BOSTON (WHDH) - The USS Constitution is set to reopen to the public for tours later this month.
The world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat is scheduled to go underway from the Charlestown Navy Yard on May 21 at 10 a.m. before reopening for tours from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Once reopened, normal public visitation will be Friday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“So excited to share this beautiful and historic ship with visitors again,” said Cmdr. John Benda, 76th commanding officer of USS Constitution. “We could not think of a better way to sound the reopening bell than with 21-gun salute while underway aboard Old Ironsides.”
The underway will be broadcast live on the U.S. Navy’s Facebook page and will feature demonstrations on climbing, firing a 19th-century 24-lb long gun, using shipboard weaponry, and will conclude with a 21-gun salute viewable from Fort Independence on Castle Island.
USS Constitution will fire an additional 17-gun salute as it passes U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston, the former site of the Edmund Hartt’s Shipyard, where the ship was built and launched on Oct. 21, 1797.
USS Constitution’s underway will be viewable from the Boston Harborwalk, Castle Island, and Charlestown Navy Yard.
This is its first underway in more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The USS Constitution Museum reopened on April 8 and is currently open Thursday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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