The USS Constitution made it’s annual turnaround cruise Tuesday, hailing Independence Day and the crowds that got here out to view her with two volleys from her historic weapons, a 21-gun salute at Fort Independence at Castle Island, and a 17-gun salute off the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston, the previous web site of the Edmund Hartt’s Shipyard, the place she was launched in 1797.
Guests on board included 150 members of the general public who received the spot in a fortunate lottery draw for areas.
The turnaround cruise dates to the 1950’s when it was deemed essential to make the change in order that the historic ship’s hull weathered evenly.
The USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat and earned the nickname “Old Ironsides” within the War of 1812 when British cannonballs had been seen bouncing off her picket hull.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”