page_title: USS Boston (CA-69)
section_title: Decommissioning
hierarchical_section_title: USS Boston (CA-69) / Decommissioning
caption_attribution_description: English: Overhead view of the U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Boston (CA-69), 19 May 1945.
context_page_description: USS Boston, a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser and later a Boston-class guided missile cruiser, was the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts. Boston was launched 26 August 1942 by Bethlehem Steel Company's, Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts; sponsored by Mrs. Helen Noonan Tobin, wife of the Mayor of Boston, Maurice J. Tobin; and commissioned 30 June 1943, Captain J. H. Carson in command.
context_section_description: While on her last Vietnam cruise some thought and funding was given to overhaul Boston (and sister ship Canberra) for further service.  Her Terrier missile system would have been upgraded to Standard Missile-ER with new radars and equipment needed to operate the modern missiles. Her gunnery systems would also have been refurbished.  In addition, her hull and electronics would have been overhauled as well, giving the ship another 10 years of life.  With the decline in defence spending, funds for this work were reallocated to newer ships and Boston sailed for her namesake city in late 1969 for a last visit and open house prior to her decommissioning.
  While Senator Edward Kennedy expressed views that the ship should be retained as a museum on the city's waterfront, no plans were proposed and Boston began the inactivation process soon after finishing her final Vietnam cruise. Decommissioned at the Boston Navy Yard's South Boston Naval Annex in South Boston, Massachusetts, on 5 May 1970, she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1973 (one source says 1974) and sold for scrapping in March 1975. Scrapping was completed in 1976.
caption: Overhead shot of USS Boston (CA-69), in her original configuration before becoming one of the US Navy's first missile cruisers (May 19, 1945)
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