USS Constitution will be getting underway for her first turnaround demonstration since October 2014 from Charlestown Navy Yard on Friday Oct. 20 at 10 a.m. in commemoration of the Navy and Constitution’s 220th Birthday.
The ship will be travelling to Fort Independence on Castle Island where she will be firing a 21-gun salute at approximately 11:30 a.m. with the Concord Battery and 101st Field Artillery from the Massachusetts National Guard returning the salute. An additional 17-gun salute will be fired as she passes the U.S. Coast Guard Station, the former site of the Edmund Hartt Shipyard where Constitution was built and launched. Following the second salute Constitution will be returning to her berth in the Navy Yard and is expected to be pier side by 1 p.m.
The public is encouraged to view the events held on Oct. 20th from around Boston Harbor, Castle Island or the Charlestown Navy Yard.
The public will be invited to a celebration in the Charlestown Navy Yard on Saturday, October 21, to commemorate the United States Navy’s 242nd anniversary and the 220th anniversary of USS Constitution’s launch. The event is hosted by the officers and crew of USS Constitution, the National Parks of Boston, and the USS Constitution Museum, and will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The festivities will begin with the arrival of motorcyclists from Rolling Thunder, an advocacy group for Prisoners of War (POWs) and Missing in Action (MIA) service members of all U.S. wars. A ceremony is scheduled for noon and will include the performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Navy Band North East, speakers from the U.S. Navy, National Park Service, and the USS Constitution Museum, and the firing of USS Constitution’s saluting cannon at 12:15 p.m. signaling the moment of her launch in 1797.