ship to
-less than a year for the last.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/i27a.jpg" alt="Electric welding" width="394" height="500" />
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_60">60</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">Chain for the Navy</h4>
-<p>Until World War I, forged iron chain was used on naval vessels, and the forge shop at the
-Charlestown yard was a leader in the industry. But it was a laborious process, and
-the demands of war spurred the development of cast steel chain, which could be produced
-more quickly. Charlestown was soon experimenting with detachable links to connect
-standard chain lengths. This led to the development in 1926 of a new chainmaking
-process, in which each link was made from half-links joined in a die under a drop-forge
-hammer&mdash;&ldquo;die-lock&rdquo; chain. It was clearly superior: more uniform, stronger,
-cheaper to make. By the early 1930s Charlestown was producing die-lock chain in several
-sizes, and by 1936 die-lock had superseded cast steel chain for all sizes. The
-shop made the chain used in most U.S. naval vessels built during World War II and was
-the only forge to make chain for the largest postwar aircraft carriers.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig41">
-<img src="images/i28.jpg" alt="" width="602" height="798" />
-<p class="pcap">Finished chain is loaded for shipping.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/i28a.jpg" alt="Decorative background" width="600" height="31" />
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig42">
-<img src="images/i28b.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="738" />
-<p class="pcap">The Die-lock Chainmaking Process</p>
-</div>
-<p><b>1</b> Rolled nickel-steel rods (from &frac34;-inch to 4&frac34;-inch in
-diameter) are cut into shorter bars.</p>
-<p><b>2</b> The cut bars are heated in a gas furnace to 2100&deg;F. The now-malleable
-bars are bent by machine into U-shapes.</p>
-<p><b>3</b> The U-bars are stamped to form stems, with tapered and ridged
-ends, or they have holes punched in the ends to form sockets.</p>
-<p><b>4</b> Stem is hooked onto last completed link and placed in die; socket is
-heated, and the two are joined under a 10,000-pound hammer (<a href="#Page_61"><i>next page</i></a>).</p>
-<p><b>5</b> Largest 4&frac12;-inch chain for supercarriers could withstand up to 2.5 million
-pounds. Each two-foot-long link weighed 360 pounds. Red undercoat
-and grey paint helped retard rusting.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_61">61</div>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/i28c.jpg" alt="10,000-pound hammer" width="673" height="999" />
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_62">62</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig43">
-<img src="images/i29.jpg" alt="" width="826" height="800" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>At a shift change in 1943, departing workers hurry past destroyer
-escorts being outfitted for war. At its peak during the war, the Charlestown yard and its
-annexes employed more than 50,000 men and women.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_63">63</div>
-<h3 id="c6">The Yard Transformed</h3>
-<p>It was not a dramatic launch&mdash;no gathering speed down the shipways and plunging into
-Boston Harbor. Instead, the water flowing into Dry Dock 1 rose slowly around U.S.S.
-<i>MacDonough</i> until the destroyer lifted off the keel blocks and was towed out of the
-dock. The 1934 &ldquo;floating&rdquo; was low-keyed but significant. <i>MacDonough</i> was the first
-warship built by Charlestown since the wooden screw sloop <i>Vandalia</i> slid down
-the ways in 1874.</p>
-<p>The technological leap between the two vessels&mdash;partially bridged by the steel supply
-and fuel ships Charlestown built in the World War I period&mdash;was considerable.
-Except for its coal-fired auxiliary steam propulsion, the 216-foot <i>Vandalia</i> did not
-differ significantly from the old <i>Constitution</i>. <i>MacDonough</i> was a modern destroyer&mdash;the
-sloop-of-war&rsquo;s 20th-century counterpart&mdash;incorporating the advances of the
-past 60 years. It was powered by geared turbines driven by steam generated in oil-burning
-boilers, and relied on sophisticated electrical, hydraulic, and communications
-systems. At 341 feet, its steel hull took up most of Dry Dock 1.</p>
-<p>As soon as <i>MacDonough</i> was moved out of the dock, the destroyer <i>Monaghan</i>, just
-floated from Dry Dock 2, was moved into #1 for completion and outfitting. Two
-more keels were immediately laid in #2. It is noteworthy that neither dry dock was
-being used to repair ships. In fact, the whole yard&rsquo;s traditional role as repair facility
-had given way in the past year to a new one as shipbuilder, a status it maintained
-through World War II. Charlestown built 12 destroyers in the 1930s and 24 more by
-<span class="pb" id="Page_64">64</span>
-the end of the war. Of course the yard built and serviced other types of vessels&mdash;especially
-destroyer escorts and LSTs (Landing Ship Tank)&mdash;but Charlestown
-acquired a reputation as a &ldquo;destroyer yard&rdquo; and thereafter specialized in this
-workhorse of the Navy.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig44">
-<img src="images/i30.jpg" alt="" width="604" height="800" />
-<p class="pcap"><span class="ss">Navy Yard Complex During World War II</span></p>
-<p class="pcapc"><i>This map of Boston Harbor in 1942 shows the five units of
-Charlestown Navy Yard during World War II. By war&rsquo;s end the South Boston Annex
-was the largest, with dry docks big enough to repair battleships and heavy cruisers. The
-Chelsea and East Boston Annexes repaired small vessels, and the Fuel Depot
-Annex served the great number of naval vessels entering the harbor during the war.</i></p>
-</div>
-<dl class="undent pcap"><dt><span class="small">CHELSEA</span></dt>
-<dd>Chelsea Naval Hospital</dd>
-<dd>Chelsea Naval Annex</dd>
-<dd>Fuel Depot Annex</dd>
-<dt><span class="small">CHARLESTOWN</span></dt>
-<dd>Navy Yard</dd>
-<dt><span class="small">EAST BOSTON</span></dt>
-<dd>East Boston Annex</dd>
-<dd>Pipeline</dd>
-<dt><span class="small">DOWNTOWN BOSTON</span></dt>
-<dt><i>BOSTON HARBOR</i></dt>
-<dd>Deep Water Pier</dd>
-<dt><span class="small">SOUTH BOSTON</span></dt>
-<dd>South Boston Annex</dd></dl>
-<p>Ironically, the change had been brought
-about by the same economic crisis that
-almost put an end to the yard. After considering
-closing all yards but Norfolk and
-Philadelphia to save money, the Hoover
-administration in 1931 proposed closing
-only the Charlestown yard. Reaction was
-swift: committees were formed in Boston;
-petitions protesting the closing were
-signed. But it was probably the fact that
-<i>MacDonough</i> had been ordered a month
-earlier that tilted the scales in the yard&rsquo;s
-favor. The keel was not laid for two years,
-however, and 1932 was the yard&rsquo;s bleakest
-year since before the Spanish-American
-War, with only 1,500 people employed.</p>
-<p>The Roosevelt administration&rsquo;s program
-to stimulate the economy, provide jobs,
-and pull the nation out of the Depression
-was the first step in Charlestown&rsquo;s transformation
-into a true ship construction
-yard. Under FDR&rsquo;s 1933 National Industrial
-Recovery Act, 32 new warships were
-authorized, 20 of them destroyers, of
-which two were assigned to Charlestown.
-The following year, growing worries about
-Japanese aggression moved Congress to
-further expand the Navy.</p>
-<p>The yard kept a rapid pace in the 1930s,
-laying two keels simultaneously in Dry
-Dock 2 in 1934 and again in 1935. (As the
-shipways was inadequate for destroyers, all
-keels were laid in this dock until 1939.)
-After floating, the hulls were moved into
-Dry Dock 1 for completion, the whole
-process taking about two years.</p>
-<p>Repair work was much reduced in the
-1930s by federal economy measures specifying
-lengthened maintenance intervals.
-As both dry docks were in any case usually
-<span class="pb" id="Page_65">65</span>
-tied up in construction work, and because
-most of the ships in for repair were relatively
-small, many of these vessels were
-floated into a large cradle and hauled
-from the water up the tracks of the yard&rsquo;s
-marine railway. Others were taken across
-the harbor to the South Boston dry dock.</p>
-<p class="tb">Technological change transformed many
-of the yard&rsquo;s oldest trades by the 1930s,
-while the growing size and complexity of
-ships required more and more workers.
-Such large government employers as shipyards
-were seen by policy makers as
-places to both promote economic stability
-and save money. Early in the Depression
-these two goals were addressed, respectively,
-with lower and upper limits for
-each yard&rsquo;s workforce&mdash;at Charlestown,
-1,500 and 1,800. The workforce stayed
-generally within these limits until 1935,
-when it began growing, reaching some
-5,000 workers by late 1939. (During hard
-times the yard kept its eye on the future,
-exempting apprentices from layoffs.)</p>
-<p>By the time war had begun in Europe in
-1939, with &ldquo;readiness&rdquo; again America&rsquo;s
-watchword, the yard was operating at an
-even faster rate of production than in the
-mid-thirties. With the shipways enlarged
-to handle destroyers, six ships were in
-some stage of construction that summer.
-In October four destroyers were floated
-out of Dry Dock 2 on the same day. The
-yard also prepared 18 of the old World
-War I four-stacker destroyers for transfer
-to Britain under the 1940 destroyers-for-bases
-agreement.</p>
-<p>Then came the war. If the thirties had
-been a period of gearing up, wartime
-pushed the yard into overdrive. It took a
-great war effort for the yard to realize its
-true shipbuilding and manufacturing
-potential, confirming a statement by Secretary
-of the Navy George von Meyer in
-1910: &ldquo;Navy yards are primarily for war
-and only incidentally for peace.&rdquo; One historian&rsquo;s
-conservative estimate: under the
-goad of war the yard built, repaired, overhauled,
-converted, or outfitted some 6,000
-vessels between 1939 and 1945.</p>
-<p>The raid on Pearl Harbor in December
-1941 made every naval installation fearful
-of enemy attacks. Charlestown installed
-anti-aircraft batteries on roofs and camouflaged
-waterfront buildings. Some security
-measures were disruptive of yard routine.
-Blackouts and dim-outs were in force,
-especially in the early years of the war, to
-reduce the chances of ships being silhouetted
-against lights. When the air raid whistle
-blew, workers had to stop what they
-were doing and go to shelters. Throughout
-the war, yard officials juggled the conflicting
-demands of security and production.</p>
-<p>Other security measures had more personal
-consequences. Some yard workers
-were banned from certain areas, and
-everyone was forbidden to speak foreign
-languages while at work. A number of
-workers were suspended in 1941 as security
-risks. &ldquo;Remarks ... inimical to the government&rdquo;
-were enough to earn an employee
-a place on the suspension list.</p>
-<p>The huge number of people working at
-Charlestown was another sign that the
-yard had been remade by war. The U.S.
-Navy became the world&rsquo;s largest single
-employer of industrial labor during the
-conflict, and the Charlestown yard held
-the same status in the Boston area. The
-yard&rsquo;s force rapidly swelled from 5,000
-workers in 1939 to a high of about 50,000
-at Charlestown and its annexes in mid-1943,
-working around the clock in three
-eight-hour shifts.</p>
-<p>As in World War I, the yard again had
-to protect its essential employees from the
-draft board. But voluntary enlistment
-proved to be the real drain on the workforce.
-Although yard foremen tried to dissuade
-crucial employees from going, some
-13,000 workers left the yard to join the
-fight. Throughout the conflict, even when
-more than 50,000 people worked there,
-the yard was shorthanded.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_66">66</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">Mainstays of the Yard: Warship Overhaul and Repair</h4>
-<p>After the construction boom
-created by World War II,
-Charlestown resumed its traditional
-role of &ldquo;serving the
-fleet&rdquo; (the yard&rsquo;s motto). In the
-early 1950s it was the home
-yard for 121 vessels, including
-U.S.S. <i>Cassin Young</i>, the
-destroyer now on exhibit at
-the yard. All types of ships, but
-especially destroyers, came
-for everything from minor
-repairs to overhauls on established
-cycles. The latter, which
-often involved some degree of
-modernization, could require
-800 to 900 workers a day.
-After the war the yard preserved
-decommissioned vessels
-of the Atlantic Reserve
-Fleet berthed at the South
-Boston Annex. Charlestown
-also prepared ships for transfer
-to allies, outfitted vessels
-built elsewhere, and repaired
-equipment, especially sonar.</p>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/i31.jpg" alt="U.S.S. Wasp plaque" width="500" height="609" />
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig45">
-<img src="images/i31a.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="597" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Charlestown was busy in 1960 with overhauls and modernizations.
-In the foreground: aircraft carrier</i> Wasp <i>(whose crew
-presented the yard with the plaque shown above); floating dry
-dock (in a yard dry dock); heavy cruiser</i> Macon (<i>CA-132</i>).</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_67">67</div>
-<p>To make up for the shortages, the yard
-began for the first time hiring significant
-numbers of women and African Americans.
-Their door of opportunity, unlocked
-by the needs of a war economy, was kept
-open by pressure from civil rights groups
-on the Roosevelt administration (often
-relayed by a sympathetic Eleanor Roosevelt).
-Women at the yard had traditionally
-worked in clerical positions and as
-phone operators, and this remained true
-at war&rsquo;s outset. But more and more women
-found work in the industrial shops,
-notably as welders and at the ropewalk
-(the latter having employed them during
-World War I). At least in some shops,
-however, there were restrictions. Gloria
-Brandenberg, who worked in the Paint
-Shop, recalled that all painter&rsquo;s helpers
-were female, supervised by a woman (the
-&ldquo;leading lady&rdquo;), while all painters were
-male. Brandenberg said there was no
-chance for advancement.</p>
-<p>By 1943 female blue-collar workers outnumbered
-women in clerical positions.
-Some 7,700 women were on the rolls in
-late 1944&mdash;far above their prewar level
-and about 19 percent of the workforce.
-Many worked as welders on ships under
-construction, but yard officials wary of
-contact between female workers and male
-crews barred women from all vessels in for
-repair. Painter&rsquo;s helper Brandenberg
-recalled that the women were not allowed
-even to talk to sailors.</p>
-<p>While African Americans were not officially
-excluded from Charlestown&rsquo;s prewar
-workforce, few had been employed.
-When the war created opportunities for
-them, some whites openly resisted their
-presence in skilled positions. But this was
-not a universal attitude. Allan Crite, a
-black illustrator in the Design Department,
-said he experienced no racial problems.
-Inevitably, though, tensions arose in
-some areas. Gloria Brandenberg recalled
-an evening at a social club with her
-coworkers from the Paint Shop, one of
-whom was African American. She was
-asked to leave. The group talked it over;
-they all left. But the records show no
-major racial conflict at the yard. At war&rsquo;s
-end more than 2,300 African Americans
-were in the force of 32,000 workers.</p>
-<p>By late 1942, the yard had settled into a
-wartime routine&mdash;to the extent that routine
-is possible during war. Normal peacetime
-constraints didn&rsquo;t apply. &ldquo;During the
-war there wasn&rsquo;t much emphasis on estimates,&rdquo;
-recalled plumber Lyman Carlow.
-&ldquo;For one thing, there wasn&rsquo;t time. Here&rsquo;s
-the job; we need the ship right away; get it
-done and whatever it costs it costs ... it was
-just a real frantic pace ... the material just
-flowed in ... plenty of people, so we could
-really get the work done.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>More than the higher level of general
-activity and the large numbers of workers
-(around 36,000 at this point), it was the
-volume of new construction that characterized
-the wartime yard. A walk around
-the yard on November 23 would have
-revealed ships being built in every facility
-but Dry Dock 2, used only for repairs.</p>
-<p>Workers generally laid down and
-launched large vessels in pairs. But while
-floating two at a time out of a dry dock
-was standard practice, it was never approached
-casually. John Langan, a shipfitter
-during the war, recalled: &ldquo;It was quite a
-feat, two destroyers right alongside each
-other, flooding the dock, and not having
-them crash.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>A new shipways built in early 1941
-helped quicken the pace of production. In
-that year 10 destroyers were laid down,
-the most in any one year. By late 1941 the
-yard&rsquo;s workers had pushed the time for
-building a destroyer down to a little over a
-year and would cut it to three or four
-months from keel to launching by the end
-of the war.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_68">68</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">Women in the Workforce</h4>
-<blockquote>
-<p>&ldquo;<i>We all felt that we were doing our job, and the
-harder we worked, the faster we would get the
-ships out and the faster it would get over. Deep
-down, everyone was very serious about it,
-because ninety-nine out of a hundred people had
-a husband or a brother or somebody close to
-them that was overseas.&rdquo;</i>
-<span class="lr">&mdash;<i>Gloria Brandenberg, WW II Charlestown yard worker</i></span></p>
-</blockquote>
-<div class="img" id="fig46">
-<img src="images/i32.jpg" alt="" width="655" height="700" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Welders at Charlestown during World War II.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_69">69</div>
-<p>As enlistments and competition from private industry depleted the pool of male
-workers during World War II, the Navy looked to the large numbers of women who
-wanted to do their part for the war effort. Women had long worked at the Charlestown
-yard, although almost exclusively (except during World War I) in clerical positions.
-But beginning in 1942 the easing of state workweek restrictions for women hastened
-their recruitment into the yard&rsquo;s manufacturing and traditional shipyard shops. The
-intention was to have them replace men in relatively unskilled positions requiring
-little training. And in fact most women did work as helpers in their shops, often with little
-chance of advancement. But some moved into the trades as machinists, riveters,
-painters, riggers, pipefitters, and especially as welders and ropewalk workers. At the
-same time women still occupied more than half of the yard&rsquo;s clerical positions. Altogether,
-they made up about one-fifth of the yard workforce by 1945. Those in the
-trades knew their jobs would likely end when the war did, but the point had been made.
-In 1945, a yard historian wrote: &ldquo;Experience over the past two years has proven
-that female employees are able to work efficiently on an equal basis with men on many
-jobs that were formerly considered to be men&rsquo;s jobs.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig47">
-<img src="images/i32b.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="560" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Welders at Charlestown during World War II.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig48">
-<img src="images/i32d.jpg" alt="" width="391" height="800" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>The yard&rsquo;s clerical workers enlisted as
-Yeomen-F (female) at the outbreak of World War I. Women
-also worked as radio operators and at the ropewalk.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig49">
-<img src="images/i32e.jpg" alt="" width="520" height="801" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Many responded to posters urging women to fill
-an industrial job and &ldquo;free a man to fight.&rdquo;</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_70">70</div>
-<p>The new shipways was also used to build
-destroyer escorts (DEs)&mdash;smaller, slower,
-and less expensive versions of destroyers
-designed for escort duty and antisubmarine
-warfare. Escorted convoys had
-proven to be the only effective way to
-thwart U-boat &ldquo;wolf packs&rdquo; preying on
-allied shipping. In 1942, after the Navy
-ordered the first of more than a thousand
-DEs, Charlestown built a new dry dock in
-which it could turn out four at a time. The
-next year 50 DEs were laid down at the
-yard, half of which were destined for
-Britain in accordance with the Lend-Lease
-Act of 1941. Charlestown got the production
-of DEs down to an art: of the 62 it
-built, workers launched an impressive 46
-in the first eleven months of 1943.</p>
-<p>If 1941 was the year of the destroyer at
-the yard and 1943 belonged to the DE,
-1944 was the year of the LST (Landing
-Ship, Tank). These seagoing assault vessels
-carried tanks and other vehicles during
-amphibious landings. The yard laid
-down 30 in 1944, taking only a month to
-complete one of the 328-foot vessels.</p>
-<p>In all, Charlestown built 174 large vessels
-during the war, including 12 barracks ships
-and four submarines. There were also
-hundreds of smaller craft, such as wooden
-motor launches and diver boats. The
-South Boston Annex played a part in the
-yard&rsquo;s strong wartime performance, doing
-much of the repair and conversion work
-and fabricating hull sections that were
-towed to Charlestown for incorporation
-into ships under construction.</p>
-<p>Not all vessels were built outside: in the
-summer of 1942, shipfitters fabricated in
-their shop 150 fifty-foot LCMs (Landing
-Craft, Mechanized)&mdash;also called &ldquo;tank
-lighters&rdquo;&mdash;for the British-American invasion
-of North Africa. Shipfitter John Langan
-remembered it as a &ldquo;crash program....
-We just stopped everything else and concentrated
-on them and delivered them for
-the invasion.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>While this kind of rapid, assembly-line
-construction was Charlestown&rsquo;s specialty
-during the war, there were other claims on
-the yard&rsquo;s time. By late 1942 war&rsquo;s reality
-was being brought home to Charlestown
-in the shape of battle-scarred ships needing
-quick repair. When a damaged ship
-arrived, it was given priority until it was
-ready to return to combat.</p>
-<p>There was another reason for the air of
-urgency around war repairs: ship repair
-generally called for more skill than did
-shipbuilding. Because workers often had
-to work blind on battle damage until its
-nature and extent could be determined,
-such work called on all the workers&rsquo;
-resourcefulness. John Langan remembered
-&ldquo;everybody fighting to get them
-[war-damaged vessels], because it is good
-work.&rdquo; Langan recalled one vessel towed
-into the yard: it had been &ldquo;torpedoed and
-cut right in halves ... and the fireroom was
-open to the seas ... [They had] tied her
-down with big I-beams ... tied them the full
-length, all the way around&rdquo;&mdash;to keep the
-ship afloat until it reached the yard.</p>
-<p>Even without the shell-torn hulls and
-shredded superstructures, war is hard on
-ships. Pushed faster, farther, and longer
-under less than ideal conditions, they
-needed more than routine maintenance.
-And on top of the already demanding
-schedule of ship construction, repair, and
-maintenance, other tasks competed for
-time and resources. Yard workers outfitted
-naval vessels built at other yards. They
-converted private vessels and old naval
-ships to wartime uses. They manufactured
-turbines and thousands of tons of die-lock
-chain (<i>see pages <a href="#Page_60">60-61</a></i>). They &ldquo;degaussed&rdquo;
-hulls&mdash;neutralized their magnetic fields so
-they would not trip mines. Together these
-activities suggest the scope and grueling
-pace of the yard&rsquo;s war effort.</p>
-<p>In such an atmosphere, mishaps caused
-by fallible humans dealing with complex
-machinery were inevitable. One particularly
-<span class="pb" id="Page_71">71</span>
-embarrassing, and nearly tragic, incident
-was related by electrical shop foreman
-Mel Hooper. His men were completing
-electrical work on the new submarine
-<i>Lancefish</i> (built at another yard) in 1945.
-&ldquo;Some machinist went down,&rdquo; he recalled,
-&ldquo;and opened up the front gate on the torpedo
-tube and forgot to close it; then he
-went back in the ship and opened up the
-inside one and then it started to flood.
-And they had a hell of a job trying to close
-it, and they couldn&rsquo;t close it, and everybody
-ran aboard the dock to get the hell
-out of there before they got drowned.
-And then the ship sank.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The stepped-up safety program was
-almost certainly an improvement on the
-pre-war conditions, when, as remembered
-by plumber Lyman Carlow, &ldquo;It seemed to
-me that everyone was supposed to look
-after himself.&rdquo; But while the program
-called for more protections for workers
-from open machinery, hazardous fumes,
-and other dangerous conditions, a survey
-in 1944 noted that workers were rarely
-disciplined for safety violations, machines
-lacked guards, and most workers did not
-wear their hard hats, goggles, or ear protection.
-&ldquo;You [went] down to the tanks
-with the chipping hammers and riveting
-guns going all around,&rdquo; recalled Carlow,
-&ldquo;and you wouldn&rsquo;t be able to hear for a
-couple of hours afterward. But nobody
-did anything about it, or thought anything
-of it. You just got deaf, and that was it.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>A shipyard was a dangerous place to
-work even in peacetime; war multiplied
-the hazards. Charles Snell, an apprentice
-rigger at the yard, recalled 40 years later,
-&ldquo;We had a lot of close escapes, because
-safety wasn&rsquo;t really stressed then as much
-as it is today ... we lost a lot of riggers,
-strangely enough, and I can never account
-for this, being run over by the cranes ... the
-operator of the crane, when it was traveling,
-had very limited visibility close ahead.
-And we lost an inordinate number of riggers
-because they&rsquo;d stumble and the crane
-would run over them.... We had quite a
-few falls into the dry dock, not riggers, but
-all trades.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Snell left the yard in 1943 and served in
-Europe for the duration of the war. He
-recalled his impressions upon returning in
-1946, comparing the yard to &ldquo;a runner,
-which was running for an objective, and
-all of a sudden, the objective wasn&rsquo;t there.
-The need for everything had suddenly
-evaporated. And it was a question of what
-do you finish and what don&rsquo;t you finish,
-and what&rsquo;s important.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>With peace came the end of Charlestown&rsquo;s
-brief period as a major shipbuilding
-center. But the war-seasoned yard did
-not simply revert to what it had been
-before. Charlestown found a new postwar
-role as a place where old vessels were
-remade from the inside out, transformed
-into modern warships. Old did not necessarily
-mean long in years. In the 1950s,
-ships that had performed admirably in the
-late war were being left behind in a world
-of accelerating technological change.
-Charlestown extended their careers,
-installing state-of-the-art electronics.
-When advances in missile technology
-opened a new era in naval weapons and
-strategy, Charlestown played a leading
-role in the changeover. The life of the
-crowded and aging yard itself was extended
-by such activities, enabling Charlestown
-to render another three decades of
-service to the country.</p>
-<p>In the months after war&rsquo;s end, the level
-of activity naturally fell off, but the yard
-remained busy converting transports to
-bring home the troops, inactivating ships,
-and completing the last few LSTs, barracks
-ships, and subs laid down in 1945.
-Charlestown also carved a niche for itself
-in sonar, a technology dating to the World
-War I period and considered standard
-equipment since the 1930s. Beginning in
-1948 the yard became a center for the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_72">72</span>
-repair of sonar equipment, establishing a
-sonar laboratory and developing techniques
-adopted by other electronics repair
-centers throughout the Navy.</p>
-<p>Radar, developed in the 1930s, had come
-into widespread use during the war. The
-yard undertook a major conversion program
-in 1950 when it began upgrading
-radar and sonar systems on a number of
-destroyers and destroyer escorts, converting
-them to radar picket and antisubmarine
-warfare (ASW) roles. Charlestown
-also planned and designed all alterations,
-wherever they were performed, to cruisers,
-destroyers, escort carriers, LSTs, and several
-auxiliary vessel types.</p>
-<p>While the yard accepted a variety of vessels,
-including aircraft carriers, it continued
-its traditional specialization in destroyers
-and destroyer escorts. In 1955 the yard
-converted the 10-year-old <i>Gyatt</i> into the
-world&rsquo;s first guided missile destroyer.</p>
-<p>That year the yard laid down the keel of
-its only postwar vessel and the last one it
-built: the LST <i>Suffolk County</i>, first of a
-larger and faster class of LSTs. Charlestown
-also served as the design yard for the
-other six LSTs, built in private yards.</p>
-<p>In the 1960s the yard stayed busy with
-outfittings, missile and ASW conversions,
-and Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization
-(FRAM) overhauls that added five to
-seven years of service to aging warships.
-Charlestown&rsquo;s FRAM program specialized
-in World War II-era destroyers. Ranging
-from brief dockings to major operations of
-a year or more costing millions, these projects
-involved such sophisticated work as
-installing or upgrading sonar (<i>see pages <a href="#Page_76">76-77</a></i>),
-radar, communications, and computer
-equipment; major alterations such as
-replacing engines and entire superstructures;
-and the more prosaic tasks the yard
-had been performing for over a century:
-cleaning and painting hulls, renovating
-propellers and rudders, and rebricking or
-replacing boilers.</p>
-<p>Nevertheless, by 1972 work was falling
-off at Charlestown, and signs did not bode
-well for the yard&rsquo;s future. For years the
-Navy had invested little there for maintenance
-or modernization, making it harder
-to stay efficient. The marine railway and
-ropewalk had been shut down in 1971.
-Elsewhere, superfluous or inefficient military
-bases were being closed to save money.
-(The New York Navy Yard was closed
-in 1966.) A massive infusion of funds was
-needed to upgrade the old Charlestown
-yard&mdash;too small in any case for proper
-expansion of its facilities.</p>
-<p>The Navy in general was retrenching for
-economic reasons. The destroyer fleet,
-especially&mdash;the lifeblood of the yard in the
-20th century&mdash;had steadily dwindled since
-1960. The fewer destroyers there were to
-service, the harder it was to justify the
-Charlestown yard&rsquo;s existence. The failure
-of the Navy to carry through modernization
-plans, including one whereby the
-majority of the yard&rsquo;s industrial activity
-would be transferred to an enhanced
-South Boston facility, helped to hasten the
-inevitable. Many associated with the yard
-also suspected that Massachusetts, as the
-only state going Democratic in the 1972
-presidential election, would pay a penalty
-for failing to back the winner.</p>
-<p>On April 16, 1973, the yard commander,
-Captain R. L. Arthur, announced that the
-Charlestown yard, along with the yard at
-Hunter&rsquo;s Point in San Francisco, was to
-close. Over the next year it ceased all fleet
-servicing and manufacturing operations,
-and on July 1, 1974, nearly 175 years of
-service to the nation ended with a formal
-disestablishment ceremony. Only one
-naval activity remained at Charlestown:
-the protection and maintenance of the old
-warship long associated with the yard,
-U.S.S. <i>Constitution</i>.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_73">73</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig50">
-<img src="images/i33.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="800" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>The launching
-of a ship celebrates
-the time, energy, and
-skill spent in its making.
-Here U.S.S.</i>
-Guest, <i>one of 24
-destroyers built at
-Charlestown during
-World War II, slips
-into Boston Harbor in
-1942. The big</i> Fletcher-<i>class
-destroyer
-took only five months
-to build</i>.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig51">
-<img src="images/i33a.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="577" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>A destroyer
-is traditionally named
-for a distinguished
-naval figure, and if
-possible the closest
-female relative sponsors
-the namesake
-ship. In a centuries-old
-ritual, DD-461&rsquo;s
-sponsor Eileen Fairfax
-Thomson breaks a
-bottle of champagne
-against the ship&rsquo;s bow
-in 1941, sending it
-down the ways with
-the words, &ldquo;I christen
-thee</i> Forrest, <i>and may
-God bless all who sail
-in her.&rdquo; Captain
-French Forrest commanded
-the Charlestown-built</i>
-Cumberland
-<i>in the Mexican
-War. Siding with the
-Confederates during
-the Civil War, he
-oversaw conversion of
-the burned U.S.S.</i>
-Merrimack <i>into the
-ironclad C.S.S.</i> Virginia&mdash;<i>destroyer
-of</i>
-Cumberland (see
-pages <a href="#Page_28">28-29</a>).</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_74">74</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">Ships for World War II</h4>
-<p>From 1933 to the end of World
-War II, the Charlestown yard
-moved outside its traditional
-role as repair yard and became
-a shipbuilding facility. It
-began with destroyers&mdash;ships
-it had long specialized in
-repairing&mdash;averaging two a
-year in the 1930s. This period
-of steady production was preamble
-to the World War II
-crash building program.
-Charlestown launched almost
-200 vessels, including 24
-destroyers, between 1939 and
-1945. In 1942 it began building
-destroyer escorts&mdash;smaller,
-less expensive versions of
-destroyers designed to counter
-German submarines. The final
-big program was the production
-of LSTs (Landing Ship,
-Tank) for amphibious assaults
-in Europe and Asia. LSDs
-(Landing Ship, Dock) for carrying
-other vessels; submarines;
-and various auxiliary vessels
-also came down the ways during
-the war. These programs
-spurred major changes at the
-yard. Greater specialization,
-for instance, broke up traditional
-shops. The biggest
-change was in construction
-methods, most notably prefabrication.
-Several bow and
-stern sections, each with its
-own keel, were built separately&mdash;many
-in the Shipfitters
-Shop, but also &ldquo;in playgrounds
-and schoolyards and parts of
-the yard, and all around greater
-Boston,&rdquo; remembered Rigger
-Charles Snell. These were then
-joined to the midship hull section
-rising on the shipways.
-&ldquo;Economy was not the name of
-the game,&rdquo; recalled Snell. &ldquo;The
-name of the game was time.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig52">
-<img src="images/i34.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="799" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Hulls were launched from
-shipways or dry docks, then
-moored alongside piers for
-completion. Here, yard
-workers, who labored round
-the clock during the war,
-outfit a</i> Fletcher-<i>class destroyer
-as night falls. At
-top, a five-inch gun is lowered
-by a mobile crane.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_75">75</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig53">
-<img src="images/i34b.jpg" alt="" width="548" height="129" />
-<p class="pcap"><span class="ss">Destroyer (36 built)</span></p>
-<p class="pcapc">A fast, versatile, relatively small
-ship, it was equipped for anti-submarine
-warfare, escort duty, scouting,
-antiaircraft warfare, torpedo or
-gun surface engagement, and
-shore bombardment.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig54">
-<img src="images/i34d.jpg" alt="" width="473" height="119" />
-<p class="pcap"><span class="ss">LST (Landing Ship, Tank; 44 built)</span></p>
-<p class="pcapc">This craft carried tanks and other
-vehicles for amphibious landings.
-The water ballast system allowed it
-to vary its draft: deep for stable
-ocean travel and shallow for moving
-in close to shore.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig55">
-<img src="images/i34e.jpg" alt="" width="423" height="186" />
-<p class="pcap"><span class="ss">Destroyer Escort (62 built)</span></p>
-<p class="pcapc">This smaller, more quickly built
-version of the destroyer was
-designed to protect allied shipping
-convoys from German U-boats,
-freeing destroyers for other duties.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_76">76</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">New Careers for Old Ships</h4>
-<p>During the long era of wooden
-sailing ships, when naval
-technology changed only
-gradually over the decades, a
-warship&rsquo;s service lasted as
-long as the materials from
-which it was built. But as the
-pace of change quickened in
-the mid-19th century with the
-advent of steam propulsion
-and iron hulls, a vessel quickly
-grew obsolete without continual
-incorporation of the latest
-technology. This state of
-affairs, which intensified in
-the 20th century, provided
-Charlestown Navy Yard with a
-new role after World War II:
-lengthening or transforming
-the careers of old ships, otherwise
-destined for mothballs,
-through modernization
-and conversion. Modernization
-meant updating old electrical,
-propulsion, or weapons
-systems or performing structural
-surgery without altering
-the vessel&rsquo;s function. This
-ranged from installing a sonar
-dome on the bottom of the
-hull to dismantling the
-entire superstructure and
-building a new one. The process
-normally took several
-months. Conversion, which
-could take years, involved
-major alteration of a vessel to
-prepare it for a different tactical
-mission. A typical example
-would be the conversion of a
-conventional scouting,
-escorting, and submarine-fighting
-destroyer to a radar
-picket destroyer, whose role
-was to provide mid-ocean
-radar warning. A notable
-postwar task undertaken by
-the yard was the 1956 conversion
-of the destroyer <i>Gyatt</i>
-into the world&rsquo;s first guided
-missile destroyer. Basically,
-the vessel&rsquo;s aft five-inch guns
-were replaced with a twin
-missile launcher. But the ship
-had to be significantly altered
-to perform its new function.
-The yard designed automated
-systems that first affixed a
-booster charge to the missile
-and then moved it from the
-air-conditioned belowdecks
-magazine to the launcher.
-The decks and superstructure
-had to be reinforced to withstand
-the tremendous pressure
-and temperature of a
-launch. A system of ducts and
-blowout plates was installed
-to minimize damage and
-injury in the event of a premature
-explosion. Innovative
-retractable fins at midships
-helped stabilize the vessel for
-firing. With these and other
-changes, the yard remade
-<i>Gyatt</i> into a sophisticated
-missile-firing machine.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig56">
-<img src="images/i35.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="377" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>In the late 1950s the Navy began installing sonar equipment
-in bow domes. Bow domes reduced hull resistance and were less susceptible
-to bubble noise. The Charlestown yard, already a leader in sonar technology,
-performed a prototype dome installation in 1958. To install a dome, workers first
-cut away part of the old bow, then fitted the prefabricated
-dome</i> (<a href="#Page_77">next page</a>, on U.S.S. <i>Willis A. Lee</i> in 1961).</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig57">
-<img src="images/i35a.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="341" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Sonar works actively and passively.
-In active sonar, the
-transducer in the dome transmits
-sound pulses through the
-water. When the pulses reach
-an object (or the bottom), they
-are reflected and received by
-the transducer as echoes. Distance
-is determined by time
-elapsed between transmission
-and echo. In passive sonar,
-hydrophones pick up noises
-generated by underwater
-sources.</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_77">77</div>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/i35b.jpg" alt="Installing a sonar dome" width="1000" height="742" />
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_78">78</div>
-<h2 id="c7"><span class="small">Part 2<span class="hst"> Visiting Charlestown Navy Yard</span></span></h2>
-<div class="img" id="fig58">
-<img src="images/i36.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="708" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>U.S.S.</i> Cassin Young <i>at Pier 1</i>.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_80">80</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">The Yard Today</h4>
-<p>The yard offers the visitor a captivating
-glimpse into the activities that for nearly
-two centuries supported the United States
-Navy. Here on the home front, thousands
-of civilian workers and navy personnel
-built, repaired, and supplied warships
-from the majestic sailing vessels of the
-early 19th century to the powerful steel
-navy of the 20th century. In 1974, the year
-of its closing, 30 acres of the historic yard
-were set aside for the National Park Service
-as a living museum of the Navy&rsquo;s
-activities here. The remaining 100 acres
-continue to be developed as part of the
-revitalization of Boston&rsquo;s waterfront.</p>
-<p>Nineteenth-century buildings, docks,
-and piers reflect the yard&rsquo;s 174-year history.
-The commandant&rsquo;s 1805 hilltop mansion
-overlooked the activities below.
-Within view are Dry Dock 1, used by
-U.S.S. <i>Constitution</i> as early as 1833 and as
-late as 1995, the 1842 Carpenter Shop, the
-1852 Pitch House (Building 10) for caulking
-wooden vessels, the 1833 Officers&rsquo;
-Quarters, the 1813 Navy Stores (Building
-5), and the 1811 Marine Barracks.</p>
-<p>Two venerable warships, the 1797
-frigate U.S.S. <i>Constitution</i> and the powerful
-1943 destroyer, U.S.S. <i>Cassin Young</i>,
-float alongside the working piers, illustrating
-the changing United States Navy.
-Both the <i>Constitution</i>, an active duty
-Navy warship, and <i>Cassin Young</i>, maintained
-by National Park Service rangers
-and volunteers, offer free tours daily.</p>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/i37.jpg" alt="Tours of the yard" width="536" height="799" />
-</div>
-<p>A National Park Service exhibit, &ldquo;Serving
-the Fleet,&rdquo; and tours of the yard
-(<i>above</i>) provide visitors with opportunities
-to explore the history of the site.
-The USS Constitution Museum offers a
-rich collection of artifacts, paintings, and
-models relating to the history of &ldquo;Old
-Ironsides.&rdquo; The museum, located inside
-the Dry Dock 1 Pumphouse, is open daily
-to visitors.</p>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/i37a.jpg" alt="Key to map" width="500" height="745" />
-</div>
-<dl class="undent pcap"><dt>Historic structure</dt>
-<dt>Historic building name</dt>
-<dt>Historic building letter or number</dt>
-<dt>Non-historic structure</dt>
-<dt>Freedom Trail (route subject to change)</dt>
-<dt>National Park Service boundary</dt>
-<dt>Public open space</dt>
-<dt>Parking</dt></dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_81">81</div>
-<div class="img" id="map2">
-<img src="images/mapc_lr.jpg" alt="" width="562" height="799" />
-<p class="center">CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD<br /><a class="ab1" href="images/mapc_hr.jpg">High-resolution Map</a></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_82">82</div>
-<p>Charlestown Navy Yard&rsquo;s buildings reflect the range of
-architectural styles employed over its long history. These
-structures served a variety of functions within the working
-yard, which was home to naval officers and their families
-as well as an industrial work place.</p>
-<p>Beginning in 1853, the civilian shipyard workers living in
-surrounding communities, primarily Charlestown,
-assembled each morning to the ringing of the bell atop
-the octagonal Muster House. For most of the 19th century, the workers mustered
-there three times daily, in the morning at sunrise, at
-lunch, and once more in the evening before retiring to
-their homes at sunset.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig59">
-<img src="images/i38.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="509" />
-<p class="pcap">Muster House</p>
-</div>
-<p>Directing the activities was the shipyard commandant,
-who lived with his family and personal staff in the impressive
-mansion constructed in 1805. Built on the yard&rsquo;s high ground, the Commandant&rsquo;s
-House provided a bird&rsquo;s-eye view of the construction and repair activities
-going on below.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig60">
-<img src="images/i39.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="513" />
-<p class="pcap">Commandant&rsquo;s House</p>
-</div>
-<p>Today the house is open to the public for special tours, and numerous
-activities, such as historical military encampments, take place on the
-expansive lawn through the summer months.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig61">
-<img src="images/i40.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="513" />
-<p class="pcap">Historical military encampments</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_83">83</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig62">
-<img src="images/i41.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="783" />
-<p class="pcap">The Chain Forge
-houses the massive hammers
-once used to forge die-lock
-chain, a unique process
-developed here in 1926.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig63">
-<img src="images/i42.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="511" />
-<p class="pcap">The
-country&rsquo;s only remaining
-full-length ropewalk
-was for more than 130 years
-the sole facility in the Navy
-manufacturing rope for U.S.
-warships. Both buildings (not
-open to the public) await
-restoration and preservation
-work as part of the National
-Park Service&rsquo;s ongoing
-efforts to preserve the significant
-industrial heritage of
-the Charlestown Navy Yard.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_84">84</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">The Ships at Charlestown</h4>
-<p>The Navy&rsquo;s oldest commissioned warship, United States Ship <i>Constitution</i> and
-the Charlestown Navy Yard share a long history. Constructed in Boston between
-1794 and 1797, &ldquo;Old Ironsides&rdquo; was repaired and supplied here many times during
-its active career. U.S.S. <i>Constitution</i> was permanently berthed in Charlestown in
-1897 and has since been open to the public for tours. Like all wooden vessels,
-<i>Constitution</i> needs constant attention. In the 1920s, a major overhaul was capped
-with a nationwide tour. Between 1992 and 1995, <i>Constitution</i> underwent the
-most significant restoration to date in the yard&rsquo;s Dry Dock 1. Newly discovered
-drawings and descriptions were used to help skilled naval shipwrights restore the
-vessel to its original appearance.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig64">
-<img src="images/i43.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="994" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Constitution</i> settles on dry dock blocks in
-preparation for its 1990s restoration.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig65">
-<img src="images/i43a.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="587" />
-<p class="pcap">A view off the bow of the venerable warship.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig66">
-<img src="images/i44.jpg" alt="" width="522" height="800" />
-<p class="pcap">Caulkers use traditional caulking hammers to seal the gun decks.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_85">85</div>
-<p>The World War II destroyer
-U.S.S. <i>Cassin Young</i> (DD-793)
-reflects a very different
-kind of sea power than does
-<i>Constitution</i>. Yet both warships,
-constructed 150 years
-apart, served much the same
-purpose. Like frigates, destroyers
-(known as the workhorses
-of the modern navy)
-are smaller and less powerful
-than the heaviest warships,
-but they are fast and remarkably
-versatile. Boasting five
-5-inch guns and made of
-steel, <i>Cassin Young</i> was built
-on the West Coast in 1943
-and took part in major Pacific
-engagements, including
-the Saipan landing and the
-Battle of Leyte Gulf, where
-its crew rescued over 100
-sailors from the attack on
-U.S.S. <i>Princeton</i>.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig67">
-<img src="images/i45.jpg" alt="" width="541" height="800" />
-<p class="pcap">Free tours let visitors see where the
-&ldquo;tin can sailors&rdquo; lived during their long months at sea.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig68">
-<img src="images/i46.jpg" alt="" width="397" height="600" />
-<p class="pcap">Aboard <i>Cassin Young</i>, &ldquo;Rosie the
-Riveter&rdquo; programs introduce visitors to the
-work and lives of the women who wielded rivet guns and
-welding rods during World War II.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig69">
-<img src="images/i47.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="435" />
-<p class="pcap"><i>Cassin Young&rsquo;s</i> bow offers views of the historic yard and harbor.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_86">86</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">The Exhibits</h4>
-<p>Today, exhibits and educational activities help bring alive the navy yard and
-Boston&rsquo;s maritime history. At the USS Constitution Museum,
-located in the historic Dry Dock 1 Pumphouse and adjacent buildings, hands-on
-activities help visitors to appreciate the skills of a 19th-century seaman and get
-a sense of his life aboard a sailing warship. Load and fire a replica cannon, try out
-a sailor&rsquo;s sleeping quarters, take a turn at the great wheel of a square-rigger, or
-command U.S.S. <i>Constitution</i> in battle on a computer screen.</p>
-<p>The museum houses the frigate&rsquo;s logs, weapons, documents, charts, journals,
-decorative arts, and other items illustrating the epic role of &ldquo;Old Ironsides&rdquo; in
-U.S. history. Skilled craftsmen demonstrate ship model building, while films and
-special programs provide greater insight into the ship&rsquo;s story. A museum
-store offers other items relating to <i>Constitution&rsquo;s</i> history
-and to the nation&rsquo;s maritime heritage.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig70">
-<img src="images/i48.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="627" />
-<p class="pcap">USS Constitution Museum</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig71">
-<img src="images/i49.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="510" />
-<p class="pcap">USS Constitution Museum</p>
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig72">
-<img src="images/i50.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="511" />
-<p class="pcap">A permanent exhibit, &ldquo;Serving the Fleet,&rdquo; which
-focuses on the history of the navy yard, is open to the public on a seasonal
-basis in the navy yard&rsquo;s Paint Shop (Building 125).</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_87">87</div>
-<h4 class="interlude">Index</h4>
-<p class="tbcenter"><i>Numbers in italics refer to photographs, illustrations, or maps.</i></p>
-<p class="center"><a href="#index_A" class="ab">A</a> <a href="#index_B" class="ab">B</a> <a href="#index_C" class="ab">C</a> <a href="#index_D" class="ab">D</a> <a href="#index_E" class="ab">E</a> <a href="#index_F" class="ab">F</a> <span class="ab">G</span> <a href="#index_H" class="ab">H</a> <a href="#index_I" class="ab">I</a> <span class="ab">J</span> <span class="ab">K</span> <a href="#index_L" class="ab">L</a> <a href="#index_M" class="ab">M</a> <span class="ab">N</span> <a href="#index_O" class="ab">O</a> <a href="#index_P" class="ab">P</a> <span class="ab">Q</span> <a href="#index_R" class="ab">R</a> <a href="#index_S" class="ab">S</a> <a href="#index_T" class="ab">T</a> <a href="#index_U" class="ab">U</a> <a href="#index_V" class="ab">V</a> <a href="#index_W" class="ab">W</a> <span class="ab">X</span> <span class="ab">Y</span> <span class="ab">Z</span></p>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_A"><b>A</b></dt>
-<dt><b>&ldquo;ABCD ships&rdquo;</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_54">54</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Aircraft carrier</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_60">60</a>, <i><a href="#Page_66">66</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_B"><b>B</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Bainbridge, William</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_11">11</a>, <i><a href="#Page_12">12</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Barbary States</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15-16</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Battleship</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Brig-of-war</b> <i><a href="#Page_14">14</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>British Navy</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Burroughs, George W.</b> <i><a href="#Page_46">46</a></i></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_C"><b>C</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Chain</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>, <i><a href="#Page_60">60-61</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_70">70</a>, <i><a href="#Page_83">83</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>Charlestown Navy Yard: annexes</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_64">64</a>;</dt>
-<dd><b>and Boston Harbor</b> <i><a href="#Page_4">4-5</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a>, <i><a href="#Page_64">64</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b>and NPS</b> <i><a href="#Page_78">78-79</a></i>, <a href="#Page_80">80-86</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>Civil War</b> <i><a href="#Page_28">28-29</a></i>, <a href="#Page_29">29-31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36-37</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>founding</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>improvements</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46-47</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>map</b> <i><a href="#Page_64">64</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_81">81</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b>mission</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_63">63</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>post-Civil War</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>post-WW I</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>post-WW II</b> <a href="#Page_71">71-72</a>, <i><a href="#Page_76">76-77</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b>Spanish-American War</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>South Boston Annex</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_70">70</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>view</b> <i><a href="#bcover">back cover</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b>War of 1812</b> <a href="#Page_11">11-15</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>WW I 46-49,</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>WW II 62,</b> <a href="#Page_63">63-71</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_73">73</a>, <i><a href="#Page_74">74-75</a></i></dd>
-<dt><b>Coaling plant</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a></dt>
-<dt><b>C.S.S. (Confederate States Ship): <i>Virginia</i></b> <i><a href="#Page_28">28</a></i>, <a href="#Page_29">29-31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_36">36</a>, <i><a href="#Page_43">43</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_73">73</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Conversion, ship</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a>, <i><a href="#Page_76">76-77</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>Cruiser</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>, <i><a href="#Page_66">66</a></i></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_D"><b>D</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Dahlgren, John</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_36">36</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Daniels, Josephus</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_49">49</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Decatur, Stephen</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_15">15</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Destroyer escort</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_75">75</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Destroyer</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a>, <i><a href="#Page_73">73</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_74">74-75</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>Dry dock: #1</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <i><a href="#Page_23">23</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>, <i><a href="#Page_40">40-41</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>, <i><a href="#Page_56">56</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_64">64</a>;</dt>
-<dd><b>#2</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_67">67</a></dd>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_E"><b>E</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Ericsson, John</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_36">36</a></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_F"><b>F</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Farragut, David G.</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Five-Power Treaty</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a></dt>
-<dt><b>FRAM (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization)</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Frigate</b> <i><a href="#Page_14">14</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <i><a href="#Page_26">26-27</a></i>. <b>See also U.S.S. ship names</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Fuel</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_64">64</a></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_H"><b>H</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Hartt, Edmund</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_13">13</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Hartt, Edward</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_13">13</a></dt>
-<dt><b>H.M.S. (His Majesty&rsquo;s Ship): <i>Dreadnought</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_54">54</a>;</dt>
-<dd><b><i>Java</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_11">11</a></dd>
-<dt><b>Hull, Isaac</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Hull: iron</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>;</dt>
-<dd><b>steel</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49-54</a>, <i><a href="#Page_58">58-59</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b>wooden</b> <i><a href="#Page_24">24-25</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_49">49</a></dd>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_I"><b>I</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Ironclad</b> <i><a href="#Page_28">28-29</a></i>, <a href="#Page_30">30-31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_36">36</a>, <i><a href="#Page_42">42-43</a></i></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_L"><b>L</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Launching</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>, <i><a href="#Page_32">32-33</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_67">67</a>, <i><a href="#Page_73">73</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>LCM (Landing Craft Mechanized)</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_70">70</a></dt>
-<dt><b>LST (Landing Ship Tank)</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a>, <i><a href="#Page_75">75</a></i>;</dt>
-<dd><b><i>Suffolk County</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a></dd>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_M"><b>M</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Machinery</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <i><a href="#Page_52">52-53</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_54">54</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>Machine shop</b> <i><a href="#Page_30">30</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <i><a href="#Page_52">52-53</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>Mahan, Alfred Thayer</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Manufacturing</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>, <i><a href="#Page_60">60-61</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>Marine railway</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64-65</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Monitor</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_36">36</a>, <i><a href="#Page_42">42-43</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_46">46</a></dt>
-<dt><b>&ldquo;Mosquito fleet&rdquo;</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_O"><b>O</b></dt>
-<dt><b>&ldquo;ordinary [in ...]&rdquo;</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_2">2</a>, <i><a href="#Page_4">4</a></i>, <a href="#Page_17">17-18</a></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_P"><b>P</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Propeller</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <i><a href="#Page_35">35</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_37">37</a></i></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_R"><b>R</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Radar</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_77">77</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Railway, yard</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Receiving ship</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_2">2</a>, <i><a href="#Page_4">4</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Repair, ship</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a>, <i><a href="#Page_23">23</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_63">63</a>, <i><a href="#Page_66">66</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_70">70</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Roosevelt, Franklin D.</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_67">67</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Roosevelt, Theodore</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Ropewalk</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <i><a href="#Page_20">20-21</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a>, <i><a href="#Page_83">83</a></i></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_S"><b>S</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Sail power</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>, <i><a href="#Page_19">19</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_26">26-27</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_54">54</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Shipbuilding</b> <i><a href="#Page_24">24-25</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_54">54</a>, <i><a href="#Page_58">58-59</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_63">63</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Shipbuilding ways</b> <i><a href="#Page_24">24-25</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_46">46</a>, <i><a href="#Page_56">56</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>, <i><a href="#Page_58">58-59</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_67">67</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Shiphouse</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>, <i><a href="#Page_32">32-33</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_46">46</a>, <i><a href="#bcover">back cover</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>Ship-of-the-line</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_11">11</a>, <i><a href="#Page_14">14</a></i>, <a href="#Page_16">16-17</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>. <b>See also U.S.S. ship names</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Shipyards, naval</b> <i><a href="#Page_8">8-9</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>Sidewheeler</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <i><a href="#Page_35">35</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>Sloop-of-war</b> <i><a href="#Page_14">14</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a>, <i><a href="#Page_23">23</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_28">28</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>. <b>See also U.S.S. ship names</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Sonar</b> <a href="#Page_71">71-72</a>, <i><a href="#Page_76">76-77</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>Steam propulsion</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <i><a href="#Page_35">35</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Stoddert, Benjamin</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Submarine</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_74">74</a></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_T"><b>T</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Tar house</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_20">20</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Taylor, Frederick W.</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_55">55</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Taylorism</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Technology, naval</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a>, <i><a href="#Page_76">76-77</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>Torpedo</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a></dt>
-<dt><b>Trade shops</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <i><a href="#Page_30">30</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_U"><b>U</b></dt>
-<dt><b>U.S. Marines</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_13">13</a>, <i><a href="#Page_38">38</a></i></dt>
-<dt><b>U.S. Navy</b> <a href="#Page_15">15-16</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_55">55</a>;</dt>
-<dd><b>policy</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49-50</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a></dd>
-<dt><b>U.S.S. (United States Ship): <i>Adams</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>;</dt>
-<dd><b><i>Atlanta</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Boston</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Brazos</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Bridge</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Cassin Young</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_66">66</a>, <i><a href="#Page_85">85</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Chesapeake</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_13">13</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Chicago</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Congress</i></b> <a href="#Page_30">30-31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Constellation</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Constitution</i></b> <i><a href="#Page_6">6-7</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <i><a href="#Page_26">26-27</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a>, <i><a href="#Page_84">84</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Cumberland</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>, <i><a href="#Page_28">28</a></i>, <a href="#Page_29">29-31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_73">73</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Dolphin</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_50">50</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Forrest</i></b> <i><a href="#Page_73">73</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Fulton II</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Guest</i></b> <i><a href="#Page_73">73</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Gyatt</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_77">77</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Hartford</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Independence</i></b> <i><a href="#Page_10">10</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_13">13</a>, <i><a href="#Page_14">14</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Intrepid</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>MacDonough</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_64">64</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Macon</i></b> <i><a href="#Page_66">66</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Maine</i></b> <i><a href="#Page_44">44</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_46">46</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Merrimack</i></b> <a href="#Page_29">29-31</a>, <i><a href="#Page_32">32-33</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_35">35</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_73">73</a> (<b>See also C.S.S. <i>Virginia</i></b>);</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Monadnock</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_36">36</a>, <i><a href="#Page_42">42-43</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Monaghan</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_63">63</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Monitor</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_42">42</a>, <i><a href="#Page_43">43</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>New Hampshire</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>New Ironsides</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_36">36</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Pentucket</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_54">54</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Princeton</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_35">35</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Talapoosa</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_45">45</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>United States</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_16">16</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Vandalia</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_63">63</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Vermont</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Virginia</i></b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_46">46</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Wasp</i></b> <i><a href="#Page_66">66</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b><i>Whitney</i></b> <i><a href="#Page_54">54</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_56">56</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a></dd>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_V"><b>V</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Von Meyer, George</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_65">65</a></dt>
-</dl>
-<dl class="index">
-<dt class="center" id="index_W"><b>W</b></dt>
-<dt><b>Workforce: African Americans</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_67">67</a>;</dt>
-<dd><b>management</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>size</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_67">67</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>skills</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_58">58</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>women</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_47">47</a>, <i><a href="#Page_48">48</a></i>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_67">67</a>, <i><a href="#Page_68">68-69</a></i>;</dd>
-<dd><b>work conditions</b> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_71">71</a>;</dd>
-<dd><b>workers</b> <i><a href="#Page_19">19-21</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_23">23</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_38">38</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_46">46</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_48">48</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_52">52-53</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_54">54</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_56">56</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_60">60-61</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_62">62-63</a></i>, <i><a href="#Page_77">77</a></i></dd>
-</dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_88">88</div>
-<h2 id="c8"><span class="small">National Park Service</span></h2>
-<p>The National Park Service is indebted to all those persons
-who made the production of this book possible. The text
-greatly benefited from suggestions by naval architect and
-historian John G. Arrison and historian Frederick R.
-Black. The primary source for the yard history was the
-National Park Service report, <i>The Charlestown Navy Yard
-1800-1973</i> (<i>1800-1842</i> by Edwin C. Bearss; <i>1842-1890</i> by
-Edwin C. Bearss and Frederick R. Black; <i>1890-1973</i> by
-Frederick R. Black). Other important sources were Kenneth
-J. Hagan&rsquo;s <i>This People&rsquo;s Navy: The Making of American
-Sea Power</i>, 1991; Howard I. Chapelle&rsquo;s <i>The History of
-the American Sailing Navy</i>, 1949; and Donald L. Canney&rsquo;s
-<i>The Old Steam Navy</i>, 1990. The handbook was produced
-by the staff of the Division of Publications, National Park
-Service: Susan Barkus, designer; William Gordon, editor;
-Nancy Morbeck Haack, cartographer, assisted by the staff
-of Boston National Historical Park.</p>
-<dl class="undent"><dt><i>All photos not credited are from the files of Boston National Historical Park.</i></dt>
-<dt>Mary Altier <a class="pgref" href="#Page_84">84</a> (bottom left)</dt>
-<dt>John Batchelor <a href="#Page_24">24-25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26-27</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40-41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42-43</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58-59</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74-75</a></dt>
-<dt><i>Battles and Leaders of the Civil War</i> <a class="pgref" href="#Page_43">43</a> (top)</dt>
-<dt>Boston Athenaeum <a href="#Page_4">4-5</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32-33</a></dt>
-<dt>The Bostonian Society/Old State House <a href="#Page_10">10-11</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_46">46</a></dt>
-<dt>George Eastman House <a class="pgref" href="#Page_23">23</a></dt>
-<dt>Louis Glanzman <a class="pgref" href="#Page_19">19</a></dt>
-<dt>Greg Harlin <a class="pgref" href="#Page_21">21</a> (right)</dt>
-<dt>James Higgins <a class="pgref" href="#Page_66">66</a> (top), <a href="#Page_78">78-79</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82-83</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_84">84</a> (bottom right), <a class="pgref" href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a class="pgref" href="#Page_86">86</a> (top, bottom)</dt>
-<dt><i>The Kedge-Anchor</i>, by William N. Brady <a class="pgref" href="#Page_14">14</a> (bottom)</dt>
-<dt>Mariner&rsquo;s Museum <a href="#bcover">back cover</a></dt>
-<dt>James McFalls cover, <a href="#Page_2">2-3</a></dt>
-<dt>National Archives <a class="pgref" href="#Page_14">14</a> (top; painting by Rear Admiral J.W. Schmidt), <a class="pgref" href="#Page_35">35</a> (top), <a class="pgref" href="#Page_69">69</a> (bottom)</dt>
-<dt>Jack Pare <a class="pgref" href="#Page_84">84</a> (top)</dt>
-<dt>The Paul Revere Life Insurance Co. <a href="#Page_6">6-7</a> (painting by A. Lassell Ripley)</dt>
-<dt>Robert Tope <a href="#Page_8">8-9</a></dt>
-<dt>U.S. Marine Corps Museum <a href="#Page_28">28-29</a></dt>
-<dt>U.S. Naval Academy <a href="#Page_44">44-45</a> (painting by Frank Christian Muller)</dt>
-<dt>USS Constitution Museum <a class="pgref" href="#Page_86">86</a> (center; photo by Jerry Margolycz)</dt></dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_89">89</div>
-<h2 id="c9"><span class="small">U.S. Department of the Interior</span></h2>
-<p>As the nation&rsquo;s principal conservation agency, the
-department of the Interior has responsibility for most of
-our nationally-owned public lands and natural resources.
-This includes fostering the wisest use of our land and
-water resources, protecting our fish and wildlife, preserving
-the environmental and cultural values of our national
-parks and historical places, and providing for the enjoyment
-of life through outdoor recreation. The Department
-assesses our energy and mineral resources to ensure that
-their development is in the best interest of all our people.
-The Department also has a major responsibility for
-American Indian reservation communities and for people
-who live in island territories under U.S. administration.</p>
-<p>National Park Handbooks are published to promote
-understanding and enjoyment of more than 360 National
-Park System sites representing our natural and cultural
-heritage. The handbooks are sold at parks and can be purchased
-by mail from the Superintendent of Documents,
-U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.</p>
-<dl class="undent"><dt><i>Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data</i></dt>
-<dt>Charlestown Navy Yard: Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts.</dt>
-<dt>p. cm.&mdash;(Official National Park handbook; 152)</dt>
-<dt>Includes index.</dt>
-<dt>Supt. of Docs. no.: I29.9/5:152</dt>
-<dt>ISBN 0-912627-60-3</dt>
-<dt>1. Boston Naval Shipyard (Boston, Mass.)&mdash;History.</dt>
-<dt>2. Charlestown Navy Yard (Mass.)&mdash;History. I. United States. National Park Service. Division of Publications. II. Series: Handbook (United States. National Park Service. Division of Publications); 152.</dt>
-<dt>VA70.B68C48 1995</dt>
-<dt>359.7&rsquo;09744&rsquo;61&mdash;dc20 95-12868 CIP</dt></dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_90">90</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig73">
-<img src="images/i51.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="606" />
-<p class="pcap"><i id="bcover">1840 view of Charlestown Navy Yard by George
-Curtis depicts the shiphouses that covered four of the yard&rsquo;s
-shipbuilding ways during the 19th century.</i></p>
-</div>
-<p><i>For 174 years, the U.S. Naval Shipyard at Boston,
-now called Charlestown Navy Yard, played a significant
-role in the creation and growth of the U.S. Navy.
-By the time it closed in 1974, it had built more than
-200 warships and repaired thousands. Historic black
-and white photographs, color photos and illustrations,
-and detailed diagrams tell the story of evolving technology
-and naval policy and how they affected the
-fortunes of the yard and its workers.</i></p>
-<h2>Transcriber&rsquo;s Notes</h2>
-<ul>
-<li>Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.</li>
-<li>Relocated all image captions to be immediately under the corresponding images, removing redundant references like &rdquo;preceding page&rdquo;.</li>
-<li>Silently corrected a few palpable typos.</li>
-<li>In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.</li>
-</ul>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
-End of Project Gutenberg's Charlestown Navy Yard, by National Park Service
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