Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and requirements for social distancing, regularly scheduled tours of the USS Constitution have been cancelled for the foreseeable future, but for everyone sitting at home it is still possible to take a tour of the ship while wearing their pajamas.
The USS Constitution is a four-deck frigate (as you learn in the tour) and is America's oldest floating war ship (also learned in the tour) having been launched in 1797.
Since visitors are no longer allowed to experience the exhilaration of America's maritime history in person, the sailors assigned to the USS Constitution are now offering virtual tours. The tour guides are two active-duty sailors who walk through and describe the ship while a cameraman following them around live streams the entire tour. Because the tour is streamed in real-time on Facebook, those watching it are able to ask the tour guides questions as the tour happens just as if you had been taking it in person.
“Our mission is to represent and promote the U.S. Navy, USS Constitution and our nation’s rich maritime history, and through this crisis, we will use our digital presence to continue that mission,” Cmdr. John Benda said in a written statement.
The virtual tour is given at 1 p.m. and is replete with fascinating vignettes about America's maritime history including naval battles, rigging, cannonry, and various types of cannon shots while viewers send up resounding shouts of HUZZAH in the comments section. The description of the grog tub is particularly good. There is much more, but at this point, readers should really just go and watch the virtual tour for themselves.