BALTIMORE – The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter James Rankin, a 175-foot buoy tender homeported at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Md., is scheduled to set the historic Francis Scott Key buoy in the Patapsco River near the Francis Scott Key Bridge Monday.
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 during the War of 1812. Each year the buoy is set in the spring marking the historic location of the event, and the bouy 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 that period, and providing a narrative of events that occurred that historic day.
