Finding Aid: USS CASSIN YOUNG Navigation Charts

 

Preface

This document, the finding aid for the Boston National Historical Park USS Cassin Young Navigation Charts, 1833-1960 (bulk dates 1900-1960), describes navigation charts typically found aboard a Fletcher-class destroyer of the period. A draft of this finding aid was issued in September 2001 and was the result of a cataloging project carried out by the Northeast Museum Services Center during the spring and summer of 1999.

The catalogers would like to express their gratitude towards staff at Boston National Historical Park for their assistance in carrying out this work. In particular, thanks must go to Museum Specialist Phillip Hunt and to Navy Yard Interpreter Vincent Kordack. We are also grateful to members of the crew of the Landing Ship Dock USS Portland who met with us on two occasions while docked at the Charlestown Navy Yard in June 1999. In particular thanks must go to Quartermaster United States Navy Robert I. Daughtrey and "SN" United States Navy Joseph I. Lyford of the Portland for their contributions to our understanding of the purpose and operation of the Chart Room. Finally we would like to thank Mr. Alton K. Peterson, Retired, United States Navy, who was in active service from c.1940-1960. Conversations with Mr. Petersen increased our understanding of the types of navigation charts and of details relating to their use and interpretation.

This document represents many hours of work recording details about the items herein described. The reader should expect a reasonable degree of human error and consequently rely on personal observation of the actual items.

 

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Introduction

This document, The Finding Aid for the Boston National Historical Park USS Cassin Young Navigation Charts, 1833-1960 (bulk dates 1900-1960), is the result of work by staff of the Boston National Historical Park, the Northeast Museum Services Center, and the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (working through cooperative agreement with the National Park Service). During March 1999 SPNEA/NPS Collections Manager Melissa Underhill surveyed the charts and developed a processing plan. Between August 1999 and September 1999 SPNEA Museum Technicians Jonathan Bohan and Patricia Hughes processed and cataloged the charts. The project was carried out under the guidance of Elizabeth Banks, Archivist, Northeast Museum Services Center, Michelle Ortwein, Acting Director, Northeast Museum Services Center and Melissa Underhill, SPNEA Collections Manager, Northeast Museum Services Center. Gay Vietzke, former Acting Director, Northeast Museum Services Center and former Curator, Boston National Historical Park, provided guidance and consultation based on her familiarity with the collection. The work was done at the Boston National Historical Park, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts with fiscal year 1998 Backlog Cataloging funds.

This finding aid describes the USS Cassin Young navigation charts (BOSTC 3451) relating to the navigational operations of the World War II Fletcher-class destroyer USS Cassin Young berthed at the Boston National Historical Park, Charlestown Navy Yard, Charlestown, MA. The charts were stored in twenty-six archival flat boxes stacked on top of four file cabinets in room 2H, second floor, Building 107, Boston National Historical Park.1 Nine charts known as Set 3 had been found by maintenance staff in 1986 in the Chart Room aboard the USS Cassin Young.2 Eight others were part of a donation received by the park in 1980.3 All charts and correction records had originally been used in the Chart Room of the USS Cassin Young. Each of the twenty-six boxes was marked with the portfolio number range of charts stored in that box.4 Most charts were stored folded and loose with approximately seventy charts to a box. In several boxes, some charts were found bundled together. The bundles were surveyed and a listing of the contents of each bundle is found in Appendix A of this finding aid. The chart correction records stored with the charts were housed in a metal box with hinged lid.

Navigation charts were found arranged in three sets: Set 1 contains charts with portfolio numbers 1800 through 8983 (some charts missing); Set 2 contains charts identified as “AW” and “BW” and charts with portfolio numbers 1000 through 5399 (some charts missing); Set 3 contains charts from accession BOSTC-299.5 The portfolio number identifying each chart is a four-digit Navy number in which the first digit refers to one of eight geographical regions created by the Navy for purposes of present-day navigation. In addition to the four-digit portfolio number, in each set some numbers also include the letter "A" (coastal charts) or "B" (harbor charts) referring to the scale of the chart. In Set 2, portfolio numbers also include the letters "AW" or "BW" identifying these as planning charts for the "A" and "B" scales.6 At the portfolio level, charts were found out of consecutive order. The order found was retained, as it may have indicated the way in which charts were used. Within the portfolios, charts in Set 1 were arranged in consecutive order; those in Set 2 were slightly out of order. During cataloging, the original order was maintained where it was consecutive. Charts slightly out of order were rearranged as the loss of consecutive order appeared to be due to misfiling of the charts during use. A listing of charts according to consecutive portfolio number appears in Appendix B of this document. Where a single chart was printed on both sides, the image on each side was cataloged as a separate item. Charts were unfolded and stored in map case drawers or, in the case of very large charts, in rolls on shelves of vertical shelving units.

The complete collection was cataloged into ANCS+. One lot record was created in the Collections Management Module. In the Archives Module, records were created at the series level and at the item level.

The finding aid is divided into five sections:

  • Part 1: Collection Description: a scope and content note (or brief synopsis of the collection)
  • Part 2: Historical Note, which describes the types and organization of the navigation charts
  • Part 3: Collection Listing, which provides a list of the following:
    • map case folders: a map case drawer and folder list
    • rolled storage: a list of items which are larger than the map case folders and which have been rolled and stored in rolled storage boxes
    • index card box: a group of index cards
  • Appendices
    • List of Bundled Charts
    • List of Charts by Portfolio Numbers
  • Bibliography

Footnotes

  1. Set 1 was stored in twelve boxes; Set 2 was stored in thirteen boxes; and Set 3 was stored in one box.
  2. These were charts: A3179 H.O. 2466; A3178 H.O. 2501; B3117 H.O. 246; B3173A H.O. 4315; B30[missing] H.O. 3931; 2054; B3181 H.O. 4059; A3180H.O.2439; and B3176 H.O. 2438. See park accession BOSTC-299.
  3. These were charts: 13230; 1208; 13267; 12214; 12300; 12312 and 13270. See park accession BOSTC-53. Also in this accession was a map showing distances and times from Philadelphia to Boston.
  4. Portfolio numbers refer to the eight regions of the world as established for navigational charting. See Historical Note in this finding aid.
  5. Sets designations may refer to different ranges represented by the charts, or they may refer to active and inactive sets of charts kept aboard the ship. See Historical Note in this finding aid.
  6. See Historical Note in this finding aid for further explanation of types and uses of charts.
 

Part 1: Collection Description

Scope and Content Note

Boston National Historical Park USS Cassin Young Navigation Charts, 1833-1960 (bulk dates 1900-1960)

Accession numbers: BOSTC-26, BOSTC-53 and BOSTC-299

Catalog number: BOSTC 3451

Quantity: 2,693 items Storage: 115 folders in 23 map drawers, 28 rolled drawings in rolled storage boxes, 1 index card archives box.

Location: Boston National Historical Park, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, MA 02129-4543 (617) 242-5601

Description: The Boston National Historical Park USS Cassin Young Navigation Charts, 1833-1960 (bulk dates 1900-1960) were produced by the U.S. Coast and Geodedic Survey and the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office, and by the crew of the USS Cassin Young. The collection was assembled by park staff. These materials were kept aboard the ship for navigational operations during combat and during subsequent tours and trips carried out by the ship between 1940 and 1961. The drawings document harbor, coastal and open ocean waters throughout the world and include titles such as "Mediterranean Sea – Greece, Plans in the Agean Sea", "Scotland – East Coast, Firth of Forth, Fisherow" and "North America – West Coast, Anchorages in the Gulf of California." The chart correction records (index cards) document updates and corrections made to the charts by the crew.

Materials are primarily oversize offset prints. Also present are plotting sheets and index cards.

Organization: Boston National Historical Park USS Cassin Young Navigation Charts, 1833-1960 (bulk dates 1900-1960)

I. Navigation Charts

II. Fleet Chart Correction Records

 

Series Description

I. Navigation Charts, 1833-1960 (bulk dates 1900-1960)

This series, comprised of three sets of charts, contains offset prints of charts relating to the navigational operation of the USS Cassin Young. These charts describe areas of the world where the USS Cassin Young traveled as a combat ship and on its world tour following World War II. Areas described in the charts include the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Arctic region, Scotland, the British Isles, North America, the West Indies, Central America, Panama, the North Pacific Ocean, Hawaii, Canada, Newfoundland, the South Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Spain, France, South America, Africa, the North Atlantic, Madagascar, the Adriatic, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Baltic Sea. The charts were largely rehoused in their original consecutive order. Where portfolios were out of order, the original order was maintained. Where a chart was out of consecutive numerical order within a portfolio, it was replaced in order when thought to have been out of order due to misfiling. Charts have been unfolded and, where required, removed from bundled groups in which some were found. Charts less that 36 x 48” were stored in map case folders; larger drawings were stored on rolls.

II. Fleet Chart Correction Records, 1954-1958

This series, comprised of a group of approximately six hundred and fifty 5 x 8” index cards, contains information relating to the updating and correction of the navigation charts. Index cards document the following information: Consec. No.7, Chart No., Edition No., Edition Date, Corrected through N. to M. No., Title of Chart, and Notice to Mariners Corrections including Year, N.M. No., Paragraph, and Correction Made (Date and Initials). These are U.S. Government Printing Office form 16-68975-1, also identified as Fleet Chart Correction Record N.H.O. 1278. The series contains a few blank forms located at the end of the series. The original order, ascending by consecutive number in the range of 1-34, has been maintained. Many number groups within the range are missing. Index cards were rehoused in an archives index card box.

Footnotes

7. Consecutive number.

 

Part 2: Historical Note

Background Information for the USS Cassin Young Navigation Charts

The U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office8

The Hydrographic Office of the United States Navy was one of three agencies of the Federal Government engaged in hydrographic surveying and charting. The other two agencies were the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, which prepared charts of the coasts of the United States and its possessions and the U.S. Army's Lake Survey, which operated only in the Great Lakes. The Hydrographic Office was primarily concerned with marine charting in foreign waters and coasts outside the United States.

The origin of the Hydrographic Office can be traced back to the Depot of Charts and Instruments, established in 1830 as a clearinghouse for navigation equipment and foreign charts. In 1866 the Office became a separate agency with responsibility for providing charts and descriptive sailing directions for U.S. Government and private ships. For this purpose, the Hydrographic Office relied on foreign sources for hydrographic information. For many years most of its printed charts were reproductions of foreign (especially British Admiralty) survey charts, corrected for accuracy and revised in format. Of the original American surveys before 1908, most were conducted in the Pacific region (including Japan and parts of the Siberian coast) and in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Cartographic records from Navy surveys in the 19th and early 20th centuries usually included triangulation diagrams, boat sheets showing depth soundings taken by the drop of a weighted line every few feet, rough compilation for plotting sheets (sometimes called first projections or, in the 20th century, master sheets) on which data from several boat sheets were brought together, and smooth sheets or final manuscript charts redrawn from all the preceding survey work. Because the object of marine surveying was to produce charts useful to ships' navigators, the charts emphasized the depth soundings and fathom curves; the nature of the shoreline; bottom sediments useful for determining positions when the shore was not visible, locations of shoals, rocks, shipwrecks, and other dangers; locations of buoys, beacons, lighthouses, and other navigation aids, and sufficient topographic and cultural features on coastal land areas for use in plotting positions offshore. Topographic information ranged from a few landmarks to the careful representation of coastal terrain or at least the seaward side of the terrain. Coastal towns and cities usually were only roughly indicated, but often included a few easily recognized landmarks, such as forts or churches, from which mariners could obtain bearings. Locations of interest to the sailor, such as customhouses and U.S. consulates in foreign areas, were shown. Coastal landscape views of rocks, lighthouses, and topography, drawn in profile from the seaward side, were placed on finished charts to provide visual recognition and to serve as a means of determining positions offshore.

Navigation Charts Onboard Ship9

Whereas, a "map" is for land documentation and has land references, a "chart", by definition, is a document for mariners showing depth of water and navigational aids. The USS Cassin Young kept two types of charts onboard ship: charts of coastal waters produced by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and charts of ocean waters produced by the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office. Of the coastal waters group, the USS Cassin Young held "Coastal Approach Charts" (indicated by a letter "A"), and "Harbor Charts" (indicated by a letter "B"). Also aboard were charts marked "AW" and "BW." These were planning charts for coastal approach and harbor regions; some are keys to chart corrections related to planning and with reference to the "Post Overseas Movement Guide." A copy of an order form among the USS Cassin Young charts is evidence of the ship's having purchased charts. The need to purchase charts (now free of charge to ships) may account for the small number of charts on the ship.

All navigation charts are listed in the "Chart Catalog - Catalog of Maps, Charts and Related Products", commonly known as the "Chart Catalog." The "Chart Catalog", a small (7 x 10") khaki-colored volume identified with "Hydrographic Office" printed on the cover and used by the crew along with other standard navigation texts and sets of chart books, shows the world divided into eight regions for the purposes of present-day navigation. Each region is associated with a "portfolio" of navigation charts.

A ship received portfolios of charts in rolls and retained sets10 of portfolios covering specific areas that the ship was to visit. The portfolio number is indicated by the first digit of the fourdigit portfolio number appearing in the lower left corner of each chart. The crewmember responsible for charts folded each chart into quarters with the sequential portfolio number visible for quick retrieval in the lower left corner of the chart. At the lower right corner of each chart was the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey number (for coastal waters) or the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office number (for open ocean waters). These chart numbers were less important onboard ship, as the crew tracked charts by means of the "portfolio number" listed in the "Chart Catalog." Onboard ship, the originator of the chart was not as important as the association of a group of charts that fully described a geographic area. Portfolios were arranged in sets in sequence beginning with portfolio #1 which includes the coastal waters of New England, portfolio #2 which includes the Mid-Atlantic waters, etc.

A correction to a chart was received by a ship as a "Notice to Mariners." Each notice was associated with a N. M. , or "Notice to Mariners", number. Crewmembers noted corrections to the charts and dated them as they were received. This information and the N.M. number appear in the lower left corner of the chart. Corrections, made to the charts in the Chart Room onboard ship, typically included changes in sandbars, rock hazards, placement of channel markers, etc. Corrections were drawn on the chart in magenta ink so as to be visible in the very low light conditions in which the crew was sometimes required to work.

Onboard ship, the charts were kept and used in the Chart Room. In the Chart Room, the Combat Information Center (CIC) used radar data to generate plots on the charts to document current situations and the locations of nearby ships. The crew used the charts with the dead reckoning tracer (a flat glass-covered table) to steer the ship. This was done by tying the dead reckoning tracer into the ship's gyroscope and steering. Based on current speed and direction, this was used for point-to-point reckoning, i.e. from a current location in Boston Harbor to a specific channel marker.

Footnotes

8. This history is from United States Hydrographic Office Manuscript Charts in the National Archives, 1838-1908, Special List 43, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, Washington, 1978: 1-3. Compiled by William J. Heynen.

9. Much of this information is based on interviews with Quartermaster United States Navy Robert L. Daughtrey and SN United States Navy Joseph I. Lyford of the Landing Ship Dock USS Portland at the Boston National Historical Park, Charlestown, MA and aboard the USS Portland while it was docked at the Charlestown Navy Yard in June 1999. Additional information is based on a conversation between Elizabeth Banks, Archivist, Northeast Museum Services Center, and Mr. Alton K. Peterson, Retired, United States Navy, in June 1999.

10. The set designations found in this collection do not appear to be "sets" in this sense, i.e. relating to a "range." They appeared rather to be groups of active and inactive charts.

 

Part 3: Collection Listing

In the listing below, “A” indicates a Coastal Approach Chart; “B” indicates a Harbor Chart. “AW” and “BW” indicate planning charts for coastal approach and harbor regions. Each chart is part of a portfolio.11 In the listing, portfolios are identified in italicized notes.

11. See Historical Note of this document.

 

Series I. Navigation Charts

 

 

 

 

, 5 Map Case 13

From Navigation Chart Portfolio #1, Folder 4 and 5 from 3

 

 

 

 

Drawer 5

From Navigation Chart Portfolio #4  starts folder 2

 

 

 

Drawer 8

From Navigation Chart Portfolio #5 starts folder 2

Last updated: April 18, 2025

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