Tag: USS Constitution

Wikipedia says: USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She is the world’s oldest ship of any type still afloat. She was launched in 1797, one of six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794 and the third constructed. The name “Constitution” was among ten names submitted to President George Washington by Secretary of War Timothy Pickering in March of 1795 for the frigates that were to be constructed. Joshua Humphreys designed the frigates to be the young Navy’s capital ships, and so Constitution and her sister ships were larger and more heavily armed and built than standard frigates of the period. She was built at Edmund Hartt’s shipyard in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts. Her first duties were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi-War with France and to defeat the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War.

Constitution is most noted for her actions during the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom, when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships: HMS Guerriere, Java, Pictou, Cyane, and Levant. The battle with Guerriere earned her the nickname “Old Ironsides” and public adoration that has repeatedly saved her from scrapping. She continued to serve as flagship in the Mediterranean and African squadrons, and she circled the world in the 1840s. During the American Civil War, she served as a training ship for the United States Naval Academy. She carried American artwork and industrial displays to the Paris Exposition of 1878.

Constitution was retired from active service in 1881 and served as a receiving ship until being designated a museum ship in 1907. In 1934, she completed a three-year, 90-port tour of the nation. She sailed under her own power for her 200th birthday in 1997, and again in August 2012 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of her victory over Guerriere.

Constitution’s stated mission today is to promote understanding of the Navy’s role in war and peace through educational outreach, historical demonstration, and active participation in public events as part of the Naval History & Heritage Command. As a fully commissioned Navy ship, her crew of 60 officers and sailors participate in ceremonies, educational programs, and special events while keeping her open to visitors year round and providing free tours. The officers and crew are all active-duty Navy personnel, and the assignment is considered to be special duty. She is usually berthed at Pier 1 of the former Charlestown Navy Yard at one end of Boston’s Freedom Trail….

Civil War

Since the formation of the US Naval Academy in 1845, there had been a growing need for quarters in which to house the students (midshipmen). In 1857, Constitution was moved to dry dock at the Portsmouth Navy Yard for conversion into a training ship. Some of the earliest known photographs of her were taken during this refitting, which added classrooms on her spar and gun decks and reduced her armament to only 16 guns. Her rating was changed to a “2nd rate ship”. She was recommissioned on 1 August 1860 and moved from Portsmouth to the Naval Academy.

At the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, Constitution was ordered to relocate farther north after threats had been made against her by Confederate sympathizers. Several companies of Massachusetts volunteer soldiers were stationed aboard for her protection. R. R. Cuyler towed her to New York City, where she arrived on 29 April. She was subsequently relocated, along with the Naval Academy, to Fort Adams in Newport, Rhode Island for the duration of the war. Her sister ship United States was abandoned by the Union and then captured by Confederate forces at the Gosport Shipyard, leaving Constitution the only remaining frigate of the original six.

The Navy launched an ironclad on 10 May 1862 as part of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and they bestowed on her the name New Ironsides to honor Constitution’s tradition of service. However, New Ironsides’s naval career was short, as she was destroyed by fire on 16 December 1865. In August 1865, Constitution moved back to Annapolis, along with the rest of the Naval Academy. During the voyage, she was allowed to drop her tow lines from the tug and continue alone under wind power. Despite her age, she was recorded running at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) and arrived at Hampton Roads ten hours ahead of the tug. Andersonville Prisoners- “Thorp and his fellow soldiers were transported to Jacksonville, Fla., then on USS Constitution to “Camp Parole” in Annapolis, Md. There, they were issued rations, clothing and back pay before being sent to their respective regimental headquarters for discharge.”

Settling in again at the Academy, a series of upgrades was installed that included steam pipes and radiators to supply heat from shore, along with gas lighting. From June to August each year, she would depart with midshipmen for their summer training cruise and then return to operate for the rest of the year as a classroom. In June 1867, her last known plank owner William Bryant died in Maine. George Dewey assumed command in November and he served as her commanding officer until 1870. In 1871, her condition had deteriorated to the point where she was retired as a training ship, and then towed to the Philadelphia Navy Yard where she was placed in ordinary on 26 September.