USS Constitution to Start Dry Dock Preps

USS Constitution will get underway in Boston Harbor on Friday, Oct. 17, in commemoration of the U.S. Navy’s 239th birthday and the ship’s upcoming 217th birthday.

More than 500 guests, made up of individuals and organizations with long-standing ties of support to both the ship and the Navy, will accompany Old Ironsides on her fifth and final underway demonstration of 2014. This will also be the historic warship’s final Boston Harbor underway until 2018, as she is scheduled to enter dry dock in March 2015 for a three-year planned restoration period.

The ship is scheduled to get underway at 10 a.m. EST. There will be a 21-gun salute off Fort Independence on Castle Island in South Boston at approximately 11 a.m. Constitution Sailors will also conduct an additional 17-gun salute near U.S. Coast Guard Base Boston prior to the ship’s 1 p.m. return to her berth at Charlestown Navy Yard.

Due to the post-underway commencement of large-scale dry dock preparations, including de-rigging and removal of the ship’s upper masts and offloading the ship’s long guns, Constitution will be open for public tours from Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting the week of Oct. 20.

The vessel is expected to return to Pier1 in Charleswtown Yard in the Spring or Summer of 2018.

USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat, actively defended sea lanes against global threats from 1797 to 1855.

Image: US Navy
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