A U.S. Naval Academy launch lies alongside U.S. Coast

A U.S. Naval Academy launch lies alongside U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle (WIX 327) at anchor near the Academy. Eagle took on Coast Guardsmen and members of the media from the launch before continuing to the Port of Baltimore, where she joined other naval vessels from the United States and other maritime nations in commemorating the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the writing of the National Anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. During their visit to the city, the public is welcomed to tour the ships, affording them an opportunity to better understand sea power and its importance to ensuring the unobstructed access to and free use of the world’s oceans, which are essential to our national welfare and prosperity, just as it was in 1812 when the United States Navy and the Revenue Cutter Service (later renamed the U.S. Coast Guard) went to war to defend and has been protecting ever since.