BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned warship had plenty of candles to blow out on its birthday cake Saturday.
The crew of the USS Constitution marked the ship's 226th birthday with a celebration at its berth in the Charlestown Navy Yard.
Although the damp and dreary weather led to canceling Old Ironsides going underway, it did not spoil the mood during the festivities at the birthday block party.
"All year long, we’ve been doing a lot of public outreach, trying to teach the public about the ship, about the history of the ship and our navy, and this is the culminating event," the Constitution's Command Senior Chief Nicholas Albanese. "So today we were trying to show the past, the present, and the future."
The three were indeed on display at Old Ironsides Saturday, with the ship representing the Navy's past, the current crew representing the present, and the 11 newly sworn in recruits heading to boot camp representing the future.
Saturday's events also gave Albanese pause for reflection on his Navy colleagues serving on aircraft carriers have a world away in the Mediterranean Sea, ready to help in Israel's war against Hamas if needed.
"We stand by our country," Albanese said. "What this ship was originally built for was to protect freedom and democracy around the world, and to this day that is exactly what the United States Navy is doing."
WBZ's Mike Macklin reports.
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