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Afloat
Constitution is the oldest naval vessel still afloat
USS Constitution was launched in 1797, one of six original frigates authorized by the Naval Act of 1794. Joshua Humphreys designed the frigates to be the young Navy's capital ships. She was built at Edmund Hartt's shipyard in the North End of Boston.
The hull
Her hull was 21 inches thick and took 60 acres of trees
Humphreys' design was deep, long on keel, narrow of beam and mounted very heavy guns. The hull was built 21 inches thick. Paul Revere later supplied the copper sheets for her hull, in a job that took 14 days.
60 acresof trees needed for her construction
Ironsides
She beat HMS Guerriere in 1812 and became Old Ironsides
Captain Isaac Hull maneuvered Constitution to within 25 yards of Guerriere. A sailor reportedly said her sides were made of iron, and she acquired her nickname. Guerriere was so badly damaged that Hull ordered her burned the next morning.
A poem
A false report of scrapping in 1830 brought a poem to her defense
On 14 September 1830 the Boston Advertiser claimed, erroneously, that the Navy intended to scrap her. Two days later it published the poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes. It ignited public indignation and efforts to save her.
Today
She sailed under her own power in 1997 and again in 2012
Retired from active service in 1881, she was designated a museum ship in 1907. She is a fully commissioned Navy ship with a crew of 75 officers and sailors, usually berthed at the former Charlestown Navy Yard.
75officers and sailors in her active-duty crew
Day 2, afternoon
It comes after Old North Church. Then Rose Kennedy Greenway.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article USS Constitution, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.