USS CASSIN YOUNG 40th Anniversary as a Museum Ship

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.