Anchor from USS Boston - CA-69/CAG-1 (Served 1942-1970)
Weight: 13055 lbs
Vincent Garage's 2009 Peterbilt Triaxle equipped with a 75-ton rotating boom
Vincent's crew carefully moving the huge anchor onto a flatbed truck
Car 2421 in the foreground as the anchor is lowered onto the flatbed truck
Boston's anchor's new home
By Rye Fire Department
February 1, 2010
For many years, the Durland Scout Center on Milton Point served the City of Rye and surrounding communities by giving local scouts a place to learn swimming and boating. The nautical nature of this facility was long symbolized by a giant ship's anchor that sat proudly on display in the front traffic circle.
This anchor came from the USS Boston, a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser launched in 1942 as CA-69. After four years of service in the Pacific during and after World War II, Boston returned home to the USA where she sat in reserve until 1952. At that time, Boston was reclassified CAG-1 and over the next three years was converted to become the world's first guided missile cruiser. Recommissioned in 1955, Boston would go on to serve in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean over the next twelve years, before returning to the Pacific for various assignments during the Vietnam War. Following the conclusion of her service in the Pacific, Boston was decommissioned in 1970, and sold for scrap in 1975.
The exact story of how Boston's anchor made it from the scrapyard to Durland's front yard remains unknown at this time. ( Anyone with information should email info@ryefire.com )
After Durland Scout Center was sold to a private developer a few years ago, the fate of the anchor remained uncertain, although it became known around town that anyone who wanted it could have it- just as long as they could remove the 13,000 pound behemoth on their own.
On January 15, 2010 the Rye Fire Department officially took possession of Boston's anchor. The skillful crew from Vincent Garage, along with their 75-ton rotator wrecker, were instrumental in the successful moving of this piece of naval (and local) history.
Once a proper perch is constructed, the anchor's new home will be in front of the Milton Point Firehouse, where the Rye FD houses its marine equipment.
