Jun
A very successful visit for our Midshipmen
After leaving from Pensacola for the sixteenth time, the "Juan Sebastian de Elcano" made its final stop of its current training cruise on the 16th of June in Boston. It remained there until June 21st.
As it is customary, while the ship was visited by many people -more than four thousand during its stop-, its staff and midshipmen participated in an intense schedule of professional and cultural activities.
The midshipmen were received by two of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In addition to touring the facilities, they interacted with teachers and students. They also had the opportunity to pay professional visits to Groton Submarine Base -where they visited the SSN "Missouri"-, and the US Coast Guard Academy in New London.
During the morning of Friday June 19th, a modest but solemn wreath laying dedication was held, to honor the prisoners and the fallen Spanish soldiers taken on the Battle of Santiago de Cuba on July 3, 1898. A representation of the crew and midshipmen traveled an hour from Boston to Seavey Island, the location of Portsmouth shipyard, where today the maintenance of nuclear submarines is performed. Camp Long prison was built to house 1,700 Spanish prisoners taken during the battle. During captivity and mostly due to war injuries and yellow fever, 31 of them died. They were buried on-site with military honors. Seventeen years later and ninety-nine years to this date, at the request of the Government of Spain their remains were exhumed and transported to Spain, where they rest today.
Upon returning to ship, a toast was offered to His Majesty Felipe VI on the first anniversary of his proclamation as King of Spain.
On Sunday morning, over forty crewmembers and students of the Juan Sebastian de Elcano joined thousands of Bostonians in a popular ten-kilometer race, passing through the city's most famous landmarks. This was the last activity while berthed at the port of Boston in which the LXXXVI Training Cruise participated before departing.
The "Juan Sebastián de Elcano" is sailing its transatlantic route back home. Three thousand miles to arrive at the port of Marin in Galicia, where it is scheduled to dock on the evening of July 13.