{"nrhp_refnum":"76000231","name":"U.S.S. JOSEPH P. KENNEDY JR. (DD-850)","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Battleship Cove","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fall River","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.70570062400003,"lon":-71.16300806199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-09-30","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1989-06-29","areas_of_significance":["Military","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["national","state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A destroyer moored at Battleship Cove on the Taunton River in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts. Built in 1945, it is 390 feet long with a steel hull and aluminum superstructure, and now serves as a museum ship.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the ship is significant for its role in the Korean War and the 1962 Cuban Missile Blockade, and for its strong associations with the Kennedy family. It was named for the eldest son of Joseph P. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy served aboard as a radarman. The nomination acknowledges the ship does not meet the age criteria and requests an exception based on exceptional significance.","narrative":"This destroyer, completed in 1945, is moored at Battleship Cove on the Taunton River in Fall River, Massachusetts. It measures 390 feet long, with a steel hull and an aluminum superstructure, and carries five-inch 45-calibre guns. A 1961 modernization at the New York Naval Shipyard converted it into an anti-submarine warfare destroyer with an ASROC launcher. The ship was named for Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the eldest son of Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy, a Navy aviator killed off Normandy. His brother Robert F. Kennedy served aboard as a radarman, and President John F. Kennedy watched the 1962 America's Cup races from its second deck. The vessel earned battle stars in the Korean War in 1951 and took part in the 1962 Cuban blockade, helping to board the freighter Marcula. It also supported NASA recovery efforts. Decommissioned in 1973 and moved to Battleship Cove in 1974, it serves as an educational resource and the Commonwealth memorial to the Korean and Vietnam dead.","period_of_significance":"1945","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Moored at Battleship Cove as a museum and educational resource; exterior was being restored and interior spaces prepared for exhibition halls at the time of nomination.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.436564-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/85/7897/63789785/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/76000231.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000231/0f6a42a813-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000231/0f6a42a813-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"\"Official U.S. Navy Photograph, Released, U.S. Naval Photographic Center, U.S. Naval Station, Anacostia, Washington 25, D.C.\"","credit_html":""Official U.S. Navy Photograph, Released, U.S. Naval Photographic Center, U.S. Naval Station, Anacostia, Washington 25, D.C.", Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Joseph_P_Kennedy_(DD-850)_underway.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789785","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Joseph_P._Kennedy_Jr.","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7870601"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/u-s-s-joseph-p-kennedy-jr-dd-850-76000231/"}