Okla-homey
8/19/2010, 07:01 AM
August 19, 1812, USS Constitution Earns Her Nickname:
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/3997/constit229ba.jpg
198 years ago on this day during the War of 1812, the U.S. Navy frigate USS Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere in a furious engagement off the coast of Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic. Witnesses claimed that the British shot merely bounced off Constitution's sides, as if the ship were made of iron rather than wood. By the war's end, "Old Ironsides" destroyed or captured seven more British ships. The success of USS Constitution against the supposedly invincible Royal Navy provided a tremendous boost in morale for the young American republic.
USS Constitution was one of six frigates that Congress requested be built in 1794 to help protect American merchant fleets from attacks by Barbary pirates and harassment by British and French forces. She was laid down in Boston, and the bolts fastening her timbers and copper hull sheathing were provided by the industrialist and patriot Paul Revere. Launched on October 21, 1797, USS Constitution was 204 feet long, displaced 2,200 tons, and was rated as a 44-gun frigate (although she often shipped as many as 50 guns).
http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/4859/constitutionpostersm8tt.jpg
More than a few men joined the Navy inspired by this popular recruiting poster featuring "Old Ironsides" widely used in the 1960's and 70's.
In July 1798 she put to sea with a crew of 450 and cruised the West Indies, protecting U.S. shipping from French privateers. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson ordered the American warship to the Mediterranean to fight Barbary pirates off the coast of Tripoli. Previously, maritime nations whose ships either transitted or called on ports in the southern Mediterranean, paid bribes to North African pirate lords in order to keep their merchant vessels safe from harm in that part of the world.
President Jefferson rightly decided the US would not abide such Tripolitan extortion and sent the Constitution task force, including a sizable detachment of US Marines, to communicate America's unwillingness to pay "protection" money to the Libyan warlords.
NOTE: It is not known if there were domestic protests by folks carrying signs and shouting "No Blood To Stop Barbary Bribes"
The task force performed commendably during the conflict, and in 1805 a peace treaty with Tripoli was signed on Constitution's quarterdeck.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/7748/ship8a0bu.jpg
Constitution squadron at "the shores of Tripoli" dealing with Arab piracy
When war broke out with Britain in June 1812, Constitution was commanded by Isaac Hull, who served as lieutenant on the ship during the Tripolitan War. Scarcely a month later, on July 16, Constitution encountered a squadron of five British ships off Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Finding herself surrounded and seriously outgunned, Constitution was preparing to escape when suddenly the wind died.
With both sides dead in the water and just out of gunnery range, a legendary slow-speed chase ensued. For 36 hours, Constitution's crew kept her just ahead of the British by towing the frigate with her oar powered longboats and by tossing the ship's anchor ahead of her and then reeling it in. At dawn on July 18, the wind freshened, and Constitution was far enough ahead of her pursuers to raise sail and show them her heels.
One month later, on August 19 1812, Constitution caught the British warship Guerriere alone about 600 miles east of Boston. The Royal Navy vessel bore a French name because she had earlier been taken as a prize of war from the hated French Navy, and ships were not customarily re-christened with new names when they changed ownership. After considerable maneuvering, Constitution delivered her first broadside, and for 20 minutes the American and British vessels blasted away at each other in close and violent action. The British man-of-war was de-masted and rendered a wreck while Constitution escaped with only minimal damage.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/8606/ladyluck8wj.jpg
USS Constitution v. HMS Guerriere, August 19, 1812
The unexpected victory of Old Ironsides against a British frigate helped unite America behind the war effort and made her skipper Commander Isaac Hull a national hero. USS Constitution went on to defeat or capture seven more British ships in the War of 1812 and ran the British blockade of Boston twice.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/1662/h544223xp.th.jpg (http://img386.imageshack.us/my.php?image=h544223xp.jpg)
Commemorative poster published around the centennial of Constitution's commissioning depicting significant actions and events in her logs. Commander Hull is in center. From the National Archives.
After the war, Old Ironsides served as the flagship of the navy's Mediterranean squadron and in 1828 was laid up in Boston. Two years later, the navy considered scrapping Constitution, which had become unseaworthy, leading to an outcry of public support for preserving the famous warship.
The navy refurbished Constitution, and she went on to serve as the flagship of the Mediterranean, Pacific, and Home squadrons. In 1844, the frigate left New York City on a global journey that included visits to numerous international ports as a goodwill agent of the United States.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/3640/graphi14wt.jpg
Painting depicts the moment when Pope Pius IX boarded Constitution off Gaeta, Italy, in August 1849. Because any commissioned warship is considered to be a piece of its nation's territory, this was the first time a pope set foot in America.
In the early 1850s, she served as flagship of the African Squadron and patrolled the West African coast looking for slave traders.
In 1855, USS Constitution was retired from active military service, but the famous vessel continued to serve the United States, first as a training ship and later as a touring national landmark. Since 1934, she has been based at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/7229/constitution10226va.jpg
From her berth at the historic Charlestown Navy Yard, Constitution's bow with Boston skyline in the background.
Over the years, Old Ironsides has enjoyed a number of restorations, the most recent of which was completed in 1997, allowing her to sail for the first time in 116 years. Today, USS Constitution is the world's oldest commissioned warship still afloat.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/4323/flyover2ma.jpg
Sailors on board the destroyer USS Ramage (DDG 61) man the rails while escorting USS Constitution, the world's oldest commissioned warship afloat underway in Massachusetts Bay in 1997 as the Navy's Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron fly over in salute.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/4279/stickereagleofsea0uz.jpg
for more info:
Official US Navy "USS Constitution" website (http://www.oldironsides.com)
Have a great weekend everyone. Respectfully submitted by Douglas C. Niedermeyer
http://img324.imageshack.us/img324/785/insane7zo6hp.jpg
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/3997/constit229ba.jpg
198 years ago on this day during the War of 1812, the U.S. Navy frigate USS Constitution defeated the British frigate HMS Guerriere in a furious engagement off the coast of Nova Scotia in the North Atlantic. Witnesses claimed that the British shot merely bounced off Constitution's sides, as if the ship were made of iron rather than wood. By the war's end, "Old Ironsides" destroyed or captured seven more British ships. The success of USS Constitution against the supposedly invincible Royal Navy provided a tremendous boost in morale for the young American republic.
USS Constitution was one of six frigates that Congress requested be built in 1794 to help protect American merchant fleets from attacks by Barbary pirates and harassment by British and French forces. She was laid down in Boston, and the bolts fastening her timbers and copper hull sheathing were provided by the industrialist and patriot Paul Revere. Launched on October 21, 1797, USS Constitution was 204 feet long, displaced 2,200 tons, and was rated as a 44-gun frigate (although she often shipped as many as 50 guns).
http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/4859/constitutionpostersm8tt.jpg
More than a few men joined the Navy inspired by this popular recruiting poster featuring "Old Ironsides" widely used in the 1960's and 70's.
In July 1798 she put to sea with a crew of 450 and cruised the West Indies, protecting U.S. shipping from French privateers. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson ordered the American warship to the Mediterranean to fight Barbary pirates off the coast of Tripoli. Previously, maritime nations whose ships either transitted or called on ports in the southern Mediterranean, paid bribes to North African pirate lords in order to keep their merchant vessels safe from harm in that part of the world.
President Jefferson rightly decided the US would not abide such Tripolitan extortion and sent the Constitution task force, including a sizable detachment of US Marines, to communicate America's unwillingness to pay "protection" money to the Libyan warlords.
NOTE: It is not known if there were domestic protests by folks carrying signs and shouting "No Blood To Stop Barbary Bribes"
The task force performed commendably during the conflict, and in 1805 a peace treaty with Tripoli was signed on Constitution's quarterdeck.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/7748/ship8a0bu.jpg
Constitution squadron at "the shores of Tripoli" dealing with Arab piracy
When war broke out with Britain in June 1812, Constitution was commanded by Isaac Hull, who served as lieutenant on the ship during the Tripolitan War. Scarcely a month later, on July 16, Constitution encountered a squadron of five British ships off Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Finding herself surrounded and seriously outgunned, Constitution was preparing to escape when suddenly the wind died.
With both sides dead in the water and just out of gunnery range, a legendary slow-speed chase ensued. For 36 hours, Constitution's crew kept her just ahead of the British by towing the frigate with her oar powered longboats and by tossing the ship's anchor ahead of her and then reeling it in. At dawn on July 18, the wind freshened, and Constitution was far enough ahead of her pursuers to raise sail and show them her heels.
One month later, on August 19 1812, Constitution caught the British warship Guerriere alone about 600 miles east of Boston. The Royal Navy vessel bore a French name because she had earlier been taken as a prize of war from the hated French Navy, and ships were not customarily re-christened with new names when they changed ownership. After considerable maneuvering, Constitution delivered her first broadside, and for 20 minutes the American and British vessels blasted away at each other in close and violent action. The British man-of-war was de-masted and rendered a wreck while Constitution escaped with only minimal damage.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/8606/ladyluck8wj.jpg
USS Constitution v. HMS Guerriere, August 19, 1812
The unexpected victory of Old Ironsides against a British frigate helped unite America behind the war effort and made her skipper Commander Isaac Hull a national hero. USS Constitution went on to defeat or capture seven more British ships in the War of 1812 and ran the British blockade of Boston twice.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/1662/h544223xp.th.jpg (http://img386.imageshack.us/my.php?image=h544223xp.jpg)
Commemorative poster published around the centennial of Constitution's commissioning depicting significant actions and events in her logs. Commander Hull is in center. From the National Archives.
After the war, Old Ironsides served as the flagship of the navy's Mediterranean squadron and in 1828 was laid up in Boston. Two years later, the navy considered scrapping Constitution, which had become unseaworthy, leading to an outcry of public support for preserving the famous warship.
The navy refurbished Constitution, and she went on to serve as the flagship of the Mediterranean, Pacific, and Home squadrons. In 1844, the frigate left New York City on a global journey that included visits to numerous international ports as a goodwill agent of the United States.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/3640/graphi14wt.jpg
Painting depicts the moment when Pope Pius IX boarded Constitution off Gaeta, Italy, in August 1849. Because any commissioned warship is considered to be a piece of its nation's territory, this was the first time a pope set foot in America.
In the early 1850s, she served as flagship of the African Squadron and patrolled the West African coast looking for slave traders.
In 1855, USS Constitution was retired from active military service, but the famous vessel continued to serve the United States, first as a training ship and later as a touring national landmark. Since 1934, she has been based at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/7229/constitution10226va.jpg
From her berth at the historic Charlestown Navy Yard, Constitution's bow with Boston skyline in the background.
Over the years, Old Ironsides has enjoyed a number of restorations, the most recent of which was completed in 1997, allowing her to sail for the first time in 116 years. Today, USS Constitution is the world's oldest commissioned warship still afloat.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/4323/flyover2ma.jpg
Sailors on board the destroyer USS Ramage (DDG 61) man the rails while escorting USS Constitution, the world's oldest commissioned warship afloat underway in Massachusetts Bay in 1997 as the Navy's Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron fly over in salute.
http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/4279/stickereagleofsea0uz.jpg
for more info:
Official US Navy "USS Constitution" website (http://www.oldironsides.com)
Have a great weekend everyone. Respectfully submitted by Douglas C. Niedermeyer
http://img324.imageshack.us/img324/785/insane7zo6hp.jpg