Events
Ahead of the Parade of Sail, the USS Constitution commander discusses leading the Navy’s oldest commissioned warship, parade preparations, and preserving American history.
When Commander Crystal L. Schaefer assumed command of the USS Constitution in June 2024, she became the 78th commanding officer — and the second woman to lead the historic undefeated warship known as Old Ironsides.
“If you go back to that girl who graduated high school at 17 and said, ‘Hey, fast forward 25, 26 years, and where do you think you’re going to be?’ Never would I say I would be in Boston, commanding the world’s oldest commissioned warship about to take care and lead the Parade of Sail for America’s 250th birthday,” Schaefer told Boston.com in an interview.
After growing up in Medford, Wisconsin, Schaefer joined the Navy through ROTC at the University of Minnesota. During more than two decades of service, she has served aboard destroyers and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, was deployed around the world, and worked as a Navy instructor before taking command in Boston.
On July 11, Schaefer will lead the USS Constitution at the front of Sail Boston’s Parade of Sail, where tall ships from more than 25 countries will sail into Boston Harbor to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country and the city’s maritime history.
“I don’t know if words can truly say how honored I am to do it,” Schaefer said.
Schaefer said visitors can step onto Old Ironsides for a free close-up view of the ship on the day of the parade, shortly after it concludes, as well as the rest of Sail Boston from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Visitors must bring a physical government-issued identification.
This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.
What does it mean to serve as the 78th commanding officer and only the second woman to command USS Constitution?
“Before I took command, I was asked, ‘If there was one word to describe Constitution, what would that word be?’ … Very quickly, what popped into my head was ‘legacy.’ I truly think that it is my responsibility to maintain the legacy of the ship. We are tasked with our mission of promoting, preserving, and protecting Constitution … It’s an honor, but I also know that this command — it’s about the ship. It’s not about me. It’s about what I can do to continue to promote the ship and its stories.
I am honored and humbled when I walk around in uniform, and somebody sees me, and they’re like, ‘I recognize that name. Are you the person on that plaque over there of other commanding officers?’ … There’s an amount of being a celebrity, but I don’t do it for that. The recognition that I get, I’m truly grateful for it. But at the same time, I’m not here to promote myself. I’m here to promote the ship and ensure that she’s still around … for another 250 years.”
What’s unique about commanding the Constitution compared with your previous Navy assignments?
“We get to select the sailors that we bring here, and I truly think that we are able to pick the right sailors to be the face of our Navy. I have 69 positions total, and of that, about 60% are our sailors that come straight from boot camp. They range in ages … and there’s a variety of life experiences.
What I like to say is my job here is to teach and lead the sailors and take care of them, because if I take care of my sailors, they’re going to take care of the ship … The skills that they get here is unlike anything else. I’m truly leading some of the top of our Navy sailors.”
What does a typical day look like as commander?
“Other than the paperwork, all the computer work, and emails, through the day here on Constitution, it’s a lot of planning events — everything from our underways in the summertime to retirement ceremonies, promotion ceremonies, [and] reenlistments. I will sometimes do tours myself on board the ship …
One of the last qualifications [our sailors] have to do on board the ship, what we call their capstone event, is to get the advanced historian qualification. Once they have learned the history that we want them to teach the public, they have to give me a tour on the ship. I do one of those about once a week for the sailors, and I never get tired of listening to the history of the ship. Every sailor puts their own spin on that tour — maybe their favorite battle, maybe their favorite captain …
Some responsibility is maintaining that standard of high quality of tour that the sailors are going to be giving, because they can give them to anybody, from the Secretary of the Navy to just the general public that walks in off the street to come and visit the ship. To me, it doesn’t matter if you’re the Secretary in the Navy or that person that comes walking in off the street. I want my sailors to be able to tell the history accurately and be able to answer the questions.”
What do you enjoy about the assignment?
“I love to interact with everybody, but there’s two groups of people that I truly love to interact with. The first one are our veterans, and the second one is all of those school groups … The kids ask some of the wildest questions, and it’s fun to talk to them. It’s fun to see how excited they are … when they learn that I’m in charge of the ship.
A former crew member … used to always bring these school groups on board, and I was out there talking to the kids he had brought on board the ship, and then there were some girls who were like, ‘Do you want to play rock, paper, scissors?’ I was like, ‘Sure, let’s play rock, paper, scissors.’ And at the end of that, [the former crew member] was like, ‘That was awesome. Never in a million years would I’ve ever thought I would see the commanding officer of the Constitution playing rock, paper, scissors with these kids from one of the local schools.’ And I was like, ‘Well, it’s to show that I’m a person just like they are, and it’s something that they can achieve as well.’”
Is there a history or tradition abroad Constitution that especially stands out to you?
“There’s a lot, and I think one of the best things we do on board the ship is our climbing evolutions … going up into the sails and working the sails. I would say that this is truly one of the best things to do because the sailors love to do it, and I think it helps build their camaraderie … It’ll be a couple hours, but they have to climb up there, they have to shake the sails out …
As soon as we’re done with the Parade of Sail here, hopefully within the next couple of weeks, I’m looking forward to being able to climb myself up there, because I also think that will show my sailors a lot that I’m going to do what they’re doing, and I know they’re having a lot of fun — I want to have a little bit of fun, too.”
Old Ironsides will serve a prominent role in Sail Boston. Why is this event significant for both the ship and Navy?
“I think what it’s here to do is showcase the Constitution, show that we are the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat, to showcase us as America’s ship of state. And we have visitors from all around the world watching us, watching the Parade of Sail, and I think there’s no other ship out there that has the history much like the Constitution does. And the history of the Constitution is the history of the Navy, and the history of the Navy is the history of our country. It’s 250 years of maritime excellence.”
What preparations have been underway to get Constitution ready for Sail Boston?
“As soon as I stepped into command, we were working on preparations for this event. For the last two years, and even going back into my predecessors … we had been working on doing a major restoration project on the mast … The Naval History and Heritage Command has a detachment here in Boston, and they are … the ones that maintain the ship. They’re the ones that keep the ship looking great, and they have been working since 2022 on this mast restoration project. Every time we take a piece of the mast down, we find something else that needs to be replaced or fixed, and so it’s been a long, long process of getting that done.
If anybody was out watching us when we were underway in March for the commissioning of the USS Massachusetts, we look a lot different today. All of our masts are raised. We have all of our yards on board. We have two sails on board. We have two whaling boats installed on board, and I’m hoping to put up one more sail here in the next week before we get underway, but the ship is looking the best she’s probably looked since 2017 — maybe even before then … The ship looks great, and I’m excited to showcase her.”
When people see Constitution leading the parade, what details or traditions do you hope they’ll notice and appreciate?
“All of the people who are viewing the Parade of Sail [are getting] a view into Constitution’s past … If you think back to the early 1800s, the 1700s, you wouldn’t have all of these gas-powered or steam-powered ships. You would have tall ships. You would have wind power; sail power is the only thing you will have. And so, two things: One, hopefully weather supporting, we will be able to drop one of the sails and allow the people to see what that looks like, but we’re probably going to be doing a few gun salutes throughout the Parade of Sail. I’m excited to also show everybody what Constitution is known for — the 33 engagements, and she’s undefeated.”
What’s a message you hope the public takes away as they watch the Constitution lead the parade of sail?
“Not only for Constitution and not only for the Navy, but the United States — this is a milestone that we are hitting, and there’s not a lot of generations who get to experience what we get to experience this year … To everybody that’s out there, I just hope that it inspires an amount of patriotism and inspires them an amount of support for our Navy, for our service members out there, and truly going back to the roots of what does it mean to you to be an American. And to me, I think that’s what I truly want everybody to take away as they watch this Parade of Sail.”
Watch: The USS Constitution gets underway to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill
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