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Development of ship building at the Charlestown Navy Yard
USS Independence
USS Independence
The first ship built by the Navy Yard, the USS Independence was the nation's first ship-of-the-line to enter service. Regarded as somewhat unsuccessful, largely because of the ill-advised modifications made by Capt. William Bainbridge during construction, the ship was taken into Dry Dock 1 and "razed" (cut down) to a large frigate in 1835-36. A much more successful ship thereafter, it was long a fixture at the Mare Island Navy Yard, serving as receving ship there from 1857 to 1912. Plans to converth the venerable ship into a floating restaurant at the Panama-Pacific Exposition fell through, and Independence was finally burned for scrap off Hunter's Point in San Francisco.
 
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Drawing of Bunker Hill Monument under construction.  

Did You Know?
Did you know that the financing for The Bunker Hill Monument was a hand-to-mouth project, culminating in a bake sale in 1840, three years before the dedication? By contrast, The Dorchester Heights Monument was financed by an appropriation from the Massachusetts Legislature amounting to $100,000.

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Last Updated: July 25, 2006 at 00:31 EST