U.S.S. Cassin Young: WWII History in Boston

Boston, Massachusetts is, of course, full of history, and any casual visitor to Boston can easily find Colonial history, Revolutionary history, as well as history from the Federal and Victorian periods of the 19^th century. But what may surprise you is the fact that Boston also has a strong World War II history, and it is best experienced by visiting the U.S.S. Cassin Young, which is docked at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston Harbor.

The Cassin Young is a Fletcher Class destroyer and was built in San Pedro, California and first commissioned on New Year's Eve, 1943. Within four months, it was seeing combat duty in the Pacific, seeing duty during the Battle for Leyte Gulf, the Battle of Cape Engano, and the liberation of the Philippines, among others. In 1945, the Cassin Young was involved in preparing for the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and later participated in those invasions doing the very hazardous duty of a radar picket ship. During this duty, the Cassin Young was attacked by seven kamikazes; six were shot down, but one got through and left one sailor dead and fifty-nine wounded. The Cassin Young also suffered enough damage that it had to go in for repairs. Three months later, the Cassin Young was back in action off the shores of Okinawa when it was once again hit by a kamikaze on the main deck near one of the smoke stacks. An explosion followed and twenty-two sailors were dead and forty-five wounded. Also, the Cassin Young had lost all power and lay dead in the water. The crew was eventuallly able to restore power in one of its engines, and the Cassin Young was able to limp back to California. By the time of its arrival, the Japanese had surrendered. The Cassin Young subsequently received the Navy Unit Commendation for its work during the war. The ship was repaired and then decommissioned and placed in mothball status in 1946.

Destroyers are traditionally named for Navy and Marine Corps personnel who have somehow distinguished themselves in service. Commander Cassin Young was in charge of a little known repair ship called U.S.S. Vestal when it was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. When the Japanese attacked on that day the Vestal happened to be moored next to the U.S.S. Arizona. The Vestal was hit hard and Commander Young was literally blown off the deck and into the water. As the crew was preparing to abandon ship, Cassin Young was able to pull himself up out of the water and back on deck. His reappearance has been described as being something along the lines of a mystical "sea creature" crawling up on the deck of the ship. Commander Young ordered his men to cease abandoning the ship and to start saving the ship. In time, Young was able to move the Vestal, and he was able to pick up many survivors from the Arizona. He then had the presence of mind to cross the harbor and beach his badly damaged ship. Young was promoted for his actions under fire and given command of the U.S.S. San Francisco. Less than a year later, he would die at the Battle of Guadalcanal. Cassin Young was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, and the U.S.S. Cassin Young was commissioned the next year.

When the Korean War broke out, the U.S.S. Cassin Young was re-commissioned and sent to Boston's Charlestown Navy Yard for an overhaul and modernization. It would then initially serve in the Atlantic and Mediterranean before returning to the Pacific. After the Korean War, the Cassin Young patrolled the Atlantic and Caribbean. In 1960, it was decommissioned and mothballed again.

The Cassin Young has been on display and open to the public for boarding since 1981. And although, the Cassin Young was constructed in California, fourteen destroyers just like it were built at the Charlestown facility in Boston during the WWII period.

Today, a visitor can get a good idea of what life must have been like on a WWII destroyer by visiting the U.S.S Cassin Young.