Shota70 & 3rdJerseyman,
Thanks for posting. USS Constitution is a beautiful ship.
I had the pleasure of commanding the Marine detachment onboard during the last year of her 2-year 200th anniversary in July 1998. We only did a harbor turn-around but several tall-ships were in for the event (Coast Guard cutter Eagle and the Argentinian Navy's training ship as well as a few others) along with training ships from France, Greece and the UK. My Marines manned the fighting tops and provided the gun crew for the carronade used to return the other ships' salutes. (The carronade was modified to accommodate a 40 mm saluting gun firing essentially black powder packed in metal shell casings - lots of powder smoke! The Marines on the gun crew were absolutely ecstatic to have had that opportunity.)
The Marine detachment was made up of reserve Marines from several posts in New England (Massachusetts and Rhode Island). All of us, officers and enlisted, billeted for 2 weeks in the former Charleston Navy Yard Marine Barracks (part of the National Historic Park). In addition to our shipboard duties, we participated in two ceremonies - a parade of the Constitution's crew through the streets of downtown Boston and an evening review ceremony where the Royal Marine Band from Portsmouth provided the music.
Unfortunately my photos from that summer are back in the US and not yet digitized. I'll have to get that done so I can share them with the forum.
--John
LtCol, USMC (retired)