October 21, 2015
218 Years Ago Today
U.S.S. Constitution was launched.
Built to fight the Barbary Pirates (yes our first war was against Islamists) the ship distinguished herself in that war as well as the War of 1812, where the ship defeated HMShips Guerriere, Java, Pictou, Cyane, and Levant and in the process earned the nickname "Old Ironsides".
Saved from the breakers by public outcry, the ship served for nearly a hundred years, circumnavigating the world, fighting pirates and slavers, serving as a a school ship, carrying out various diplomatic duties, and on occasion even supporting archeological and oceanographic expeditions. In 1874 she carried the US delegation and display to that year's Paris World's Fair.
After a spell as an accommodation hulk, the ship was restored as a museum ship in the early 1900's and is moored in Boston harbor, the oldest commissioned warship afloat.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
08:33 AM
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Also the first US territory visited by a pope.
It was super cool to visit it in Boston. Reading a lot of Napoleonic sea stuff beforehand will help a lot.
It was super cool to visit it in Boston. Reading a lot of Napoleonic sea stuff beforehand will help a lot.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Wed Oct 21 17:47:23 2015 (ZJVQ5)
2
Right now she's in dry dock. If you go into the USS Constitution Museum immediately adjacent to the dry dock, you can put your signature on one of the new copper plates that will be replacing the old ones on her hull.
Posted by: thornharp at Thu Oct 22 20:39:32 2015 (nuTMQ)
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