USS Constitution

93 Chelsea St Charlestown

Ordered as a heavy frigate as part of the Naval Act of 1794 the Constitution and five similar ships were the backbone of the new navy. Slated to carry 44 guns (cannons) it usually crammed more than 50, has 3 masts and weighs 1600 tons. It never lost a battle and captured 24 enemy vessels. The oldest commissioned warship in the US Navy. Built to protect American Merchant Ships from pirates off the coast of North Africa during the revolutionary war. Designer Joshua Humphreys realized that for a long time our navy would be inferior in numbers to the navies of Europe, so the few ships needed to be as formidable as possible. Now a frigate was a fifth-rate ship out of the six rates of ship. These were larger frigates and also faster due to a streamlined hull. They could outfight other frigates and outrun more powerful ships. He placed ribs only four inches apart compared to the usual 8-10 inches. It was made famous during the War of 1812 against the HMS Guerriere in a battle that lasted less than an hour. There it earned the name “Old Ironsides” because the dual layered oak hull was so strong that the cannonballs from British ships would bounce harmlessly off its sides.

Paul Revere designed the copper fastenings for this ship. The hull is a three-layer wooden sandwich comprised of live oak and white oak. This helped dissipate the force of impact, as well as the extra ribbing and bracketing on internal walls. It turns out American oak is denser than English oak, so this ship’s wood has a density of 75 lbs per cubic foot where English oak is about 45.

The War of 1812 was where USA came into their own as a sovereign nation. The British were harassing ships and impressing sailors into their navy. France and Britain were fighting for dominion over Europe, and both were trying to force USA into subjugation by contracted mercantilism. However, the British had seized some 400 merchant ships and their cargoes and impressed 6-9,000 men into British Naval service. The British Royal Navy was the strongest in the world at that time. They had 600 man-of-war ships, USA had 20 at that point. War ended in the Treaty of Ghent at status quo ante bellum. The British held on to Canada and their maritime rights. The United States earned the respect of Europe by bringing them to a draw.

-Source Links-

Highly Recommended!! Brief but fantastic facts about USS Constitution’s construction and workings during 1812 from Professor Allison PhD – Video 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPixFUwdDPI Video 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RZfVMq6KRI

https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/maritime/uss.htm

https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/major-events/war-of-1812-chronology/

https://historyofmassachusetts.org/uss-constitution-construction/

https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/uss-constitution-called-old-ironsides/

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/videos/uss-constitution

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/old-iron-sides

Even the website for this museum is awesome with artifact videos, battle diagrams, and an online game. I haven’t personally checked out this museum, but the site seems pretty cool.

https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/

https://asailorslifeforme.org/