Charlestown Navy Yard - Dry Dock 1 Tapestry

Historic Dry Dock 1 at Charlestown Navy Yard near Boston, Massachusetts sits empty during the winter cold. This is where the Navy takes Old Ironsides (USS Constitution) to fix her up every 20 or so years. The Charlestown dry dock and the one built concurrently at Norfolk, Va., both designed by Loammi Baldwin Jr., were the first such naval structures in the United States. Six years under construction, the Charlestown dock was inaugurated in 1833 with the docking of Constitution. Over the course of its history Dry Dock 1 has been enlarged several times. In 1833, the dock was 341′; in 1858-60 the dock was extended to 357’; the final extension occurred in 1947- 48, when the dock became 415’ in overall length, the size that it is today.