03/27/2024
I’ve been staggered by the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsing in Baltimore this morning. Baltimore is a place I go regularly and my thoughts have been with the city since I woke up. To imagine this vista (taken from Fort McHenry a couple years ago) without the FSK Bridge is just unfathomable. The world can change so quickly.
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The bridge spans historic waters. It took its name from the famous 35-year old observer of the 1814 bombardment of Fort McHenry, whose poem “Defense of Fort M’Henry” spawned the national anthem of the United States in 1931 under the name “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Francis Scott Key, a lawyer, was negotiating a prisoner release and watched the attack from amongst the British ships while detained aboard his truce ship, a local packet steamer named The President, which was tied up alongside the frigate HMS Surprize to prevent him from returning to shore with knowledge of the bombardment plans. The British fleet of 55 ships, led by Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane aboard HMS Tonnant, was at the mouth of the Patapsco River to support a combined assault on Baltimore. Of these, 17 ships comprised the bombardment force and moved in to about 3-4 miles from the fort - essentially where the bridge was built in 1977.
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The main naval combatants were five bomb ships - HMS Terror, Aetna, Devastation, Meteor, and Volcano - plus the rocket ship HMS Erebus and schooner Cockschafer. The bomb ships were 102’ vessels built to carry high angle mortars, while Erebus was equipped with new Congreve rockets. The explosives from these ships would give rise to the verses of the famous song. Cockschafer, with five guns, came within a mile of the fort (roughly where the motorboat is in this photo) to test the range of American guns. The bomb and rocket ships started about 2 miles away, essentially between the tank storage to the right in the photo and the green-hulled freighter at Dundalk Marine Terminal at distant left. They would later close to about a mile and a half before being driven back.
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The British exchanged fire with American gunners for 25 hours from 13-14 September without success, and Baltimore was spared.
