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IMAGE AND TEXT: Charlestown Navy Yard/USS Constitution
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IMAGE and TEXT: Charlestown Navy Yard/USS Constitution
DESCRIPTION: This photograph shows an elevated view of the USS Constitution which is berthed at the Charlestown Navy Yard. The port, or left side, of the ship is shown facing the visitor. The USS Constitution is a frigate that was built for the War of 1812. A frigate is a ship that is built for speed and maneuverability. The USS Constitution carried 54 cannon of various types for different kinds of fighting.
The USS Constitution is located in the center of this photo, floating in the Boston Harbor alongside Pier One. Where the ship meets the ocean water, there is a small glimpse of the copper sheathing around the hull, or main body of the ship. This protects it from rot and sea growth. The copper in the photo is still brown, not green. The ship itself is made of live oak, a very thick type of wood that is painted black for at least one deck. The gun deck, where the cannons of the ship are located, is painted white and has multiple openings for the cannons to fire out of. While only ten are visible, there are more on this side of the ship that are closed. The black paint is used again above these openings and up to the railing of the ship’s main deck. The main deck is difficult to see in this photograph because of the angle and the amount of items and people on it.
The USS Constitution has three masts that are located at the front, center, and back of the ship. The mast at the front of the ship is the Foremast. The second mast is the Mainmast and the third mast at the rear is the Mizzenmast. Each of these masts are painted white and are very tall. Extending at regular intervals from each of these masts are yards, which is a piece of horizontal wood from which the sails are set. Each mast has four yards, for a total of twelve on the ship. These yards begin about thirty feet off of the deck of the ship. There are lines, or rope, extending from the top of each mast down to the deck and also down to either the bow or the stern. This makes the ship look slightly like an organized, but messy knot of yarn.
The bow, or front of the ship, has a few items on it. From the water surface and up about three feet, it has white numbers painted onto it. These numbers help determine the depth of the water below the ship. Above that, extending from the hull and up the bow, there is a decorative black and white scroll. This is located in the place where a ship’s figurehead, a carved wooden decoration, would be. Above that, are the bowsprit, boom, and jib which extend about twenty feet from the main ship’s body at a forty five degree angle. These items are thinner than the masts but are what a number of the lines from the Foremast are attached to.
There is a small pier that is coming off of the port side near the rear of the ship which is the exit for visitors from the USS Constitution. The photograph shows many people walking along this wooden pier and down the gangway which has USS Constitution written on it. Behind the USS Constitution is Pier One and some of the buildings of the Charlestown Navy Yard. Pier One is made of grey concrete and is a wide open area in this photograph. The buildings are mostly obscured by the ship. In the distance are other buildings that are made of red brick and metal. The Boston Harbor is also shown in this photo and is a dark blue color. This photograph was taken on a sunny day with a few clouds in the sky.
CREDIT: NPS/James Higgins
RELATED TEXT: After the Revolution, citizens proved their willingness to defend their newfound freedom and economic independence by developing and supporting a navy. From eighteen hundred to 1974, Charlestown Navy Yard built, repaired, and outfitted US naval vessels. Today the yard is home to the USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, and the USS Constitution Museum. The USS Cassin Young, refitted and modernized in the yard’s drydock, represents the type of ship built here during World War Two.
Description
Audio description of relevant image and text for Charlestown Navy Yard/USS Constitution.
Duration
4 minutes, 15 seconds
Credit
UniDescription/Gould and Pollock
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