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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings

	U.S.S. CONSTITUTION part of Boston National Historical Park Massachusetts
Suffolk County, in Charlestown Navy Yard, part of Boston National Historical Park, Boston. U.S.S. Constitution

Ownership and Administration. U.S. Government; Department of Defense; managed in cooperation with the National Park Service.

Significance. Like the Constellation, the reconstructed Constitution, or "Old Ironsides," is a stirring symbol of the early years of the U.S. Navy and the great age of fighting sail. The two ships, both extensively modified during their years of service, are the oldest surviving naval ships. The Constitution was the last of three frigates, whose construction had begun in 1794, to be launched, at Boston, on September 20, 1797, and the last to put to sea. Launched before her were the United States and the Constellation. The Constitution served with distinction through the War of 1812. She has never been decommissioned.

Constructed in Boston between 1794 and 1797, the ship was 175 feet long, had a 431-/2-foot beam and a displacement of 1,576 tons, and mounted 44 guns. Her timbers were of live oak, red cedar, and hard pine. Paul Revere and Son sheeted the lower hull with copper. The ship took part in the undeclared naval war with France, 1798-1800. During the years 1801-5, as the flagship of Commodore Edward Preble, she served in the War with the Barbary States. She attacked Tripoli five times, and on her deck the treaty of peace ending the war was signed.

The reconstructed U.S.S. Constitution, "Old Ironsides," docked in Boston Naval Shipyard. Constructed in the late 18th century, she achieved immortal fame in the War of 1812. Courtesy, Massachusetts Department of Commerce.

It was in the War of 1812, however, that the Constitution won imperishable fame. A few weeks after the war broke out in June, while en route to New York, she narrowly escaped a British squadron in a demonstration of brilliant seamanship by her commander, Capt. Isaac Hull. Later that summer, while returning from a successful raiding cruise into Canadian waters, she defeated the British frigate Guerriere in a hard-fought, close-range duel. This victory sent a thrill of exultation through the Nation. According to tradition, during the engagement a seaman, on seeing the enemy's shots rebounding from her sides, dubbed the ship "Old Ironsides."

In December 1812, under the command of Commodore William Bainbridge, the Constitution met the British frigate Java off the coast of Brazil. The two ships momentarily jammed together and the crew of the Constitution beat off a British boarding party. As the ships parted, the Java's mainmast crashed down and she was forced to surrender. For long periods during the remainder of the war, the increasingly vigilant British blockade kept the Constitution confined along the Atlantic coast, but in December 1814 she escaped to sea. In February the following year, 2 months after the Treaty of Ghent had been negotiated, she met two British warships off Spain—the Cyane and the Levant, whose combined gunpower was superior. The Constitution, however, used her concentrated firepower to advantage and in a few hours captured them. This was her last battle, but she had won her glory and earned her place in the Nation's history.

In 1828, when the ship was condemned as unseaworthy and on the brink of destruction, she was saved in part by Oliver Wendell Holmes' poem "Old Ironsides," which aroused public sentiment. Used as a training ship thereafter, she was rebuilt or partially rebuilt in 1833, 1871-77, and 1906.

U.S.S. Constitution.

Present Appearance. The Constitution, which floats today in the harbor where she was originally launched, has undergone such extensive restoration as to be in fact a reconstruction. During the course of several rebuildings, her original rotted timbers were removed. During the period 1927-30 final restoration took place. Bearing her original lines and characteristics, she presents a colorful picture of a frigate. The ship is open to the public.

NHL Designation: 12/19/60