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America - Constitution

The Constitution was one of the first of the original six frigates that made up the US Navy. The 44-gun frigate built at the Edmond Hartt Shipyard, Boston, MA, in 1797 was also called "Old Ironsides" because bullets could not penetrate her tough oak sides.

The ship served in the undeclared naval war with France (1798-1800) and was the Flagship in the Mediterranean squadron in the Tripolitan War (1801-05). In the War of 1812 the Constitution won battles with the British frigates Guerriere and Java; the former battle took place about 1200 km (750 miles) east of Boston on August 19, 1812, and the latter off the coast of Brazil on December 29, 1812. The Constitution made its last combat tour in 1814-15.

The ship was scheduled to be scrapped in 1830, but Oliver Wendell Holmes's poem "Old Ironsides" inspired a public movement to save it. Restored in 1925, the Constitution is now the oldest commissioned vessel in the US Navy. Presently serving as a museum ship at the Charleston Navy Yard, Boston, MA.

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