The Troop left Warminster and arrived at Fort McHenry at 1:30 and had lunch by the river. It was a great place for lunch by the river except for the cold and the wind. After lunch we headed into the Visitors Center to see a movie about the events that led up to the Battle of Baltimore. The story was told by Doctor Beanes, who lived in the Baltimore area and had been taken prisoner by the British for assisting in defense of the area against roving bands of British soldiers. Dr. Beanes was the reason why Sir Francis Scott Key was in Baltimore Harbor the night of the attack and was inspired to write the poem that would later become the Star Spangled Banner.

We found out that Fort McHenry has other historical value besides the protecting of Baltimore during the War of 1812. During the Civil War it was a prison for Confederate prisoners and sympathizers. During the Great War, now know as World War I it served as a hospital for wounded soldiers returning from Europe. After spending the afternoon touring the fort we has hot chocolate and cookies to hold us over until dinner on the USS Taney. We loaded up and headed to the Taney just a few blocks away. We needed to divide up into two groups for the tours and three groups for sleeping. The sleeping groups were forward near the head (bathrooms), CPO (Chief Petty Officers area) the luxury suites or the hold down in the bottom of the boat. After picking out bunks we started the tour of several areas and headed back to the mess hall for a nice St. Patrick’s Dinner of spaghetti. The Steve Group led by Stephen K. assisted in making dinner and the Tim Group led by Tim B. assisted with clean up. We had the opportunity to see the bridge, navigation, crews quarters, various support areas, the galley (and how it works) and the engine room.

We finished up the evening seeing a little more of the ship and settling into our tiny bunks except the CPO group who had bigger bunks and thicker mattress. The next thing Mr. King heard was an imitation bang, bang, bang from a stick for wake up, compliments of Mr. Carmody. The rest of us had a ship wide announcement to get us up. Breakfast was pancakes, sausage, cold cereal and orange juice. After breakfast we headed for the USS Torsk a World War II vintage submarine for a tour. We thought the inside of the Taney was tight but nothing compared to the Torsk for togetherness.

After the Torsk we headed back to the Taney to pack our gear and get ready to disembark. We packed up and got back on the road. Most of us got home without much trouble but someone got to take a break on Rt. 95 for an hour and fifteen minuets, delaying getting home. We all arrived home safely and had great weekend learning about some of our history.