USS Constitution

The USS Constitution, known as "Old Ironsides" is a wooden hulled, three-masted frigate of the United States Navy. She is the oldest commissioned ship in the world still afloat. (HMS Victory is three decades older, but is permanently drydocked.)

Constitution was one of six frigates authorized for construction by an act of Congress in 1794. Joshua Humphreys designed them to be the Navy's capital ships. Larger and more heavily armed than the standard run of frigate, Constitution and her sisters were formidable opponents even for some ships of the line. For a time, Constitution was assigned the hull classification symbol IX-21, but was reclassified to "none" on 1 September 1975.

Built at Edmund Hart's shipyard in Boston of resilient live oak, Constitution's planks were up to seven inches thick. The ship's design was also unique for its time because of a diagonal cross-bracing of the ship's skeleton that contributed considerably to the ship's structural strength. Paul Revere forged the copper spikes and bolts that held the planks in place and the copper sheathing that protected the hull. Thus armed, she first put to sea 22 July 1798 and saw her first service patrolling the southeast coast of the United States during the Quasi-War with France.

In 1803 Constitution was designated flagship for the Mediterranean squadron under Captain Edward Preble and went to serve against the Barbary States of North Africa, which were demanding tribute from the United States in exchange for allowing American merchant vessels access to Mediterranean ports. Preble began an aggressive campaign against Tripoli, blockading ports and bombarding fortifications. Finally Tripoli, Tunisia, and Algeria agreed to a peace treaty.

Constitution patrolled the North African coast for two years after the war ended, to enforce the terms of the treaty.

She returned to Boston in 1807 for two years of refitting. The ship was recommissioned as flagship of the North Atlantic Squadron in 1809 under Commodore John Rodgers.

By early 1812, relations with the United Kingdom had deteriorated and the Navy began preparing for war, which was declared 20 June. Captain Isaac Hull, who had been appointed Constitution's commanding officer in 1810, put to sea 12 July, without orders, to prevent being blockaded in port. His intention was to join the five ships of Rodgers' squadron.

Constitution sighted five ships off Egg Harbor, New Jersey, July 17. By the following morning the lookouts had determined they were a British squadron that had sighted Constitution and were giving chase. Finding themselves becalmed, Hull and his seasoned crew put boats over the side to tow their ship out of range. By using kedge anchors to draw the ship forward, and wetting the sails down to take advantage of every breath of wind, Hull slowly made headway against the pursuing British. After two days and nights of toil in the relentless July heat, Constitution finally eluded her pursuers.

But one month later on August 19, she met with one of them again—the frigate Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia. The British ship fired the first shot of the legendary battle; 20 minutes later, Guerriere was a dismasted hulk, so badly damaged that she was not worth towing to port. Hull had used his heavier broadsides and his ship's superior sailing ability, while the British, to their astonishment, saw that their shot seemed to rebound harmlessly off Constitution's hull—giving her the nickname "Old Ironsides."

Under the command of William Bainbridge, "Old Ironsides" met Java, another British frigate, in December. Their three-hour engagement left Java unfit for repair, so she was burned. Constitution's victories gave the American people a tremendous boost to morale, and raised the United States to the rank of a world-class naval power.

Despite having to spend many months in port, either under repair or because of blockades, Constitution managed eight more captures, including a British frigate and sloop sailing in company which she fought simultaneously, before peace was declared in 1815. After six years of extensive repairs, she returned to duty as flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron. She sailed back to Boston in 1828.

An examination in 1830 found her unfit for sea, but the American public expressed great indignation at the recommendation that she be scrapped, especially after publication of Oliver Wendell Holmes' poem "Old Ironsides." Congress passed an appropriation for reconstruction and in 1835 she was placed back in commission. She served as flagship in the Mediterranean and the South Pacific and made a 30-month voyage around the world beginning in March 1844.

In the 1850s she patrolled the African coast in search of slavers, and during the American Civil War served as a training ship for midshipmen.

After another period of rebuilding in 1871, she transported goods for the Paris Exposition of 1877 and served once more as a training ship. Decommissioned in 1882, she was used as a receiving ship at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She returned to Boston to celebrate her centennial in 1897.

In 1905, public sentiment saved her once more from scrapping; in 1925 she was restored, through the donations of school children and patriotic groups. Recommissioned 1 July 1931, she set out under tow for a tour of 90 port cities along the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts of the United States.

More than 4,600,000 people visited her during the three-year journey. Having secured her position as an American icon, she returned to her home port of Boston. In 1941, she was placed in permanent commission, and an act of Congress in 1954 made the Secretary of the Navy responsible for her upkeep. The USS Constitution is currently docked at the Old Navy Shipyard in the Charlestown section of Boston. It is open to the public. For additional information see the web site reference below.

On 21 July 1997, as part of her 200th birthday celebration, Constitution set sail for the first time in over a century. She was towed from her usual berth in Boston to Marblehead, then set six sails (jibs, topsails, and driver), moved unassisted for an hour and rendered a 21-gun salute.

Timeline

October 21, 1797: USS Constitution launched and christened at Edmond Hartt's Shipyard, Boston.

August 1798: Ordered into action in the Quasi-War with France.

1803?1806: Flagship, Mediterranean Squadron, Tripolitan War.

1812?1815: War with United Kingdom.

August 18, 1812: Defeats 49-gun British frigate Guerriere. Crew bestows her with "Old Ironsides" nickname.

December 29, 1812: Captures British frigate Java and five smaller vessels.

1828-1830 Laid up at Boston and condemned by naval commissioners, she was saved by a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

March 1844: Begins 30-month voyage around the world.

1931-1934: National cruise takes "Old Ironsides" to 90 American cities, returns to her place of honor in Boston harbor.

March 1996-1997 Completes 44-month restoration.

General Characteristics

(tableize all of this?)

• Builders: Col. George Claghorn, Edmond Harrt's Shipyard, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Unit Cost: $302,718 (1797 dollars)
• Power Plant: 42,710 ft² (4,000 m²) of sail on three masts
• Length: 204 ft (62.16 m) (billet head to taffrail); 175 ft (53 m) at waterline
• Beam: 43.5 ft (13 m)
• Mast height: foremast, 198 ft (60 m); mainmast, 220 ft (67 m); mizzenmast, 172.5 feet (52.56 m)
• Displacement: 2,200 tons
• Speed: 13 knots (7 km/h)
• Crew: 450 including 55 Marines and 30 boys
• Armament: 32 24 pounder (11 kg) long guns; 20 32 pounder (15 kg) carronades; and, two 24 pounder (11 kg) bow chasers
• Boats: one 36 ft (11 m) long boat; two 30 ft (9 m) cutters, two 28 ft (9 m) whaleboats; one 28 ft (9 m) gig; one 22 ft (7 m) jolly boat; and one 14 ft (4 m) punt
• Anchors: two main bowers 5300 lb (2,400 kg); one sheet anchor 5400 lb (2,400 kg); one stream anchor 1100 lb (500 kg); and two kedge anchors 400 to 700 lb (180 to 320 kg)
• Date Deployed: October 21, 1797

References

• Thomas P. Horgan, Old Ironsides (Burdette & Co., 1963)
• Tyrone G. Martin, A Most Fortunate Ship (Globe Pequot Press, 1980)
• A fictional account of the 1812 battle between Constitution and Java appears in the novel The Fortune of War by Patrick O'Brian.

External link

• USS Constitution homepage

The keel of a Lexington-class battle cruiser, to have been named USS Constitution (CC-5), was laid at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in September 1920, but the class was cancelled in 1923 by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922.

General Characteristics (1919 design)

• Displacement: 43,500 tons
• Length: 874 ft (270 m)
• Beam: 105.5 ft (32 m)
• Draft: 31 ft (9 m)
• Primary Armament: eight 16-inch (406 mm)/50 guns in four twin turrets
• Secondary Armament: 16 six-inch (152 mm)/53 guns in single mounts (eight per side), four three-inch (76 mm) guns, eight 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo
• Machinery, 180,000 shp (134 MW) General Electric geared turbines with electric drive, 4 screws
• Speed, 35 knots (65 km/h)
• Complement 1500 officers and men