Cape Cod Bay

An interesting mid-century nautical chart of Cape Cod.

This detailed maritime chart of the waters surrounding Cape Cod was published in 1953 by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Issued as a vital navigational aid for mariners, it presents a wealth of information facilitating coastal navigation. Hundreds of depth soundings are noted throughout, with particular emphasis given to buoys, lighthouses, beacons, and other aids to navigation. Anchorage grounds, shoals, and danger areas are carefully delineated across Cape Cod Bay and the adjacent Atlantic waters.

Of particular interest is a circular restricted area off the coast of Eastham marking the wreck of the Liberty ship SS James Longstreet, intentionally grounded during World War II and used as a bombing and gunnery target by the U.S. military. Also noteworthy is Billingsgate Island, once home to a thriving fishing community and lighthouse, which had been almost entirely reclaimed by the sea by the time this chart was issued, surviving only as a tidal shoal.

Though primarily maritime in purpose, the chart includes a number of engaging terrestrial details. Railway lines, geographic features, and prominent landmarks are identified throughout Cape Cod and the surrounding coastline. Simplified street plans depict many of the Cape’s best-known communities, including Plymouth, Provincetown, Chatham, and Wellfleet, while the Cape Cod Canal – among the busiest artificial waterways on the eastern seaboard – is shown connecting Cape Cod Bay with Buzzards Bay.