The USS Constitution has been a commissioned US Navy ship for 222 years. There are older ships, but none still commissioned that are sailing. I have been on board this ship, and she is beautiful!
Image from article:
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/news/uss-constitution-2.html?utm_source=getresponse&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=warhistoryonline&utm_content=[War+History+Online]+Daily+Dispatches
Article on the USS Constitution saluting the US Navy's anniversary:
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/news/uss-constitution-2.html?utm_source=getresponse&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=warhistoryonline&utm_content=[War+History+Online]+Daily+Dispatches
The name Old Ironsides was given to he by British gunners, because with the hull design, the six pounders they were using just bounced off. We had effectively unlimited wood for the construction, so we made her hull with 3 layers of wood about 8 inches thick One grain was vertical, one was diagonal for sail support, and one was horizontal.This formed an effective plywood two feet thick. With the diagonal layer, our masts could be higher, and carry more sail.
The USS Constitution is the world’s oldest commissioned warship still sailing the seas. Nicknamed “Old Ironsides” due to its success in the War of 1812, it is 222 years old and has a record of 33 victories.
The crew of 80 sailed the historic ship to Fort Independence on Castle Island in order to fire a 21-gun salute in honor of its anniversary and the 244th anniversary of the US Navy.
The USS Constitution launched on October 21, 1797, after being built in a shipyard that is now Coast Guard Sector Boston. She fired another salute as she passed there on her way back to her dock at the Charleston Navy Yard.
She had the sail equivalent of just under 800 horsepower, and her mil spec purchase order was two pages that said she had to out gun what she could not outrun! I read it myself....
They had another interesting paper there from the admiralty, an order to Frigate Captains (she was a frigate) ordering them NOT to engage a US Frigate, unless they had a two to one advantage. This is not detracting from the British Frigates, they generally had some of the best commanders in the fleet; BUT the difference in construction was devastating.
The USS Constitution was fast and deadly, and survived a confrontation with seven British warships, in her first sortie.
Not even a month after the US declared war on Britain in June of 1812, Captain Isaac Hull and crew were surrounded by five British ships, the HMS Africa, the HMS Belvidera, the HMS Aeolus, the HMS Shannon, and the HMS Guerrierre.
The USS Constitution had been ordered to go to New York as quickly as possible in order to join up with Commodore John Rodgers’ squadron. What Hull didn’t realize was that Rodgers had already set sail to search for British merchant ships crossing the Atlantic.
After passing the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Hull spotted sails on the horizon. Assuming them to be Rodgers’ squadron, he sailed toward them.
To Hull’s surprise, the ship he reached was not one of Rodgers’ ships but the 38-gun frigate HMS Gurriere.
Once Hull determined that the ships he had reached were not American, he tried to get away. But by now the wind had died down and the sea was completely calm. The little breeze there was only served to push the British ships closer to the Americans. By now, two more British ships had joined in making a total of seven chasing the Constitution.
The British opened fire but missed. The Constitution returned fire but also missed.
The sails were let out to the maximum and were wet down in order to make them able to capture the slightest breezes. Eventually, Hull ordered several thousand gallons of fresh water be pumped out to decrease the weight of the ship.
The British soon reached firing range. Desperate for a way to escape, Hull turned to his Lieutenant Morris. Morris’ plan was to take a cutter with the anchor and row ahead of the ship. Then the anchor would be dropped out in front of the USS Constitution.
Crewmen on the ship would pull the anchor chain which would pull the ship forward.
Meanwhile, a second cutter with another anchor rowed ahead a dropped it to be used to continue the pulling while the first cutter gathered its anchor and rowed ahead. They continued that way for hours, alternating cutters and anchors.
They continued this all night with crewmen sleeping by their guns in case there was action. After more than 60 hours of the chase, the Constitution finally pulled far enough ahead of her pursuers that they ceased their pursuit.
For a sailing vessel to survive a day long confrontation with seven enemy warships with little wind is no small feat!
In all her victories, no enemy sailor set foot on her decks, except as a prisoner, she was a predator; that hunted well! in the war of 1812, she captured a number of merchant ships, but more importantly, she defeated Five British Warships
She was almost scrapped, but I am very glad she wasn't!
Background article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution
She was one of the initial six Frigates authorized by the United States in 1794, and was the third one built; when congress decided that we had to have a navy to stay safe. She took three years to build, and some of the copper rivets was made by Paul Revere himself since he was a metalsmith by trade. She was in front line service for almost a century, not bad for a Ship....
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.
It is worth the trip to Boston to see her, I recommend it! She is a graceful beautiful creature, with serious Teeth, and an apatite for enemy ships!
Wow what an awesome ship.
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She is a real beauty! In perfect shape, and very sea worthy.
:)>That is why we prefer Made in the USA over Made in China. Older houses had more wood in them. So, a ship with 2 feet thick walls or three layers of eight-inch wood, is a good idea. Well, steel is still better. But I do like thick wood, regardless, at the same time.
It was thick enough to bounce British cannonballs...good design!
:)>Impressive, like trees surviving storms.
Man made storms, LOL; but she survived! We used our forrest coverage wisely. In Europe, timber was hard to find, so hulls were as thin as it was safe to make.
♡♡♡Europe was becoming like China, perhaps, in the 1700's. In other words, cheap or cheaper in order to compete. In the free market, companies can choose to go cheap. In other words, companies have to choose quantity or quality in their products and services. On top of that, globalists and others have been going after the better companies that do try to focus on quality. So, they try to buy up smaller companies. They try to threaten them. They have the central banks. They try to rig the free market, globally, through things like crony capitalism, corporatism, plutocracy, monopolism, cartels, etc. Well, now, on top of that, tech cartels can be added to those lists.
Sadly, some things never change...and History repeats itself!
:'(Sir smithlabs! I love that ship. I built a big three foot model of her when I was in High School. But I didn't know they could drag a ship forward like that using the anchors, amazing! I finally learned something from one of your riff raff posts!
SORRY, I didn't mean to force you to learn something! She is a real beauty, and was an impressive predator!
They did not give up! That anchor trick was a pretty hard headed thing to do, but it really pissed off the British chasing them.
:)>lol..I love it when they get pissed off. They started building metal clad hulls sometime though, didn't they?
She was copper clad for longevity, not armor; it obviously worked. They really hated her!
But they began iron clads in the civil war, for a true old Ironsides!
A lot of innovation came from the Civil war. Submarines, rotating turrets used later on drednoughts, aircraft directing artillery fire (balloons), anti-aircraft fire, machine guns, breech loaded cannons, and breech loaded rifles; to name a few.
Machine guns were invented in the Civil War? But not in time for the war right? Couldn't they just shoot down those balloons? Seems like you'd be a sittin duck up there.
Dr Gatling made his toy before the Civil war got real hot. He was from the south and they were afraid he might provide it to the South, so they were winning, and just sat on it.
Custer had them and refused to take them to the Little big horn. He thought they would slow him down....
Shooting down a balloon is hard to do. Drop and elevation together is tough! Estimating distance is hard too. Even if you hit it, a small hole will not bring it down quickly....
:)>What?? Custer would normally had Gatling guns with him but he didn't want them on that trip? Oh man!