USS Constitution Takes Final Fourth Of July Turnaround Cruise Until 2018
BOSTON (CBS) – An approaching tropical storm was unable to move one annual Fourth of July tradition in Boston.
The USS Constitution made its annual turnaround cruise Friday morning from its Charlestown berth to Castle Island in South Boston where it exchanged a 21-gun salute with a battery at Fort Independence.
A short-time later Old Ironsides fired a 17-gun salute off U.S. Coast Guard Base Boston before heading back to its berth.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports
USS Constituion Makes Annual Fourth Of July Turnaround Cruise
Onboard the Constitution were 150 winners of the ship's annual Fourth of July public lottery. This was the second of five times the revered ship will be underway this year.
The 2014 cruise is the last Fourth of July trip the Navy's oldest commissioned warship will be making across Boston Harbor for a few years.
It is scheduled to go into dry dock early next year for lengthy restorations and repairs and won't be back in the water until 2018.
In addition to celebrating Independence Day, the annual turnaround cruise allows the 216-year-old frigate to weather evenly at its berth.
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