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A History of USS Constitution
Named for the written instrument embodying the fundamental organic law and principles of government of the United States of America.
(Frigate: displacement: 2,200, length between perpendiculars 175'; beam 43'6"; depth (in hold) 14'3"; speed 13 knots; complement 460; armament 28 24-pounder, 10 12-pounder.)
Constitution, one of six frigates authorized by act of Congress, approved 27 March 1794, was designed by Joshua Humphreys, and built at Hartt's Shipyard, Boston, Mass., under the supervision of George Claghorn with Captain Samuel Nicholson as inspector. She was launched on 21 October 1797 and christened by Captain James Sever.
Into the trim frigate's construction went timbers from States ranging from Maine to Georgia, as well as copper bolts and spikes supplied by Paul Revere. A ship of beauty, power, and speed thus was fashioned as a national expression of growing naval interest, and a symbol auguring the dedication, courage, and achievement of American fighting men and ships.
Constitution put to sea on 22 July 1798, commanded by Captain Samuel Nicholson, the first of many illustrious commanding officers. Following her trial runs in August, she was readied for action in the Quasi-War with France and ordered to patrol for French armed ships between Cape Henry and Florida. One year later she became flagship on the Santo Domingo station, making several captures including the 24-gun privateer Niger, the Spender, and the letter-of marque Sandwich. At war's end, Constitution returned to the Charleston Navy Yard where she was placed in ordinary.
In 1803 amid growing demand for tribute and increasing seizures by the Barbary pirates, Constitution was recommissioned under Captain Edward Preble and sailed as flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron on 14 August. Preble took command of the squadron and vigorously brought the war to Tripoli, executing well-laid plans with brilliant success. On Constitution's decks tactics for destroying the captured frigate, Philadelphia, were laid as well as those for blockading and assaulting the fortifications of Tripoli. The small United States fleet on 3 and 7 August 1804 bombarded the enemy's ships and shore batteries with telling results.
Commodore Samuel Barron and later Captain John Rodgers were next to command the squadron and Constitution, continuing to blockade and take prizes. Naval action thus generated a favorable climate for the negotiation of peace terms with Algiers, ending for a time our tribute payments. After the Tunisians agreed to similar terms in August, Constitution spent 2 years patrolling in maintenance of the peace. She sailed for home under Captain Hugh Campbell and arrived Boston in November 1807. Placed out of commission, the frigate was repaired in the succeeding 2 years.
In August 1809 she was recommissioned and became flagship of the North Atlantic Squadron, Commodore J. Rodgers, and in 1810 Isaac Hull was appointed her captain. The following year she carried U.S. Minister, Joel Barlow, to France and returned to Washington in March 1812 for overhaul. War with Britain impended and Constitution was readied for action. On 20 June 1812 the declaration of war was read to her assembled crew and on 12 July she took the sea under Captain Hull to rejoin the squadron of Commodore J. Rodgers.
On 17 July Constitution sighted five ships in company; supposing them to be Rodger's squadron, Hull attempted to join up. By the following morning, however, the group was identified as a powerful British squadron which included the frigates Guerriere and Shannon. The wind failed, becalming within range of the enemy who opened fire. Disaster threatened until Captain Hull astutely towed, wetted sails, and kedged to draw the ship slowly ahead of her pursuers. For 2 days all hands were on deck in this desperate and successful attempt at escape, a splendid example of resolute command, superior seamanship, and indefatigable effort.
During the war, Constitution ran the blockade at Boston on seven occasions and made five cruises ranging from Halifax, Nova Scotia, south to Guiana and east to Portugal. She captured, burned, or sent in as prizes nine merchantmen and five ships of war. Departing Boston on 2 August she sailed to the coast of Nova Scotia, where she captured and destroyed two British trading ships. Cruising off the Gulf of St. Lawrence on 19 August, she caught sight of Guerriere, a fast British frigate mounting 49 guns. Guerriere opened the action, pouring out shot which fell harmlessly into the sea or glanced ineffcetively from the hull of Constitution whose cheering crew bestowed on her the famous nickname "Old Ironsides," which has stirred generations of Americans. As the ships drew abreast, Hull gave the command to fire and successive broadsides razed Guerriere's mizzen mast, damaging her foremast, and cut away most of her rigging. Guerriere's bowsprit fouled the lee rigging of Constitution, and both sides attempted to board, but the heavy seas prevented it. As the ships separated Guerriere fired point blank into the cabin of Constitution and set it on fire, but the flames were quickly extinguished. Guerriere's foremast and mainmast went by the board and she was left a helpless hulk.
The flag of Guerriere was struck in surrender and when the Americans boarded her they found her in such a crippled condition that they had to transfer the prisoners and burn her. It was a dramatic victory for America and for Constitution. In this battle of only half an hour the United States "rose to the rank of a first-class power"; the country was fired with fresh confidence and courage; and union among the States was greatly strengthened.
Constitution, Commodore William Bainbridge, again stood out from Boston on 29 December 1812 to add to her conquest the British 38-gun frigate, Java, whom she engaged off the coast of Brazil. Despite loss of her wheel early in the fighting, Constitution fought well. Her superior gunnery shattered the enemy's rigging, eventually dismasting Java, and mortally wounding her captain. Java was so badly damaged that she, too, had to be burned. The seemingly invincible "Old Ironsides" returned to Boston late in February for refitting and her wounded commander was relieved by Captain Charles Stewart.
Constitution departed on 31 December for a cruise in the Windward Islands. On 16 February she seized and destroyed the schooner, Pictou, and 9 days later chased the schooner, Pique, who escaped. She also captured three small merchantmen on this cruise, characteristically successful despite a close pursuit by two British frigates along the coast of Massachusetts. Constitution moored safely at Boston only to be bottled up for nearly 9 months by the vigorous British blockade.
In December 1814 Constitution braved the forces of the enemy, and headed southeast. She seized the merchant brig Lord Nelson and later captured Susannah with a rich cargo on 16 February 1815. Four days later she gave close chase to the frigate Cyane and the sloop Levant bound for the West Indies. Constitution opened the action firing broadsides; as the contestants drew apart she maneuvered adroitly between the two, fighting each separately and avoiding raking by either. In less than an hour Cyane struck her colors and soon thereafter Levant surrendered. Sailing in company with her prizes, Constitution encountered a British squadron which gave chase but was able to retake only Levant. En route to New York, she received confirmation of the ratification of peace terms and on 15 May arrived, confident in her success as protector of freedom of the seas.
Ordered to Boston, she was placed in ordinary for 6 years, undergoing extensive repair. In May 1821 she returned to commission, serving as flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron, under Commodore Jacob Jones, and guarding United States shipping until 1823. A second cruise on that station lasted from 1823 through July 1828, with a succession of commanding officers including Captain Thomas Macdonough and Daniel Patterson.
A survey in 1830 disclosed Constitution to be unseaworthy. Congress, considering the projected cost of repairs, relegated her for sale or scrapping. Public sentiment, engendered partly by the dramatization of her history in Oliver Wendell Holmes' memorable poem, elicited instead an appropriation of money for reconstruction which was begun in 1833 at Boston where once again she was captained by the redoubtable Isaac Hull.
Returned to commissioned status in 1835, she served well in the ensuing 20 years in a variety of missions. In March 1835 she sailed to France where she embarked the U.S. Minister to France, Edward Livingston, for return to the States. In August she entered upon a 3-year tour as flagship of Commodore Jesse Elliott in the Mediterranean protecting trade and maintaining good relations. She served as flagship for the South Pacific Squadron from 1839 to 1841; and for the home station from November 1842 to February 1813. In March 1844 she began a memorable 30-month circumnavigation of the globe while under the command of Captain John Percival.
The fall of 1848 brought a resumption of duty as flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron, Commodore W. C. Bolton. Decommissioned briefly in 1851 she sailed under Captain John Rudd in 1852 to patrol the west coast of Africa in quest of slavers until June 1855.
Five years of decommissioned status followed. In August 1860 she was assigned to train midshipmen at Annapolis, and during Civil War at Newport, R.I. Among her commanding officers in this period are listed Lieutenant Commanders David D. Porter, and George Dewey.
In 1871 Constitution underwent rebuilding at Philadelphia; she was commissioned again in July 1877 to transport goods to the Paris Exposition.
Once more she returned to duty as a training ship cruising from the West Indies to Nova Scotia with her youthful crews. In January 1882 she was placed out of commission and in 1884 was towed to Portsmouth, N.H. to become a receiving ship Celebration of her centennial year brought her to Boston in 1897 where she was retained in decommissioned status.
A public grateful for her protective services once again rescued her from imminent destruction in 1905 and she was thereafter partially restored for use as a national museum. Twenty years later, complete renovation was initiated with the financial support of numerous patriotic organizations and school children.
On 1 December 1917, Constitution was renamed Old Constitution to permit her original name to be assigned to a projected battle cruiser. Given first to CC-1 (renamed Lexington (q.v.) ) then to CC-5 (originally named Ranger (q.v.)), the name Constitution was restored to "Old Ironsides" on 24 July 1925, after the battle cruiser program had been canceled under the Washington naval treaty. Constitution (CC-5) was some 13.4 percent complete at the time of her cancellation.
On 1 July 1931, amid a 21-gun salute, Constitution was recommissioned. The following day she sailed on a triumphant tour of 90 United States' ports along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts, where thousands of Americans saw at first hand one of history's greatest fighting ships. On 7 May 1934 she returned to Boston Harbor, the site of her building. Classified IX-21 on 8 January 1941, Constitution remains in commission today, the oldest ship on the Navy List, proud and worthy representative of the Navy's great days of fighting sail, and symbol of the courage and patriotic service of generations of Americans at sea where much of the Nation's destiny will always lie.
(This history was extracted from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, a nine-volume work published by the Naval Historical Center .)
USS CONSTITUTION
USS Constitution Early Engraving - U.S. Naval Institute Photo
Type: Frigate (44 guns)
Launched: October 21, 1797
At: Edmond Hartt Shipyard, Boston, Massachusetts
Major Overhaul: 1992-1996
Length: 204 feet (overall)
Beam: 43 feet, 5 inches
Draft: 22 feet, 6 inches
Displacement: 2,200 tons
Armament: Twenty 32 pounder carronades; thirty 24 pounder long guns; two 24 pounder bow chasers
Address:
USS Constitution
Charlestown Navy Yard
Boston, Massachusetts 02129-1797
(617) 242-5670
Fax: (617) 242-5616
http://www.ncts.navy.mil/homepages/constitution
"Old Ironsides" is the oldest commissioned warship afloat. USS Constitution is one of six ships ordered by President George Washington to protect America's growing maritime interests in the 1790s. Constitution soon earned widespread renown for her ability to punish French privateers in the Caribbean and thwart the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean. The ship's greatest glory came during the War of 1812 when she defeated four British frigates. During the battle against the HMS Guerriere, seamen watched British cannon balls bounce off her 21-inch thick oak sides, earning the vessel her famous nickname.
After Oliver Wendell Holmes' poem saved Constitution from scrapping in the 1830s, the ship performed many military tasks in the following century, including service as both a barracks and training ship. Constitution was restored in 1927 with contributions from the nation's schoolchildren. After being towed coast-to-coast, Constitution was moored at the Charlestown Navy Yard in 1934. Her basic lines have not been altered nor symbolic value reduced, as she exemplifies an 1812 appearance.
To ensure even weathering at the pier, she is annually maneuvered in Boston Harbor for the Turnaround Cruise and performs a 21 gun salute in honor of the nation's birthday. Manned by an active duty U.S. Navy crew, Constitution is open year round for free public tours in the Charlestown Navy Yard. In the summer of 1997, Constitution sailed under her own canvas for the first time in 116 years. Nearby, the USS Constitution Museum and World War II destroyer USS Cassin Young are also open to the public.
USS Constitution is a National Historic Landmark.
She received the World Ship Trust Maritime Heritage Award in 1987.
Chronology of USS Constitution's History
1794:
March 27 -- Congress authorizes construction of six frigates to help protect American merchant fleets from attacks by the Algerian pirates and harassment by British and French forces. They are to be designed by Joshua Humphreys and Josiah Fox and built at six different sites. The contract for one of those ships, to be named CONSTITUTION, is given to Edmond Hartt's Shipyard in Boston.
1794-1797:
CONSTITUTION is under construction. Built in Boston to defend the young American nation, currently CONSTITUTION is nearly as old as the document for which George Washington named her. Both the document and the ship have proven to be resilient symbols of America's strength, courage, and liberty. CONSTITUTION was designed to be powerful enough to defeat any enemy about the same size and fast enough to out sail a stronger opponent. CONSTITUTION was built by Colonel George Claghorn at Edmond Hartt's shipyard in Boston. Made from more than 1,500 trees, with timbers felled from Maine to Georgia and armed with cannons cast in Rhode Island and copper fastenings provided by Paul Revere, the vessel is truly a national ship. Launched in Boston on October 21, 1797, she first put to sea in 1798. Having remained a part of the U.S. Navy since that day, CONSTITUTION is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world.
1797:
Oct. 21 -- CONSTITUTION is launched and christened by Capt. James Sever. It was the third attempt to launch her. The first, a month earlier, failed when the ship moved only 25 feet down the ship ways. Two days later she was moved an additional 30 feet. Workers had to make the ways steeper before the launch could be completed. The public was warned beforehand that the launch might cause a dangerously large wave, but none materialized.
1798:
March 27 -- Congress votes to fit her out for sea.
1798:
July 22 -- First put to sea and commanded by Capt. Samuel Nicholson.
1798-1801:
Cruising in West Indies protecting U.S. shipping from French privateers, CONSTITUTION is not engaged in any battles.
1802-1803:
Laid up in Boston, MA.
1803-1806:
President Thomas Jefferson sent her to the Mediterranean as part of the second Mediterranean Squadron to protect American ships and seamen from attack by the Barbary pirates. With Captain Edward Preble in command, CONSTITUTION and other ships of the squadron bombarded Tripoli.
1805:
June -- Peace treaty between the U.S. and Tripoli signed aboard CONSTITUTION in the Captain's Cabin.
1812:
Overhauled at Washington Navy Yard.
1812-1815:
War with Great Britain.
1812:
July 16 - 18 -- The war was hardly a month old when CONSTITUTION, on the way from Chesapeake Bay to New York, met up with a squadron of five British ships. Immediately after recognizing she was surrounded by the enemy, the wind died. Her escape is now legendary. With both sides becalmed and just out of gunnery range, there ensued what amounted to a 36 hour, slow-speed chase. CONSTITUTION's crew kept her ahead of the English by rowing (known to Sailors as the "white ash breeze"), by attempting to tow her with the ship's boats. Then her First Lieutenant (XO), Lt. Charles Morris, suggested a procedure known as "kedging," in which an anchor is carried out ahead of the ship, dropped, and the ship drawn up to it. This back-breaking task was carried out and when a breeze sprang up at dawn on July 18, CONSTITUTION was far enough ahead of her pursuers to escape by sail.
1812:
Aug. 19 -- The fight with HMS GUERRIERE took place some 600 miles east of Boston on the afternoon of 19 August 1812. After an hour of inconclusive maneuvering and shooting, the two settled down to a short-range slugfest. After 20 minutes, the Briton's mizzenmast fell. A while later, both her remaining masts went overboard. At some point in the battle, someone is said to have seen British shot bouncing off CONSTITUTION's side, and shouted, "Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron," and so was born the nickname "Old Ironsides." The Americans had 14 casualties; the British, 79. GUERRIERE was so badly damaged, she had to be sunk. Congress awarded Captain Isaac Hull a gold medal.
1812:
Dec. 29 -- CONSTITUTION was about 30 miles off the coast of Brazil on 29 December 1812 when, at about 2 in the afternoon, she began a fight with the faster HMS JAVA. Commodore William Bainbridge in command of "Old Ironsides," was wounded twice, and the ship's wheel was shot away, but for more than 2 hours he maneuvered brilliantly and fought tenaciously until, finally, JAVA had no masts left standing and her Captain lay dying. This time, there were 34 American casualties as opposed to around 150 British. Like GUERRIERE, JAVA was too badly damaged to bring home - but before sinking her, Bainbridge had her wheel removed to replace the one shot away on CONSTITUTION. Commodore Bainbridge also received a gold medal.
1813:
At the end of February, CONSTITUTION returned to Boston, where there was great rejoicing over her victory. The ship then underwent an overhaul. When again ready to fight, "Old Ironsides" was shut in the Boston harbor for eight and a half months by the strenuous British blockade.
1814:
February-April -- Under command of Captain Charles Stewart, runs the blockade of Boston. Captures the schooner Pictou and three smaller vessels during cruise to Windward Islands.
1814:
Escapes into Marblehead while being chased by two larger British frigates. Returns to Boston for repairs.
1814:
Blockaded at Boston for eight months, from April to December. Finally, taking advantage of bad weather and poor visibility in December 1814, Captain Stewart slipped past the enemy.
1815:
Feb. 20 -- Captain Charles Stewart had CONSTITUTION about 180 miles from Madeira Island when, on the afternoon of 20 February 1815, he came upon the British men-of-war CYANE and LEVANT. The one-against-two fight began as the sun was setting. By adept sail handling, Stewart swiftly closed on CYANE and almost completely destroyed her masts and rigging. Then he blasted LEVANT enough to put her out of action for a while during which time he closed again on CYANE and forced her to surrender. After putting a prize crew in her, he turned his attention again to LEVANT, chasing her until she had no choice but to surrender. Stewart had 4 killed and 14 wounded. His two opponents had 35 dead and at least 42 wounded. He hoped to bring his two captures home, but ran into a British squadron that retook LEVANT while CONSTITUTION and CYANE returned safely to New York. HMS CYANE later became USS CYANE. Captain Stewart received a gold medal from Congress.
Captain Stewart, having learned that the war was over, sailed for home and anchored CONSTITUTION in New York on May 15, 1815. Her war service had ended but she had played a truly glorious part in establishing our freedom of the seas.
1815-1821:
Laid up in ordinary at the Boston Navy Yard.
1821-1828:
Served as flagship of the Navy's Mediterranean squadron, under command of Capt. Jacob Jones. During this tour of duty she was visited by the English poet Lord Byron. She returned to the U.S. once during this period, in 1824, to refit and change crews.
1828-1830:
Laid up at Boston. During this time the Navy requested the Navy Yard Commanders conduct surveys on all ships laid up in ordinary -- which included "Old Ironsides" -- to determine how much work would need to be done to bring the ships into commission. This information reached a local publication and it was misreported that the Navy wanted to scrap "Old Ironsides". Immediately after that a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes , called Old Ironsides, was written to generate public support for "Old Ironsides." In response to an outcry of public support for preserving her, the Navy paid to refurbish CONSTITUTION.
1833-1834:
She became the first ship to enter the John Quincy Adams Drydock at the former Boston Navy Yard. This drydock also has the distinction of having CONSTITUTION as the last ship to be overhauled within her walls in 1992 - 1995.
1834:
CONSTITUTION became embroiled in a political controversy over the installation of a new figurehead depicting President Andrew Jackson. Her original figurehead, representing Hercules, was lost in a collision during the Barbary wars. Jackson was widely hated in Boston at the time, and feelings ran so high that the commandant of the Boston Navy Yard even had his life threatened. Despite an armed guard, a merchant skipper managed, under cover of a violent thunderstorm, to row across Boston Harbor and decapitate the Jackson figurehead. The man personally returned the head to the Secretary of the Navy six months later. The mutilated figurehead was repaired, and graced the CONSTITUTION's bow for some 40 years thereafter.
1835-1838:
Served as flagship of the Mediterranean squadron.
1839-1841:
Served as flagship of the Pacific squadron.
1842-1843:
Served as flagship of the Home squadron.
1844-1851:
Circumnavigated the globe 1844-1846, under Captain John "Mad Jack" Percival, sailing 52,279 miles in 495 days at sea.
In 1849, Pope Pius IX visited the ship in Gaeta, Italy; the first Pontiff to step on U.S. territory.
1851-1852:
Laid up at New York.
1853-1855:
She sails for the last time as flagship of the African Squadron. Also patrolled the West African coast looking for slave traders.
1855-1860:
Laid up at the Navy Yard in Portsmouth, N.H., for conversion into a training ship.
1860:
August 1 -- Began decade-long stint as a school ship at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.
1861:
April 21 -- Following threats to her safety upon the outbreak of the Civil War, the Navy ordered the CONSTITUTION towed to New York. As preparations were being made for her departure, a regiment of Massachusetts volunteers arrived in the harbor aboard the steamer Maryland. Three companies of soldiers, including many from Marblehead, were placed on board the CONSTITUTION to help get her under way. Unfortunately, both the CONSTITUTION and the MARYLAND, which was acting as a tow ship, ran aground in bad weather. In the darkness, and after some difficulty, the CONSTITUTION was towed by a third ship, the steamer BOSTON, to safety in deep water. On April 26 she left on the three-day trip to New York under tow by the steamer R.R. CUYLER.
1861-1865:
Transferred to Newport, R.I., with the rest of the Naval Academy, where she resumed her duty as a training ship for the duration of the Civil War.
1865:
Moved back to Annapolis with the Naval Academy after the end of the war. During the voyage she proved faster than her tug and was allowed to continue alone and under sail. At one point, despite her age, she was recorded running at 13.5 knots.
1871-1877:
In 1871, after it was determined she was in critical need of repair, she was sent to the U.S. Navy Yard in Philadelphia for extensive restoration. Plans were made to have her restored for the 1876 exhibition in Philadelphia, however work delays missed this deadline.
1877-1878:
Served as a training ship at Philadelphia yard.
1878-1879:
Last cruise in foreign waters. She carried the American exhibits for the Paris Exposition, docking in Le Havre, France. She stayed in Le Havre for nine months waiting to carry the exhibits back to the U.S.
1879
January 16 -- While returning from France, ran aground off Swanage, England. A British tug pulled her free.
1879:
May 24 -- Arrived home in New York.
1879-1881:
Sailed Atlantic from West Indies to Nova Scotia as a training ship for apprentices. This was the end of her career on the high seas.
1882-1897:
Laid up at the U.S. Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N.H., serving as receiving ship. A barracks was built on top of her hull. Some repairs are made before she is transferred to Boston.
1897:
Arrived at Navy Yard, Boston, prior to her 100th birthday. This was brought about in part because of the efforts of Massachusetts Congressman John F. Fitzgerald, grandfather of President John F. Kennedy.
1897-1900:
On exhibition at the U.S. Navy Yard, Boston.
1900:
Feb. 14 -- Congress authorizes repairs to restore CONSTITUTION's hull and rigging to the condition it had been in when it was on active duty.
1907:
Repairs completed to include removing the barracks-like structure from her main deck, and replacing her rigging, spars, masts and some woodwork. Also, she is outfitted with replica guns in preparation for being opened to the public as a national monument.
1925-1927:
A "Pennies Campaign" for funds and material is begun -- the initiative of the Secretary of the Navy, Curtis Wilbur. Numerous patriotic organizations and the nation's children respond by contributing over a hundred thousand dollars, much of it in pennies. US Navy Sailors, Marines and Coast Guard donate $31,000.
1927:
June 16 -- Docked for complete reconstruction in the same dock she was the first to enter, June 24, 1833.
1927-1930:
During an extensive restoration period, much decayed timber is replaced and the interior of the hull given extensive additional support.
1930:
March 16 -- CONSTITUTION is floated out of drydock, her repairs nearly completed.
1931:
July 2 -- CONSTITUTION leaves Boston for the first time in half a century for a goodwill tour of ports on the New England coast. Due to her overwhelming popularity, she continues the tour to include the West coast.
1931-1934:
Under Commander Louis J. Gulliver she visits 90 ports and welcomes more than 4.5 million visitors -- 2 million in California alone. The tour takes her as far north as Bar Harbor, Maine, and Bellingham, Wash., and as far south as the Panama Canal. She is towed the by the minesweeper USS GREBE (and the BUSHNELL).
1934:
May 7 -- CONSTITUTION returns to Boston, where she has been ever since and begins duty as America's Ship representing our proud Naval heritage and those who fought so gallantly to preserve America's freedom.
1954
.
23 July -- An act is passed (Public Law 83-523) that states in part, "The Secretary of the Navy is authorized to repair, equip, and restore the United States Ship CONSTITUTION, as far as may be practicable, to her original condition, but not for active service, and thereafter to maintain the United States Ship CONSTITUTION at Boston, Massachusetts."
1992:
Sept. 25 -- Drydocked at the Old Navy Yard in Boston for a major repair that was completed in 1997.
1995:
Sept. 26 -- Floated out of the drydock.
1997:
July 21-- CONSTITUTION sails for the first time in 116 years. The sail was conducted just outside Boston Harbor under the command of Commander Michael C. Beck. The sail complement was six.October 21 -- CONSTITUTION celebrates her Bicentennial. The crewmembers parade from CONSTITUTION's 'birthplace' (Coast Guard Integrated Support Command) to the Old South Meeting House.
1998:
.
July 21 - 23 -- Naval vessels and tall ships from around the world come to Boston Harbor and honor CONSTITUTION during her bicentennial. The Deputy Secretary of Defense breaks his flag in "Old Ironsides" and returns the salute from visiting warships. The ship receives a blessing, and a wreath is laid at the grave site of CONSTITUTION's first commanding officer, Samuel Nicholson, at Old North Church.
2000:
.
On 11 July, CONSTITUTION leads a "Parade of Sail" of over 120 tall ships into Boston Harbor with four sails set as part of SAIL BOSTON 2000.CONSTITUTION and the USS CONSTITUTION Museum launch a collaborative educational outreach program entitled, "Old Ironsides Across the Nation," to bring the Constitution story to citizens throughout the Nation over the next six years.
Aye, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky; Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannons roar;
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more!
Her decks, once red with heroes blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying oer the flood,
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victors tread
Or know the conquered knee;
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea! Oh, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!
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The U. S. Constitution
