The life of a typical US Navy ship begins with two ceremonies, the ship's launching and the ship's commissioning. In the Charlestown Navy Yard, the Commandant of the Yard presided over these ceremonies, often accompanied by other Navy personnel, special guests, shipyard workers and the public. Boston newspapers frequently reported on these ceremonies.
As festive events, ship ceremonies in the Charlestown Navy Yard celebrated the addition of a new, often advanced ship to the US Naval fleet. Spectators cheered as civilian and Navy bands played; other Navy ships sounded their bells, whistles or horns, while sailors fired cannons and honor guards paraded. The public attended many of these ship ceremonies, except for during World War II (WWII) when the Navy closed the Yard to the public for security reasons.
Most ship ceremonies began in the Commandant's House where the Commandant and his wife served coffee to Navy officials and guests. Over the Yard's 174-year history, a ship ceremony usually attracted from two to five thousand people.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
