Charlestown Navy Yard and Pearl Harbor

"Scattered Clouds of Planes:"[1] How the Navy Yard Reacted to Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941, soldiers ran in the streets as planes soared overhead. Citizens hid in their houses as bombs rained down outside. 2,000 lay dead, 8,000 wounded, and over 1,000 fires raged through the Boston suburb of Newton, Massachusetts. The training exercise clearly laid out plans for military officials to implement if such an event hit the Bay State.[2]

In actuality, everyone in Eastern Massachusetts remained safe. Planes stayed grounded while the local air raid wardens practiced the drill. That afternoon, the action's officials learned with horror that in real life, an attack had occurred on the other side of the world at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.3] This attack killed over 2,300 Americans, while injuring another 1,000 individuals.[4] The [Boston Navy Yard (known as the Charlestown Navy Yard today), less than ten miles away from Newton, had already been preparing for war. While this attack signaled the United States had to further increase production, the Navy Yard workers were more than ready to take on the challenge.

The Boston Navy Yard in June 1940, prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. National Archives

Leading up to the Attack

"We do love peace. Next to that, we love a good fight!"[5]

Though the attack on a naval base had been surprising, the U.S. government had been expecting war for years. By 1939, both the Empire of Japan and Nazi Germany had separately invaded and annexed neighboring countries. In a Gallup poll conducted just weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor, 52% of Americans expected to be in war with Japan by the next year.[6]

Incidents like the USS Panay bombing in 1937 had shown Japan's aggression towards the United States. Congress had already authorized increased naval spending throughout the 1930s. The Boston Navy Yard's footprint and workforce grew as more buildings and people arrived.

However, there still existed a large contingent of isolationists. These individuals wanted to avoid war with any country under any circumstances.[7] On the opposite side of the aisle were the interventionists. These people did not seek to join the war but did support providing direct aid to Great Britain and Commonwealth nations which aligned with President Roosevelt's "Short of War" policy.

As longtime allies Britain and France fought the Nazis, the U.S. remained neutral. However, the country offered substantial aid to the United Kingdom, sending fifty destroyers to the British Navy. In return, the United States obtained 99-year leases to establish air and naval bases in British territories in the Western Hemisphere. In September 1940, the military assigned the Boston Navy Yard with refitting several ships included in this Destroyers for Bases Agreement.[8]

To meet this production need, the workforce at the Navy Yard skyrocketed. Employment expanded from 2,860 workers in 1938 to 16,693 by June 1941.[9] When a U-Boat sunk the USS Reuben James on October 31, 1941, killing over one hundred sailors, much of America steeled itself for war with the Third Reich.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy Yard increased its workforce to meet the needs of a wartime Navy. Here, in Dry Dock 1, workers convert a damaged destroyer to a minesweeper in 1943. National Archive

However, Japan struck first, surprising both civilians and military personnel. Employees at the Navy Yard felt an immediate shift at their workplace. Elizabeth Dugan, a tool keeper, remembered finding out when the news interrupted the sheet metal shop's radio.[10] Some civilian workers experienced a change in their relationship with the Yard's military personnel. Civilian mechanic and maintenance worker Albert Mostone recalled walking down the street and being aggressively stopped by a Marine. After showing identification, he returned to his shop. Here, his coworkers informed him that Pearl Harbor had been attacked.[11]

Guards doubled across the Navy Yard. A peacetime Boston Navy Yard did not return for nearly four years.

National and Local Response

"Where's this air-raid defense anyway?"[12]

On December 8, 1941, President Roosevelt signed the Declaration of War Against Japan. National Archives

On a national level, the reaction was swift. On December 8, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called upon Congress to declare a state of war with the Empire of Japan. Cities across the United States thought they would be the site of the next Japanese raid. According to Bill Wood, who lived in Charlestown at the time, he remembered the Army coming to Charlestown after Pearl Harbor to protect the Navy Yard. In nearby Sullivan Square, the Army set up antiaircraft weapons and later built barracks there.[13]

The American government feared another assault. This concern led to the arrest and imprisonment of Japanese Americans across the country. In Boston, FBI records show that they arrested 11 Japanese individuals between December 7, 1941, and June 30, 1945.[14]

Bostonians were not spared from the possibility of war at home. On December 9, New York City received a report that enemy planes flew only two hours away. The alarm spread over the entire Northeast. As school children returned home, thousands of men in the Boston Navy Yard evacuated for the exercise. Military officials positioned guns and ammunition around the city. Though the alarm was just a drill, it showed that war could come at any time.[15]

The next day, the destroyers USS Doran and USS Earle launched from the Boston Navy Yard.[16] Additionally, on December 10, the Navy Yard held its first "Air Raid and Blackout Drill."[17]

Workers at the Boston Navy Yard launched USS EARLE on December 10, 1941. BOSTS 11011-3166, Boston National Historical Park.

Enlistments and the Navy Yard Workforce

"Where's the nearest recruiting station? I'm getting interested!"[18]

Enlistment soared all over the nation. New recruits overwhelmed the Red Cross at Boston’s Federal Building, which struggled to feed these men. Americans personally felt this attack on the nation and wanted to respond. The Boston Globe reported that when fans found out about the battle at a Boston Bruins game, the crowd erupted into cheers for war.[19] The editors of the Boston Navy Yard News wrote that when they heard of the onslaught, "it hit like an oversized plate of spinach hits Pop-Eye!"[20] Bostonians and the nation were ready to fight back.

While the draft was instituted, many men decided to choose the branch they preferred. Some men could leave the Navy Yard, but many were forbidden from exiting essential government service. To do so, one had to go before a draft board. This committee decided whether their work at the Yard was critical for the war effort.

Worker Albert Mostone remembered getting drafted and going before the yard's master. This supervisor believed his employee's work too valuable for him to leave. Mostone recounted the master saying, "I can't stop you, but if you ever left the navy yard now, you'll never get another job in a government job again."[21]

The same mindset prevented transfers from being commonplace. Sometimes, they did occur. For example, welder Theodore Bearor transferred to Pearl Harbor in September 1942.[22] However, in most cases, the government could not afford moving someone across the country and losing that work time. It was much simpler to keep workers where they were in Boston. Navy Yards nationwide instead hired local laborers and taught them the necessary skills.

Increasing the Workforce at the Yard

"I can't say anything – but we'll do plenty!"[23]

Hiring civilians to work at navy yards across the country proved just as vital as military enlistments. The Boston Navy Yard advertised in newspapers to recruit workers. In May 1942, the popular radio show "We, the People" broadcasted live from USS Constitution docked at the Navy Yard to help the war effort.

With many men leaving for the warfront, someone needed to pick up the slack. Women applied to the Navy Yard in droves, vastly changing the yard's demographics. In 1941, the Yard employed roughly 17,000 workers, and by 1943, 50,000 employees were on the payroll.[24] Women made up about seventeen percent of those workers doing jobs traditionally associated with men.[25] Though women had worked at the yard during World War I, the number of women dwarfed those who worked in the Great War.

Women workers showing a die-lock chain at the Charlestown Navy Yard. BOSTS 9669-3, Boston National Historical Park

While civilians dedicated themselves to their homefront work, the Boston Navy Yard also encouraged workers to demonstrate their patriotism by buying war bonds. Purchasing a war bond gave the government money that would be repaid later, without the stigma of raising taxes. Bonds were effective and campaigns took place throughout America and the Navy Yard. In the first issue of the Boston Navy Yard News after the assault, the phrases "Remember Pearl Harbor!" and "Your Best Investment! Buy Defense Bonds!" appear on every single page. If one could still spare more money, the BNYN also encouraged donating to the families affected by Pearl Harbor.[26]

Production at the Navy Yard

"He who relaxes helps the Axis"[27]

With increased production came increased stress. A poem published in the Shipyard News newsletter in February 1942 urged the yard's employees to continue. It stated, even "if their job seems never done; eat and sleep, but no more fun;" the workers must "think of the man that’ll fire their gun and they must KEEP ‘EM SAILING!"[28]

The Navy Yard mainly focused on producing material and repairing ships, though it did build hundreds of vessels during the war. The years of World War II, 1939 to 1945, were the most productive in the history of the Boston yard.[29] During this time, workers at the yard and its annexes constructed over 300 vessels, repaired or overhauled more than 3,000, converted 74, and outfitted 1,100.[30] They also commissioned another 103 new vessels built elsewhere.[31] The Navy Yard workers accomplished this fete by working around the clock, seven days a week with three 8-hour shifts each day.

USS JOHN M. BERMINGHAM (DE-530) was one of 62 Destroyer Escorts built at the Boston Navy Yard during World War II. USS JOHN M. BERMINGHAM (DE-530), Boston Navy Yard. November 17, 1943. Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. 19-N-53951

"We are all in this war"[32]

Pearl Harbor affected all the United States by bringing it into a global conflict. The Boston Navy Yard helped lead the charge against the Axis Powers. Production increased as did the number of workers, bringing the Navy Yard to new industrial heights. People wanted to strike back at the Japanese, and working at the Navy Yard allowed them to fight the enemy from home.

Learn More...

The Boston Navy Yard during World War II

Footnotes

[1] "The Weather For Japan And Vicinity," Boston Navy Yard News, January 8, 1942.

[2] "News Lends Newton ‘Raid’ Grim Note," The Boston Globe, December 8, 1941.

[3] "News Lends Newton ‘Raid’ Grim Note," The Boston Globe, December 8, 1941.

4] "Honoring the People of Pearl Harbor," Pearl Harbor National Memorial, National Park Service, last updated September 20, 2024, accessed November 2026, [Honoring the People of Pearl Harbor webpage, D.M. Giangreco, "What Happened to the Survivors of Pearl Harbor," U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History, December 2025, accessed November 2026, https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history/2025/december/what-happened-survivors-pearl-harbor.

[5] "Happy, Happy New Year! And Victory!," Boston Navy Yard News, January 8, 1942.

[6] "Gallup Poll Found 52p.c. of Americans Expected War," The Ottawa Citizen, December 8, 1941.

[7] "Pearl Harbor and the End of American Isolationism," Pearl Harbor, May 2, 2017.

8] "Destroyers Transferred to Great Britain as a Result of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement," Naval History and Heritage Command, March 20, 2018, accessed November 2026, [Destroyers Transferred webpage; Daniel S. Greenberg, "U.S. Destroyers for British Bases," U.S. Naval Institute, Proceedings, November 1962, accessed November 2026, U.S. Destroyers for British Bases webpage.

9] Frederick Black, Charlestown Navy Yard, 1890-1973, volume 2 (Division of Cultural Resources, Boston National Historical Park, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1988), 573, [Charlestown Navy Yard, 1890-1973 online; Stephen P. Carlson, Charlestown Navy Yard Historic Resource Study, volume 1 (Division of Cultural Resources, Boston National Historical Park, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2010), 120, Charlestown Navy Yard Historic Resource Study online.

[10] Elizabeth Dugan, interview by Carol Cooper, February 17, 1984, transcript, Boston Naval Shipyard Oral History Project Collection, 1941-1995, BOSTS 16364, Boston National Historical Park Archives, tape 2, 4:40min.

[11] Albert Mostone, interview by Terry Roth, December 7, 1977, transcript, Boston Naval Shipyard Oral History Project Collection, 1941-1995, BOSTS 16364, Boston National Historical Park Archives, 5.

[12] "What People Are Saying About The War Today," Boston Globe, December 10, 1941.

[13] Bill Wood, interviewed by Janet Levine, September 3 2000, Boston National Historical Park, Navy Yard Workers Reunion, 17-18.

14] "Custodial Detention Part 03 (Final)," FBI Vault, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Document page 223. Accessed November 4, 2026. [Custodial Detention Part 03 (Final) webpage.

[15] "The Army Air Forces In World War II; Defense Of The Western Hemisphere," James Lea Cate, edited by Wesley Frank Craven, 1983.

16] "Ships Built by the Charlestown Navy Yard," Boston National Historical Park, National Park Service, last updated January 22, 2024, accessed November 2026. [Ships Built by the Charlestown Navy Yard webpage

[17] Historical Review Boston Naval Shipyard formerly Boston Navy Yard 1938 – 1957, prepared by George O. Q. Mansfield (Department of the Navy, 1957), 15.

[18] "Boston Man In Street Is Grim: 'Let's Get 'Em Quickly,' He Says," Boston Globe, December 8, 1941.

[19] "Hockey Enthusiasts Cheer Announcement of Outbreak of War," Boston Globe, December 8, 1941.

[20] "Happy, Happy New Year! And Victory!," Boston Navy Yard News, January 8, 1942.

[21] Mostone, interview by Terry Roth, December 7, 1977, transcript, 5.

[22] "Navy Yard Employees' Band," Boston Navy Yard News, September 11, 1942.

[23] "Boston Man In Street Is Grim: 'Let's Get 'Em Quickly,' He Says," Boston Globe, December 8, 1941.

[24] Carlson, Charlestown Navy Yard Historic Resource Study, volume 1, 120.

25] Carlson, Charlestown Navy Yard Historic Resource Study, volume 1, 120; "'We Can Do It!' – Shipbuilding Women invade the Charlestown Navy Yard," Boston National Historical Park, National Park Service, last updated January 20, 2024, accessed November 2026, [Shipbuilding Women invade CNY webpage.

[26] "Remember Pearl Harbor!," Boston Navy Yard News, January 8, 1942.

[27] Boston Navy Yard News, February 12, 1942.

[28] "Our Shipbuilders," Boston Navy Yard News, February 12, 1942.

29] "The Boston Navy Yard during World War II," Boston National Historical Park, National Park Service, last updated November 4, 2026, accessed November 2026, [BNY during WWII webpage.

[30] Black, Charlestown Navy Yard, 1890-1973, volume 2, 594; Carlson, Charlestown Navy Yard Historic Resource Study, volume 1, 134-37.

[31] Historical Review Boston Naval Shipyard formerly Boston Navy Yard 1938 – 1957, 102-107.

[32] "$15,000 More For Navy Relief," Boston Navy Yard News, March 18, 1942.

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