1797, USA
One of the first frigates of the U.S. Navy and now its oldest commissioned vessel
USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted, 44-guns frigate which was built at the Edmond Hartt shipyard in Boston, MA, and launched in 1797. She was one of six of the original frigates that were constructed ...
1797, USA
One of the first frigates of the U.S. Navy and now its oldest commissioned vessel
USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted, 44-guns frigate which was built at the Edmond Hartt shipyard in Boston, MA, and launched in 1797. She was one of six of the original frigates that were constructed following the 1794 Naval Act (authorizing the first naval force of the U.S.A.) and were designed by Joshua Humphreys to be the young Navy’s capital ships, hence were larger and more heavily armed than the frigates of the period.
She was named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the U.S.A.
Even though her first assignments were to protect American merchant vessels during the Quasi-War with France (1798-1800) and to defeat Barbary pirates during the first Barbary war (1801-1805), she was above all famous for her actions in the war of 1812 when she captured many merchant ships and defeated five British warships and more specifically her battle against H.M.S. Guerriere which earned her the nickname of “Old Ironsides”. She then served as flagship in the Mediterranean and African squadrons, circled the world in 1840, served as training ship during the American Civil War, transported US artwork and displays to the Paris Exposition of 1878 before being retired from active service in 1881.
Her fame saved her repeatedly from scrapping.
USS Constitution went on to serve as receiving ship until 1907 when she became a museum. She sailed under her own power in 1997 for her 200th birthday and in 2012 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of her victory over Guerriere.
As a fully commissioned US Navy ship with her crew of active duty US Navy personnel, she participates in ceremonies, educational programs, special events as well as being opened to the public and is currently berthed at the Charleston Navy Yard, Boston, MA.