All images courtesy of Historic New England.

Provincetown’s History Told Through Artifacts

by Steve Desroches

Provincetown has been many things over its history, one of which is an important naval base. For decades, Provincetown’s streets were loaded with sailors on liberty in their Navy whites at the same time earning a reputation as drunken brawlers who often wreaked havoc on the town. One that did not was a young Jimmy Carter, who was stationed in Provincetown for one year in the 1950s with his wife, Rosalynn and their three sons (Amy wasn’t born yet). 

Over the years, the Atlantic Fleet would congregate in Provincetown Harbor, providing a grand maritime spectacle as seen in these photos from the collection of Historic New England. Thousands would travel great distances to see the naval ships. One of, if not the largest events occurred in the summer of 1934 when the Atlantic Fleet anchored in Provincetown Harbor for a month, with much of the attention going to the USS Indianapolis, a Portland-class heavy cruiser and one of the most impressive battleships of the day. Launched in 1931, the USS Indianapolis made relatively frequent stops in Provincetown before heading up to Bar Harbor, Maine, to pick up President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who had a summer home on Campobello Island, just over the border in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. 

Historic New England’s collection includes a small photo album featuring photos of “Navy Day” in Provincetown, which occurred on July 14, 1934, with Massachusetts Governor Joseph B. Ely and Rear Admiral Edward H. Campbell presiding over the day’s events. The USS Indianapolis was open to tours, and many clamored around the war ship that month in Provincetown. Those who did get to board the USS Indianapolis cherished the experience all the more when tragically, and famously, the ship was sunk by a Japanese submarine at the end of World War II on July 30, 1945. Out of 1,195 crewmen on board, only 316 survived. Of the initial survivors, hundreds died from exposure, dehydration, salt water poisoning, and shark attacks. The story received a revival in the American consciousness in the blockbuster 1975 hit film Jaws, in which the character of Quint is an Indianapolis survivor. The wreck was discovered in the Philippine Sea in 2017, and in 2018 the entire crew of the Indianapolis was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.