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USS HARTFORD, a sloop-of-war ship, most notably served as Admiral Farragut's flagship during the American Civil War.

By the 1900s D.H. Day owned Glen Haven, 5,000 acres around it, 5,000 cherry and apple trees, a farm with hundreds of hogs, and a massive lumber company. Day was a visionary. He could see that the demand for lumber was falling rapidly, and he would need to diversify. So he started a canning company. The Glen Haven Canning Company processed cherries, raspberries, and peaches and shipped the finished canned goods to Great Lake cities.

Experience the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and discover historic boats, engaging exhibits, and all-ages programming that celebrate the Bay's history, environment, & culture. Watch skilled craftsmen in the working shipyard and enjoy scenic waterfront views. Located in St. Michael’s, this captivating destination invites you to explore the Chesapeake story through hands-on learning, world-class exhibitions, & on-the-water experiences. Your Chesapeake adventure begins here.

On December 13, 1914, the German auxiliary cruiser SMS Cormoran, out of fuel and cut off from Germany by World War I, took refuge from Japanese warships in Guam. The ship spent the next two years interned in Apra Harbor. When the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, the Cormoran's captain blew up the ship rather than let her fall into enemy hands.

In its latest of many lives, the Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey is often at sea, unavailable to park visitors. We recreated it virtually so more people than ever can explore its decks—and its stories.

“Kilroy was here”, accompanied by a cartoon drawing of a man looking over a wall, was a popular piece of graffiti drawn by American troops in the Atlantic Theater and then later in the Pacific Theater. It came to be a universal sign that American soldiers had come through an area and left their mark. There are two Kilroy inscriptions hidden in the memorial tucked in the corners of both the Atlantic and Pacific sides of the memorial. Can you find them?

John Small freed himself, his wife Susan, and their infant son Phillip during a dangerous escape aboard the Confederate steamer, Planter. As the ship’s engineer, John was instrumental in the success of the mission in which he and pilot Robert Smalls brought a total of sixteen men, women and children out of slavery and into freedom.

Valentino Dominelli, a watertender aboard USS Cassin Young, was the son of immigrants from Italy. A watertender was a crewman aboard a steam-powered ship and was responsible for tending to the fires and boilers in the ship's engine room. "Dom" died in action when a kamikaze plane struck USS Cassin Young on July 30, 1945.

Walt Wimley enlisted in the US Navy on September 11, 1942. He served aboard USS CASSIN YOUNG in the ship's engineering department as a Machinist Mate 1st Class in 1944 and 1945. He died in action aboard Cassin Young off the coast of Okinawa on July 30, 1945.

At age 20, John Kappa enlisted into the U.S. Navy. He worked as a machinist's mate, maintaining and testing different components of the ship. During World War II he served on the USS Colorado before joining the USS Cassin Young. Kappa was killed in action from a kamikaze attack on the Cassin Young.

John Barry (1745-1803), an Irish immigrant to the 13 colonies, served in the Continental Navy, attacking British shipping throughout the American Revolution. He was the first commissioned American naval officer, and the first flag officer.

The items in San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park's collections offer a variety of stories of American maritime history. One of these items is the time ball, a visual time signal for ships in the harbor. This time ball was dropped from the top of the signal-pole located on Telegraph Hill to help sailors throughout the San Francisco Bay keep track of the day.

Learn how the steam whistle at the South Manitou Island lighthouse contributed to the safety of ships traversing the Manitou Passage!

On the night of May 12, approximately sixteen freedom seekers made a daring escape from enslavement by commandeering the Confederate steamer the “Planter.” Piloting the ship from Charleston to Beaufort the crew mimicked the Confederate signals and safely reached emancipation the morning of May 13.

From the lives of young, immigrant women who worked the textile mills at Lowell National Historic Park to those of the female shipyard workers who were essential to the home front during World War II at Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historic Park, women’s history can be found at every park. If you want to understand our nation’s history, explore the remarkable legacies of American women.

Built at the Charlestown Navy Yard, HMS GORE served in the Royal Navy during World War II. This ship's story speaks to the international cooperation between the United States and United Kingdom during the war.

At the Charlestown Navy Yard, Building 107 served as the workspace for the Public Works Department of the Navy. This building also provides an example of American architecture and engineering for the "New Navy" period.

The oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world still calls her birthplace—Boston—home. Launched in 1797 from Hartt's shipyard in the North End, Constitution was one of six original frigates that formed the core of the fledgling United States Navy in the 1790s. During the War of 1812, she earned a legendary reputation in battle, defeating four British frigates.

In 2018, "Barracoon" by Zora Neale Hurston was published posthumously. This book told the story of Cudjo Lewis a survivor of the "Clotilda", one of the last ships to bring enslaved people from Africa to the United States. In this article learn about Hurston's journey to write this book and Cudjo's story.

No other building in the Charlestown Navy Yard has had as many strikingly different uses as Building 5, reflecting the complexity of the 175-year history of the U.S. Navy in Boston.