Clarification provided on USS Constitution’s ‘weapons’ after false report

BOSTON — The oldest commissioned warship in the world marked another anniversary Monday with a cruise around Boston Harbor — leaving behind a puzzling controversy back in Charlestown.

The heavy frigate, now 227 years old, fired off a multi-gun salute at Castle Island and again at its birthplace, Hartt’s Shipyard in the North End of Boston, before returning to its berth.

Those salutes, while loud and smoky, were conducted using ceremonial guns. Those “weapons” are packed with a measured amount of gunpowder — just enough to put on a show when fired. Those are the facts when it comes to the Constitution: the venerable vessel carries no live ammunition.

But Sunday night, that seemed to be in question when a Boston police officer responded to a call from the Charlestown Navy Yard that one of the guns on the Constitution misfired and personnel there needed assistance in retrieving a round from a building on 2nd Street.

The scanner recording was picked up by social media and suddenly a confusing storyline was born.

Boston Police directed all calls about the matter to the U.S. Navy, which issued a statement early Monday afternoon confirming that a ‘misfire’ occurred, but that it was a gun that didn’t fire at all. This ‘misfire’ happened while the ship was conducting its usual evening sunset salute. The Navy reiterated that the Constitution does not fire projectiles nor does it use live ammunition.

Prior to the issuance of that statement, Boston 25 News spoke with the Boston Fire Department. A spokesperson there said it was the kind of story they would expect to have heard — if it was true. Two men who work on the Constitution said the ship’s guns are aimed at the ocean for its morning and evening salutes. So even if they contained ammo — and they didn’t — it would be fired in the opposite direction of any buildings.

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