_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)._]