Events

USS Constitution to honor July 4 with a 21-gun salute

Spectators on Castle Island waved flags, snapped photos and cheered as the USS Constitution made her annual turnaround cruise in Boston Harbor in 2014. The Boston Globe

By Associated Press

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BOSTON (AP) — “Old Ironsides” will be celebrating the Fourth of July with a boom.

The USS Constitution’s crew will fire cannons as part of a 21-gun salute at noon on Tuesday and will hold gun drills throughout the day.

Visitors will be able to climb aboard the ship for extended hours as part of its Fourth of July celebration.

Built in 1797, the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat has been dry docked at the Charlestown Navy Yard for the last two years for restoration work.

The ship is expected to return to the water later this month.

It earned its famous nickname notching victories in the War of 1812.