As I’ve noted in several earlier posts, the annual summer visits to Rockport of the U.S. Navy’s North Atlantic Fleet were always a major event, with officers and sailors coming ashore for celebrations of every sort. But the visits were not all one way. Many townspeople and local dignitaries went out and visited the warships as well.

This postcard shows a shuttle heading out of the harbor and others in the background that could have been both dropping off sailors and picking up visitors. For another view of the same scene, see this postcard. I can’t say for sure, but it appears that these two photos could have been taken at the same time.

In the background, you can see the coal pocket where coal was stored on the end of T-Wharf. (Here’s another view of that.) To the left, you can see a bowsprit, probably of a fishing vessel.

This postcard does not identify a publisher. The card was printed in Germany and bears a Rockport postmark dated Aug. 14, 1911.