News Release

USS CASSIN YOUNG Celebrates 40 Years as a Museum Ship

USS Cassin Young decorated in signal flags.
The USS CASSIN YOUNG decorated with signal flags.

NPS Photo/Cole

Subscribe RSS Icon | What is RSS
News Release Date: June 14, 2021

Forty years ago, USS Cassin Young (DD-793) opened as a floating museum. Sunday, June 27, 2021, at 10:00 am the National Park Service and the U.S. Navy will host a short ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate this anniversary. The event will take place on Pier 1, in the Charlestown Navy Yard. Bring your “Passport To Your National Parks” and collect a new commemorative cancellation stamp designed for this special occasion.

USS Cassin Young was brought to Boston NHP to represent the ships that workers in the Boston Navy Yard built, repaired, and modernized. There were 14 Fletcher class destroyers built in the Boston Navy Yard. Cassin Young came to Boston a number of times during the 1950s for repairs and updated equipment.

In the last 40 years, 8.6 million visitors have come aboard the main deck. Some of those visitors have explored other parts of the ship by taking a guided tour with a park ranger or a volunteer. Since 1981, visitors have discovered the role and function of a destroyer in times of war and peace. Visitors have seen and smelled the spaces sailors lived aboard. Visitors have learned about the 23 sailors who were killed in the spring of 1945 by kamikaze attacks.

Every year, volunteers, many of whom are veterans of the U.S. Navy, donate hour of love and sweat to the park and the ship. On behalf of the park and our visitors, I want to thank all the volunteers for their hard work and dedication.

On behalf of the National Parks of Boston, the U.S. Navy, and the Cassin Young volunteers, please join us to mark this 40th anniversary. As we enter our fifth decade we continue to share the stories of the men who serve and the workers who built; we continue preserving the legacy of USS Cassin Young.

About the National Parks of Boston

The National Parks of Boston is a collection of three National Park Service sites – Boston National Historical Park, Boston African American National Historic Site, and Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park. Established by individual legislation and for designated purposes, the three units have come together under a unified organizational umbrella to collaborate in ways that celebrate our nation’s cultural heritage, reconnect people to history and nature, and provide outdoor recreation opportunities on land and on the water.



Last updated: June 17, 2021

Park footer

Contact Info

Mailing Address:

Boston National Historical Park
21 Second Ave

Charlestown, MA 02129

Phone:

617 242-5601

Contact Us