USS Constitution

USS Constitution

Ship data flag  United States Ship type frigate Launch October 10, 1797 Commissioning July 22, 1798 Whereabouts Museum ship ( Boston )

Ship dimensions and crew length 62 m ( Lüa ) 53 m ( KWL ) width 13.3 m Draft Max. 7.0 m displacement 2,200 tons l.   crew 450 men

Rigging and rigging Rigging Full ship Number of masts 3 Sail area 3,968 m² Speed under sail Max. 13 kn (24 km / h)

Armament 24 × 32 pounder carronades 30 × 24 pounder cannons 1 × 18 pounder hunting gun

The USS Constitution ( English for Constitution is) a frigate of the US Navy . She is the oldest seaworthy warship in the world and, after the HMS Victory, the second oldest still in service. Their nickname Old Ironsides goes back to the battle with the British frigate Guerriere in 1812, because projectiles from this ship are said to have ricocheted off the strong hulls of the Constitution . In particular, three victories of the Constitution against British warships in the war of 1812 established the great national importance of the frigate for the United States .

history

Design, construction and launch 1794–1797

Launch of the Constitution in 1797

The Constitution was one of six frigates built under the Naval Act of 1794. The main reason for the development of naval forces was the threat to the American merchant fleet from privateers of the barbarian states . Three of the intended warships, the Constitution , the President and the United States , were built as nominal 44-gun frigates. They were significantly larger, more heavily built and more heavily armed than European ships of this category. The main armament of the standard frigates of the British and French navies was mostly twenty-eight 18-pounder cannons, while the Constitution was armed with thirty 24-pounders. The concept of oversized frigates met with some resistance within the US Navy, not least because of the enormous costs, but proved its justification at the latest through the successes in the war of 1812.

The designers Joshua Humphreys, William Doughty and Josiah Fox were involved in drafting the Constitution . The ship was built at Edmund Hartt's shipyard in Boston , Massachusetts . The keel laying of the Constitution took place on November 1, 1794. At that time, the construction was supervised by Captain Samuel Nicholson and the shipbuilder George Claghorn.

The hull was mainly made of oak, parts of the planking of the sides and decks were also made of pine. Particular attention was paid to the fact that a number of the structurally most important woods were made from the particularly dense and solid Virginia oak , which had to be brought in time-consuming from Gascoigne Bluff in St. Simons, Georgia . The board sides of the Constitution reached a thickness of up to 53 cm. A total of over 24  hectares of forest were cut down for the construction of the ship, with 2,000 Virginia oaks alone being used for the constitution .

Plans of the USS Constitution: Above: exterior profile and plan of the rigging. (1817) Bottom: Modern construction view of the internal structure of the USS Constitution (1992)

An important advancement over British frigates was the creation of a practically continuous upper deck. In British frigates, the aft deck and forecastle were connected by narrow gangways on the ship's sides. In the larger American frigates, the gangways over the Kuhl were widened so that only an opening about half the width of the ship remained in the middle. The savings deck had the advantage that the crews on the battery deck were better protected from falling debris from the rigging. In addition, guns could be set up on the widened area. The draft Constitution class had there portholes , but a list of guns there, it was only temporary because even the great 44er could not carry permanently a quantity of guns. In the war of 1812, the gun ports on the upper deck between the fore and main mast of all three of the large US frigates disappeared.

The longitudinal strength of the hull posed a particular challenge for the Constitution , one of the largest frigates of its time. The Constitution was as long as a contemporary 74-gun ship of the line, but had one deck less, the length of the hull against the long one "Hogging" (hanging down of the ends) occurring in wooden hulls could have stabilized. As a countermeasure, two pairs of shear sticks were prescribed on each deck , whereas otherwise only one was usual for frigates. In addition, at the suggestion of Joshua Humphreys, diagonal struts (diagonal riders) were installed in the space of the ship (the place between the lower deck and the floor). However, these diagonal struts do not seem to have shown the desired effect and were soon removed again.

To protect the underwater hull from vegetation and drilling mussels , the Constitution was given copper fittings of the type that had been in use since around 1780. The copper sheet for this was imported from Great Britain.

The frigate was to be launched on September 20, 1797. The hull moved only 8.2 m towards the water and then got stuck. The second attempt two days later brought another 9.4 m. Only after the ramp had been renewed could the constitution finally expire on October 21, 1797 in the Boston harbor basin. The frigate was christened by Captain James Sever by breaking a bottle of Madeira on the bowsprit.

Quasi-war against France

Although France had been the colonies' main ally against Great Britain during the American Revolution , American merchant ships increasingly fell victim to French privateers in the late 1790s. The new American frigates were therefore used to protect the trade routes and to combat the French privateers. The Constitution was first put into service in July 1798 under Captain Samuel Nicholson. On September 8th she met the privateer Niger (24 cannons) and brought it up. Although the crew indicated they were fighting Napoleonic France under British protection, they were chained on Nicholson's orders. It later emerged that the Niger had actually operated under the British flag, whereupon the US government released the ship and crew and paid the British $ 11,000 in compensation. On January 15, 1799, the Constitution stopped the merchant ship Spencer . It turned out to be a British ship that had been captured by the French frigate Insurgente and was now sailing with a French prize crew. Since Nicholson believed that, according to the orders given to him, he could only attack French ships or recaptured American merchant ships, he let the French sail on the next day with their prize . This wrong decision probably contributed to Nicholson's being replaced by Captain Silas Talbot in June 1799. During the war with France, the Constitution succeeded in retaking some US ships and on May 11, 1800, to capture the French privateer Sandwich .

First barbarian war 1803

Attack of the US Navy on Tripoli 1804 (the Constitution can be seen in the foreground)

In 1803, under Captain Edward Preble , the Constitution became the flagship of the Mediterranean squadron that fought against the barbarian states of North Africa. These states took a toll on American ships in return for the latter being allowed to call at Mediterranean ports.

Campaign against Tripoli and Loss of Philadelphia

In 1803, Commodore Edward Preble began a campaign against Tripoli . He blocked ports, shot at fortifications and attacked enemy ships. On October 31, the American frigate Philadelphia was lost when it ran aground off Tripoli while trying to locate an enemy ship. The ship had to surrender to enemy gunboats and was brought into the port of Tripoli with its crew of 300. Commodore Preble decided to have the Philadelphia burned by a boarding party in order not to leave the valuable warship in the hands of the enemy. On February 16, 1804, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur , in command of the schooner Enterprise , sailed into the port of Tripoli with a command of 65 men (crews from the Enterprise and some volunteers from the Constitution ) on board a captured enemy ketch . The Americans succeeded in boarding the Philadelphia , setting it on fire and escaping again without losses of their own.

Despite the destruction of the Philadelphia , the Americans, with the support of the government of Naples, managed to maintain their blockade. Under this pressure Tripoli saw itself induced to peace negotiations. On June 5, 1805, a peace treaty was signed on board the Constitution , after the crew of the Philadelphia had previously been released. On August 14, Tunis also approved a peace treaty of similar content.

The Constitution patrolled two years after the war along the North African coast, to monitor compliance with the contract terms. It returned to Boston for overhaul in 1807. Then in 1809 she became the flagship of the North Atlantic Squadron under Commodore John Rodgers.

The war of 1812

In the spring of 1812, relations with Great Britain deteriorated dramatically and the US Navy began preparing for the upcoming war. The declaration of war took place on June 20th. Captain Isaac Hull, who had been in command of the Constitution since 1810 , set sail without orders on July 12 to forestall a blockade in the port. He intended to join a squadron of five ships under the command of Commodore John Rodgers.

Persecution of the constitution by a British squadron in July 1812. Because of the weak wind, the leeward sails are set on both sides of all ships .

The Constitution sighted five ships off Egg Harbor, New Jersey , on July 17 . The following morning the lookout had established that it was a British squadron. This consisted of the ships Belvidera (36 cannons), Aeolus (32 cannons), Africa (64 cannons), Shannon (38 cannons) and the Guerriere (38 cannons) and had also sighted the Constitution . Captain Philip Broke, who commanded the squadron, immediately took up chase. The ships were in a doldrums, so Captain Hull launched boats to tow the US frigate out of range of the British cannons. The British ships imitated this maneuver and eventually the Shannon and Aeolus managed to get within range of the Constitution . However, the British captains did not open fire yet, fearing that the cannon recoil would slow down their ships. The Constitution crew, in turn, threw tons of cargo overboard to make the ship lighter and thus faster. Nevertheless, the enemy ships came closer and closer and Captain Hull saw no alternative to the battle. It was first officer Charles Morris who saved the Constitution by proposing to Hull that the ship be accelerated with the help of warp anchors deployed through the dinghies . At the same time, he recommended that the sails be moistened in order to still be able to use the slightest breath of air. In the meantime, the British had started to shoot at the Constitution , whereupon the Americans returned fire with previously installed guns at the stern of the ship. Morris' advice was put into practice, which enabled the US frigate to further increase the distance from her pursuers. After about 60 hours of hunting, the Constitution escaped.

Battle of the Constitution against the Guerriere

The Constitution in the fight against the Guerriere on August 19, 1812

On August 19, she met one of her pursuers off the coast of Nova Scotia again - the Guerriere , a 38-gun frigate under the command of James Richard Dacres. The Guerriere had written "Not the Little Belt" on one of its sails . The British recalled the President's attack on the far inferior Sloop Little Belt shortly before the start of the war.

The British ship fired the first shot of the battle. Captain Hull, who was speculating on a pirate attempt by the British, let the guerriere come within 23 m before he fired a full broadside at the ship. During an unsuccessful sailing maneuver, the two ships temporarily hooked each other, which gave the Americans another advantage in the battle. Within 20 minutes, the Guerriere was so badly damaged by gunfire from the Constitution that it was no longer worth bringing it into a port. It was the first time in almost a decade that a British frigate had to take down the flag in a one-on-one battle in front of the enemy, which caused a sensation across the borders of the United States and Great Britain. The American public noted with particular satisfaction that the Guerriere of all things was destroyed by a US ship. The British ship had been known to force American sailors off their ships and force them to serve in the Royal Navy. The so-called "impressions" of American seamen for the Royal Navy served the United States as one of the main arguments for declaring war on Great Britain.

Battle of the Constitution against the Java

Skirmish between Constitution and Java on December 29, 1812

In order to disrupt British whaling and other trade in the South Pacific, the Constitution was ordered to meet the Essex on the Brazilian coast at the end of 1812 under the command of Commodore William Bainbridge, together with the Sloop Hornet . The goal was to sail around Cape Horn in order to then operate together against the British.

Port view of the frigate

However , on December 29, the Constitution met the British 38-gun frigate Java under the experienced captain Henry Lambert in front of the Brazilian coastal city of Salvador da Bahia . The ship was of French origin and known for its excellent sailing characteristics. However, a significant part of the crew consisted of little experienced and in some cases newly recruited seafarers. The main armament of the Java consisted of 18 pounders. She was on her way to India and loaded building materials for ships. She also had sailors destined for other ships, as well as the future governor Thomas Hislop and his staff on board.

The Java was able to catch up quickly with the constitution and put it into action at around 2 p.m. A short time later, a broadside of the British destroyed the steering wheel of the Constitution and made it temporarily unable to maneuver. The Java tried to take advantage of this advantage and positioned itself behind the constitution in order to be able to brush it with a broadside into the unprotected stern. However, the fire had little effect because not all of their guns could fire. Since sailing ships at that time could be steered with relatively little effort via the tiller below deck, Bainbridge was able to quickly regain control of his ship after he had ordered some men to the steering gear.

The Constitution was thus able to continue the battle and subsequently dismast and defeat the British frigate with heavy broadsides from its 24-pounders. After the Constitution withdrew for repairs, it turned and waited out of range of the British cannons. The Java had been irreparably damaged by the more than three-hour battle, like the Guerriere before. The British had to realize that a continuation of the fight had become hopeless and so the Java struck off the flag at around 5:30 p.m. Their losses amounted to 22 dead and 102 wounded, including Captain Lambert, who died a few days later from his injuries. The Constitution had 14 dead and 20 wounded, including Commodore Bainbridge.

The Americans kept only the wheel of the Java as a replacement for their own, which was shot in the battle, and sank the frigate. The damage to the Constitution forced Bainbridge to return to Boston early, but the recent victory of Old Ironsides against a Royal Navy ship led to the ship becoming an American icon. The British Admiralty responded to what is now the third loss of one of its 38 frigates in this war with a ban on attacking the American heavy frigates. Exceptions were ships of the line and superior squadrons.

1813-1814

After their return, the Constitution was inactive for a long time, partly because of repairs and partly because of British blockades. Nevertheless, she managed to capture or destroy another four British ships, including the 16-gun schooner Pictou .

Battle of the Constitution against Cyane and Levant

On December 18, 1814, Captain Stewart succeeded in getting the Constitution through the British blockade of Boston. It was the only frigate in the US Navy that could still operate against the British at the time. Meanwhile, a peace treaty was emerging between Great Britain and the United States. On December 24, 1814, a peace treaty was signed in Ghent by the USA and Great Britain, but the ratification of the treaty by the US Congress was still pending. In December, the Constitution hijacked the British merchant ship Lord Nelson . When the Constitution was near the Canary Islands on February 8, Captain Stewart received news of an impending peace treaty from two ships. On the 16th, the British merchant ship Susanna was captured.

On February 20, the Constitution was about 180 nautical miles east-northeast of Madeira when two ships were sighted. It was the British warships Cyane (22 guns) and Levant (20 guns), which acted as rearguard for two British convoys. With their armament consisting almost exclusively of carronades , the two ships could fire a higher weight of cannonballs than the Constitution , but they did not have the range and penetration of the American frigate's 24-pounder cannons. This enabled the Constitution to open the battle from a safe distance. Cyane and Levant responded to the US frigate's attack with a series of broadsides. But Stewart's skillful maneuvering prevented the British ships from bringing their at least theoretical 2: 1 superiority to fruition. The Constitution succeeded practically at the same time in forcing the Cyane to surrender and seriously damaging the Levant . After Stewart sent a prize crew to the Cyane , he took up the fight with the Levant again . Despite hopeless inferiority, the British ship surrendered to the Constitution , but was forced to surrender by two broadsides and also taken as a prize. Both ships were made seaworthy again by the Americans with the help of the British prisoners.

The Constitution 1858 after repair work in Navy Yards, Portsmouth, NH

On the way home, the Constitution and its British prizes were surprised by a superior British squadron near the Cape Verde Islands . It consisted of Acasta , Leander and Newcastle under the command of Sir George Colliers. Leander and Newcastle were each artillery equal to the Constitution , for the two ships had been built by the British specifically as a response to the great American frigates. However, due to the uncoordinated behavior of the pursuers, Constitution and Cyane were able to escape; only the Levant was recaptured by the British. Cyane and Constitution reached the United States on April 10 and May 15, 1815, respectively.

The Constitution and Stewart were celebrated upon their return, and the National Intelligencer suggested that the ship be preserved, “not as a sheer hulk, in ordinary (for she is no ordinary vessel): but, in honorable pomp as a glorious Monument of her own, and our other Naval Victories ”.

Significance of the events of war for the United States and Great Britain

The victories of the Constitution and the other American ships over the British during the War of 1812 had greater moral than military significance, both for the Americans and the British. Before the British defeats in the famous frigate duels of that war, the Royal Navy had something like the aura of invincibility that was lost with the victories of the Constitution and the other American ships. The string of unexpected failures sparked controversy in Britain over the Royal Navy and its ships. Despite the great propaganda effect, however, the American victories could not endanger the great numerical preponderance of the British. However, the British were damaged on an economic and logistical level, as the Royal Navy was now forced to drastically increase its presence overseas, as the US Navy and allied pirate ships managed to arrest hundreds of British merchant ships. Domestically, the British Prime Minister Liverpool , who had come under severe pressure, felt compelled to undertake extensive fleet reform after the end of the war.

1815 until today

After six years of repairs and reserve status, the Constitution was reactivated in 1821 and served as the flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron under Captain Jacob Jones. In 1828 she returned to Boston.

The 2005 Constitution in Boston

After an inspection in 1830, the ship was classified as unfit for sea service. The American public was very angry about the decision to scrap it, especially after the publication of the poem "Old Ironsides" by Oliver Wendell Holmes . In response to the protest, Congress provided funds to repair the ship. In 1835 it was put back into service, brought the American envoy to France and then served under Commodore Jesse D. Elliot as the flagship of the Mediterranean squadron and from 1839 under Commodore Alexander Claxton in the Pacific.

1844-1846 undertook the Constitution under the command of Captain "Mad Jack" John Percival a circumnavigation. During this, a fever epidemic broke out on board in 1845, which killed several crew members. This forced Captain Percival to head for Singapore . Once there, Commodore Henry Ducie Chads, Commander of the Cambrian , visited the Constitution and offered medical assistance to the US frigate. It was the same Chads who, 33 years earlier , had surrendered as a lieutenant in place of the seriously injured Captain Henry Lambert with the Java before the Constitution . Subsequently, on May 10, 1845, under Percival , the Constitution attempted to liberate the French missionary Dominique Lefèbvre in Huế in the Empire of Vietnam through a landing operation and the establishment of three Vietnamese junks , but this failed.

Following the circumnavigation of the world, the Constitution was the flagship of the Mediterranean and Africa squadrons.

In the 1850s, she patrolled the African coast looking for slave ships. In 1851 the frigate returned to America and was laid up in New York for two years, from 1853 to 1855 she was again the flagship of the Mediterranean and Africa Squadron, then her active service was over and she was repaired until 1858.

During the American Civil War NCOs were trained on it at sea. Then she served mostly as a training ship for midshipmen until 1878 .

In 1878 the Constitution sailed to Le Havre to bring the American exhibits to the World Exhibition in Paris. The ship stayed there for nine months and then transported the exhibits back. During the return transport, the Constitution ran aground on January 17, 1879 due to negligent seamanship . With the help of her former adversary, the Royal Navy, she was rescued from her predicament and dragged to Portsmouth . From there, after minor repairs, she set sail for the USA on February 13th.

After returning, the ship continued to serve as a training ship until it was decommissioned. The frigate was then laid up, rigged and a roof along its entire length in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The 1995 Constitution in dry dock

In 1905, public opinion again saved the Constitution from scrapping; In 1925 it was repaired with donations from school children and patriotic associations. The Constitution was put back into service on July 1, 1931 and undertook a tour to 90 port cities along the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts of the United States in tow of the minesweeper Grepe and the tender Bushnell .

During these three years it was visited by 4.6 million people. This secured her position as an American icon and returned to her home port of Boston. The Minister of the Navy has been responsible for their upkeep since 1954. The Constitution is moored in the former Boston Navy Yard in the Boston borough of Charlestown . It is open to visitors. In December 1960, the frigate was granted National Historic Landmark status.

The Constitution fires a 21-gun salute (2006).

On July 21, 1997, as part of its 200th anniversary , the Constitution set sail for the first time in over 100 years. She was towed to Marblehead from her usual berth in Boston and then set six sails. She then drove unaided for over an hour. Eventually she fired a 21 round salute.

The 1997 Constitution under sails

During the Boston Sailing Festival on July 11, 2000, she led a regatta of 120 ships.

Extensive repairs were carried out on the ship from October 2007 to November 2010. Among other things, the deck was renewed and planks replaced on the hull. The bulwark was also reduced in size to come closer to the original condition from 1812. The cost of the overhaul was around $ 12 million. On August 19, 2012 the Constitution set sail under its own sails for the first time since 1997 to commemorate the victory against the Guerriere exactly 200 years ago.

Today the Constitution serves as a "ship of state" for receptions and official events. Your mission is to represent the US Navy in front of millions of visitors each year. The crew of 55 seafarers takes part in ceremonies, courses and special occasions. To do this, she keeps the ship open to visitors and organizes tours. The crew is made up of active marines and service on board is considered a special honor. Traditionally, the duty captain is an active commander in the US Navy.

Prizes of the Constitution 1798–1853

In the course of their long active service, the Constitution was able to raise the following ships as prizes:

Date of capture	Ship name	nationality	Other / function	Type
September 8, 1798	Niger	Great Britain	Kaperschiff (French royalists with British license)	Sloop
March 27, 1799	Neutrality	France	k. A.	More beautiful
April 3, 1799	Carteret	France	Cargo ship	k. A.
September 15, 1799	Amelia	France	k. A.	k. A.
February 1, 1800	Swift	United States	Merchant ship	k. A.
May 8, 1800	Ester	France	privateer	More beautiful
May 8, 1800	Nymph	France	k. A.	k. A.
May 9, 1800	Sally	United States	Merchant ship	Sloop
May 11, 1800	sandwich	France	privateer	k. A.
September 11, 1804	(no ship name known)	Ottoman Empire	Blockade ship	brig
September 11, 1804	(no ship name known)	Ottoman Empire	Blockade ship	brig
April 24, 1805	(no ship name known)	Ottoman Empire	k. A.	Schebeck
April 24, 1805	(no ship name known)	Ottoman Empire	k. A.	k. A.
April 24, 1805	(no ship name known)	Ottoman Empire	k. A.	k. A.
May 1810	Golconda	United States	Merchant ship	k. A.
May 1810	rose	United States	Merchant ship	k. A.
August 10, 1812	Lady Warren	Great Britain	evacuated and sunk	brig
August 11, 1812	Adiona	Great Britain	k. A.	brig
August 15, 1812	Adelina	Great Britain	k. A.	brig
August 15, 1812	Adelaide	Great Britain	k. A.	brig
August 19, 1812	Guerriere	Great Britain	Warship (evacuated and sunk)	frigate
November 9, 1812	South carolina	United States	American ship with British license	brig
December 29, 1812	Java	Great Britain	Warship (evacuated and sunk)	frigate
February 14, 1814	Lovely Ann	Great Britain	Cargo ship (taken as a prize)	k. A.
February 14, 1814	HMS Pictou	Great Britain	Warship (evacuated and sunk)	More beautiful
February 17, 1814	Phoenix	Great Britain	k. A.	More beautiful
February 19, 1814	Catherine	Great Britain	k. A.	brig
December 24, 1814	Lord Nelson	Great Britain	Merchant ship	brig
February 18, 1815	Susanna	Great Britain	Merchant ship (taken as a prize)	k. A.
February 20, 1815	Cyane	Great Britain	Warship (adopted into the US Navy )	frigate
February 20, 1815	Levant	Great Britain	Warship (retaken from the British)	Sloop of War
May 15, 1845	(no ship name known)	Empire of Vietnam	released again	junk
May 15, 1845	(no ship name known)	Empire of Vietnam	released again	junk
May 15, 1845	(no ship name known)	Empire of Vietnam	released again	junk
November 3, 1853	HN Gambrill	United States	Slave ship	More beautiful

legacy

150 years of USS Constitution : American postage stamp from 1947

The US 1st Armored Division chose its official nickname Old Ironsides after that of the Constitution .

In Patrick O'Brian's novel Cannons on the High Seas (original title Fortune of War ) there is a sequence of the Constitution's battle against the Java paired with fictional elements .

In the film Master & Commander - To the End of the World , which is based on another novel by O'Brian, the Constitution served as a template for the fictional French privateer Acheron .

See also

• List of entries on the National Register of Historic Places in northern Boston
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Boston

literature

• Karl Heinz Marquardt: Anatomy of the Ship. The 44-Gun Frigate USS Constitution "Old Ironsides" . US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2005, ISBN 978-1-59114-250-8 (American English).
• Robert Gardiner (Ed.): The Naval War of 1812 . US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1998, ISBN 978-1-55750-654-2 (American English).
• Naval Documents Related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France . United States Government Printing Office , Washington DC 1935 (American English).
• Tyrone G. Martin: A Most Fortunate Ship . US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1997, ISBN 978-1-55750-588-0 (American English).
• Ian W. Toll: Six Frigates. The Epic History Of The Founding Of The US Navy . WW Norton & Co., New York 2006, ISBN 978-0-393-05847-5 (American English).
• Lutz Bunk: 50 classic ships. From Noah's Ark to Cap Anamur . Gerstenberg Gebrueder Verlag, Hildesheim 2004, ISBN 978-3-8067-2548-3 .
• Charles E Brodine, Jr., Michael J. Crawford, Christine F. Huges: Ironsides! The Ship, the Men and the Wars of the USS Constitution . Faith Pubn, 2007, ISBN 978-1-934757-14-7 (American English).
• Sidney E Dean: 223 years and not a bit quiet: USS Constitution - Look, guys, our pages are made of iron! . In: Schiff Classic , magazine for shipping and marine history eV of the DGSM , issue: 3/2020, pp. 72–77.

Web links

Commons : USS Constitution  - Collection of Images

• official website of the US Navy (English)
• www.uss-constitution.de - Topic page of the Line of Battle homepage ; Sea war against Napoleon
• Entry in the Naval Vessel Register
• Capture of the Niger (PDF; 25 kB)

Footnotes

1. ↑ Arming at the beginning of the War of 1812 under Hull. See Donald Canney, Sailing Warships of the US Navy, p. 32.
2. ↑ A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: US Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875. Library of Congress , accessed February 5, 2009 . 
3. ↑ In retrospect, the designation as a 44-gun frigate appears relatively arbitrary. Although only 44 cannons were actually provided in the original planning, the ships of the Constitution -class almost always carried more guns than this number. After the first missions in the quasi-war, the cannons on the upper deck were replaced by lighter, but large-caliber carronades . At the beginning of the war of 1812, the frigate had a total of 55 guns. One reason for the continued designation as 44 could have been the fact that British frigates carried more guns than their nominal designation suggested; a 38-gun frigate actually had 46 guns on board.
4. ↑ In addition to the main armament of both the European types and the Constitution, there were also guns on the aft deck and fore or upper deck, mostly carronades and two hunting cannons. European 18-pounder frigates mostly carried around 46 guns, the Constitution 54–56. For the counting of the cannons on English warships see also: Classification of warships .
5. ↑ During the first missions, the constitution did not prove to be outstanding. There were many problems with the rigging, violent movements in the sea and complaints about the great draft. See Donald Canney, Sailing Warships of the US Navy, pp. 30 f.
6. ↑ The diagonal struts installed during the 1990s are also shown in the drawing
7. ↑ See the sections on Constitution , President, and United States in Donald Canney, Sailing Warships of the US Navy.
8. ^ Ian W. Toll: Six Frigates. The Epic History Of The Founding Of The US Navy . WW Norton & Co., New York 2006, p. 176 (American English).
9. ↑ Ira N. Hollis: The Frigate Constitution. In: The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals: The Atlantic monthly. American Memory, accessed February 5, 2009 (American English, Volume 80, Issue 481, November 1897). 
10. ^ John Reilly: Christening, Launching, and Commissioning of US Navy Ships. Naval Historical Center, May 31, 2001, accessed February 5, 2009 . 
11. ^ Martin :: A Most Fortunate Ship . Pp. 25–27 and p. 29.
12. ^ Martin :: A Most Fortunate Ship . Pp. 32-34.
13. ↑ Abbot 1896, Volume I, Part II, Chapter II
14. ^ Martin, A most Fortunate Ship, pp. 97f.
15. ^ Karl Heinz Marquardt: Anatomy of the Ship. The 44-Gun Frigate USS Constitution "Old Ironsides" . US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2006, p. 11/12 (American English).
16. ^ Ian W. Toll: Six Frigates. The Epic History Of The Founding Of The US Navy . WW Norton & Co., New York 2006, p. 173 (American English).
17. ^ Rosalie A. Cuticchia: Celebrating The History Of The USS Constitution. (No longer available online.) Marblehead Magazine, archived from the original on Nov. 28, 2011 ; Retrieved February 5, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
18. ^ Karl Heinz Marquardt: Anatomy of the Ship. The 44-Gun Frigate USS Constitution "Old Ironsides" . US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2006, p. 14 (American English).
19. ^ Ian W. Toll: Six Frigates. The Epic History Of The Founding Of The US Navy . WW Norton & Co., New York 2006, p. 346 (American English).
20. ↑ These impressions, however, were not carried out by Dacres, but by his predecessor.
21. ^ Walter R. Borneman: 1812: The War That Forged a Nation . Harper Collins, 2004, ISBN 978-0-06-053112-6 (American English).
22. ↑ CS Forester: The Age of Fighting Sail: The Story of the Naval War of 1812 . Chapman Billies Inc, 1956, ISBN 978-0-939218-06-6 (American English).
23. ^ Theodore Roosevelt: The Naval War of 1812 . Da Capo Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-306-80910-1 (American English).
24. ^ Tyrone G. Martin: A Most Fortunate Ship. A narrative History of Old Ironsides . Revised ed. US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2003, pp. 155-160 (American English).
25. ^ Robert Gardiner (Ed.): The Naval War of 1812 . Caxton Editions, London 2001, pp. 50-51 .
26. ↑ ^{a b c d} Robert Gardiner (Ed.): The Naval War of 1812 . Caxton Editions, London 2001, pp. 50 .
27. ^ William James: The Naval History of Great Britain, Vol. VI . S. 129 .
28. ^ Robert Gardiner (Ed.): The Naval War of 1812 . Caxton Editions., London 2001, pp. 51 .
29. ^ Tyrone G. Martin: A Most Fortunate Ship. A narrative History of Old Ironsides . Revised ed. US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2003, pp. 185/186 (American English).
30. ↑ Charles E Brodine, Jr./Michael J. Crawford / Christine F. Huges: Ironsides! The Ship, the Men and the Wars of the USS Constitution . Faith Pubn, 2007, p. 116 (American English).
31. ↑ The peace treaty was ratified by the Senate on February 16 and officially announced on the 18th.
32. ^ Martin, A Most Fortunage Ship, p. 206.
33. ^ Tyrone G. Martin: A Most Fortunate Ship. A narrative History of Old Ironsides . Revised ed. US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2003, pp. 220-223 (American English).
34. ^ Robert Gardiner (Ed.): The Naval War of 1812 . Caxton Editions, London 2001, ISBN 978-1-84067-360-9 , pp. 94-97 (English).
35. ^ Karl Heinz Marquardt: Anatomy of the Ship. The 44-Gun Frigate USS Constitution "Old Ironsides" . US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 2006, p. 16 (American English).
36. ^ Ian W. Toll: Six Frigates. The Epic History Of The Founding Of The US Navy . WW Norton & Co., New York 2006, p. 448-451 (American English).
37. ^ Ian W. Toll: Six Frigates. The Epic History Of The Founding Of The US Navy . WW Norton & Co., New York 2006, p. 451/452 (American English).
38. ^ Tyrone G. Martin: A Most Fortunate Ship. A narrative History of Old Ironsides . US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1997, p. 276 (American English).
39. ↑ USS Constitution Log March 25, 1844 - November 30, 1845. The National Archives, October 1989, accessed July 22, 2013 . 
40. ↑ Martin 1997, pp. 325-328
41. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Massachusetts. National Park Service , accessed August 10, 2019.
42. ↑ navytimes.com
43. ↑ CNN Wire Staff: 'Old Ironsides' sets sail in Massachusetts. CNN, August 20, 2012, accessed September 5, 2012 . 
44. ^ Tyrone G. Martin: A Most Fortunate Ship. A narrative History of Old Ironsides . US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1997 (American English).
45. ↑ Engagements and Prizes: USS Constitution. (No longer available online.) USS Constitution Museum, archived from the original on July 5, 2009 ; Retrieved February 5, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on February 8, 2009 .

Coordinates: 42 ° 22 ′ 19.5 ″  N , 71 ° 3 ′ 20.1 ″  W.