BALTIMORE — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter James Rankin, a 175-foot buoy tender homeported at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, is scheduled to set the historic Francis Scott Key buoy in the Patapsco River Thursday near the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The buoy marks the spot where the ship carrying Francis Scott Key, the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” was anchored during the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814. Each year the buoy is set in the spring to mark the historic location of the event and is removed in the fall.
The Baltimore Historical Society along with park rangers from Fort McHenry will join the crew of the James Rankin, wearing uniforms of the period and providing a narrative of events that occurred that historic day.
