Millions celebrate America 250, Sail250 events in key ports

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Millions of Americans celebrated America 250, Sail250 events in key ports, boarding scores of ships that sailed thousands of nautical miles to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence.

Sail 250 events began in New Orleans after Memorial Day weekend and concluded in Boston this week.

The Semiquincentennial celebration saw the largest gathering of international tall ships and naval vessels in New Orleans, Norfolk, Virginia, Baltimore, Maryland, the Port of New York and New Jersey, and Boston Harbor.

The U.S. Coast Guard provided comprehensive maritime safety and security operations during the global gathering of tall ships and military ships over a two-month period. The USCG said it “worked seamlessly alongside local, state and federal partners throughout the event.” Joint efforts ensured the safety of mariners, record public turnouts, and more than 60 military vessels and tall ships from 20 countries while also ensuring maritime commerce continued uninterrupted through some of the country’s busiest waterways.

More than seven million people traveled to Boston to participate. Unlike in other port cities, visitors had the opportunity to board four of the most historic tall ships in U.S. and naval history. They include the only tall ship from Texas, the ELISSA; the Mayflower II from Plymouth, and the only active commissioned sailing vessels in the U.S. military – the USS Constitution and the USCG Eagle.

The ELISSA, the Official Tall Ship of Texas, is one of only three ships of her kind in the world that actively sails. More than 40,000 visitors come on board the National Historic Landmark normally ported in Galveston’s historic seaport.

On July 4, visitors toured the ELISSA in the New York Harbor, where she participated in the largest-ever flotilla of tall ships.

ELISSA previously sailed into this harbor in 1884 and in 1986 when she celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the Statue of Liberty.

Her first recorded visit to Boston was in May 1883, arriving from Brazil, carrying more than 6,000 bags of sugar. She returned to Boston in November 1888, arriving from Burma with a cargo of rice and teak, according to the Galveston Historical Foundation.

The ELISSA returned to Boston nearly 138 years later for the third time in her 149-year history, this time “not as a working merchant ship, but as a living ambassador for maritime heritage. The same ship that once carried cargo around the globe now carries the stories of the people and ports of her past,” the foundation, which owns and maintains her, said. “Every return to a historic port reminds us that this isn’t simply a ship revisiting old destinations; it’s history sailing back into the harbors where it was first written.”

Ported next to the ELISSA at the same dock was the Mayflower II, the replica of the original Mayflower, which helped lead the Parade of Sail into Boston Harbor. The original Mayflower first arrived in Plymouth, Mass., in 1620. The Mayflower II, a full-scale reproduction, last sailed into Boston Harbor on June 13, 1957 – the 337th anniversary of the original Mayflower’s arrival.

Normally ported in Plymouth as part of the Plimoth Patuxet Museums, more than 25 million people boarded her to learn of the perilous journey from England 120 souls took searching for a better life and religious freedom. The Mayflower II serves as a floating classroom and working vessel and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In Charlestown, visitors were able to board the only two active commissioned sailing vessels in the U.S. military: the USS Constitution and the USCG Eagle.

The USS Constitution is the oldest warship commissioned in the world. It is one of six U.S. Navy warships commissioned by President George Washington. Built in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, it launched in 1797. It is the only tall ship operated by active-duty U.S. Navy sailors, who welcome more than 500,000 visitors a year.

She is famous for defeating the British during the War of 1812 where she earned her nickname, “Old Ironside.”

She emerged from the war as “an important national symbol, “representing the young country’s strength and resolve, sparking feelings of pride and confidence in the future. For a young country divided socially, politically, and economically, sharing this common symbol helped Americans ‘feel and act as one nation,’” the USS Constitution Museum explains.

The USCG Eagle (WIX 327) tall ship hosted 60,000 visitors across five ports during Sail250, the USCG said. Capt. Kristopher Ensley, commanding officer of Eagle, said the ship’s voyage not only served “as a vital training experience for the next generation of Coast Guard officers but also allows us to share America’s proud maritime heritage with the public.”

Originally constructed in 1936 by the Blohm and Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, the ship was taken as a war reparation after the U.S. won World War II.

At 295 feet in length, the Eagle is the largest tall ship flying the U.S. flag and the only active square-rigger in U.S. government service. She is the seventh Coast Guard cutter to bear the name. The first was in 1792.

The ship currently serves as a premier seagoing classroom for U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Officer Candidate School cadets.