Seven men of the Society standing on the working deck of a Coast Guard buoy tender, behind the star spangled Francis Scott Key buoy lying on its side.

Maryland Society Attends 46th Annual Francis Scott Key Memorial Buoy Deployment

On the morning of July 28, 2026, a contingent of officers from the Society of the War of 1812 in the State of Maryland took to the waters of the Patapsco River as guests of the USCGC James Rankin (WLM-555) for the 46th annual commissioning of the Francis Scott Key Memorial Buoy.

From the working deck, the delegation watched the crew carry out the deployment of the star spangled marker, which is set each year to denote the place where Francis Scott Key watched the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in September 1814.

The James Rankin is a 175 foot Keeper class coastal buoy tender homeported in Baltimore. Known affectionately as the Keeper of the Bay, the cutter and its crew maintain more than 400 buoys marking the major shipping channels of the Chesapeake Bay and the entrance of the Potomac River.

Several officers of the Society gathered beside the buoy before its deployment. Standing left to right:

  • Craig Collins-Young, Recording Secretary
  • James Schaub, Past President
  • Brian Alexander, 3rd Vice President
  • Ed Burgee, Historian
  • Sean Guildener, Marshal
  • Bill Emmerich, President
  • James Howard, Treasurer
Seven men of the Society standing on the working deck of a Coast Guard buoy tender, behind the star spangled Francis Scott Key buoy lying on its side.
Officers of the Society beside the Francis Scott Key Memorial Buoy on the deck of the USCGC James Rankin, July 28, 2026.
The star spangled buoy upright in the Patapsco River seen from the deck above, with two Coast Guard crew at the rail and the crane hook overhead.
The buoy set in the water off Fort McHenry, where Francis Scott Key watched the bombardment in September 1814.