The Constitution was one of the US Navy's first six original frigates, ordered as a counter to the Barbary corsairs in the Mediterranean. Fast and heavily built, she was nominally rated as a 44 but mounted thirty 24-pdr and twenty-two 12-pdr cannon. Her most famous encounter, after which she became nicknamed 'Old Ironsides' due to British shot being seen bouncing off her hull, involved HMS Guerriere, which she smashed; the same treatment was meted out to HMS Java four months later. Now the oldest commissioned warship afloat in thw world, she is berthed in Boston Harbor. The 'Anatomy of the Ship' series aims to provide the finest documentation of individual ships and ship types ever published. What makes the series unique is a complete set of superbly executed line drawings, both the conventional type of plan as well as explanatory views, with fully descriptive keys. These are supported by technical details and a record of the ship's service history.
By 1805 the 44-gun frigate was probably viewed as a failed experiment whilst the 38-gun frigate was viewed as the vessel of the future. Ten years later every navy was building 44-gun frigates and today it is viewed as the symbol of the Napoleonic-era cruiser. This remarkable transformation resulted from the performance of three ships – the Constitution, United States, and President – 44-gun frigates built for the United States Navy between 1794 and 1799. Their victories in the naval War of 1812, as well as their performance against the Barbary Pirates, caught the imagination of the world – and spurred all navies into re-examining the class.
This is the story of the oldest warship afloat in the world, the venerable frigate USS Constitution, the cornerstone of the nascent American navy created by act of Congress in 1794. Colonel David Fitz-Enz re-creates the world of sail, when seven knots an hour was considered blinding speed for a warship. In Old Ironsides, Fitz-Enz tells the story of the ship, from its construction to the ongoing restoration efforts that keep it active today.
This work is a training manual for members of the crew of the 1797 United States frigate Constitution, the world's oldest warship in commission. The venerable vessel, which earned its nickname, "Old Ironsides," during the War of 1812, is today permanently berthed in the Charlestown Navy Yard, across the Charles River from its building site in Boston, Massachusetts. The historic frigate is open to visitors year round, with tours provided by the crew, active sailors in the United States Navy. The lessons in the manual are divided among three groups, corresponding to the three skill levels of the tour guides, Basic, Advanced, and Master. In addition to the chronology and major events in the history of USS Constitution, the manual explains the historical contexts in which those events took place. The text is written in an engaging and accessible manner that will make it attractive to anyone interested in USS Constitution or in the early U.S. Navy in general.
In her youth she was beautiful. Her fine lines and graceful sheer, her lightly upturned head, the classic quarter galleries and restrained carvings gracing her 18th-century transom stern--all flowed together flawlessly in this magnificent creature of the sea. Her loft rig spread more sail than any European frigate. In fact, she and her two sisterships were larger in every way than their contemporaries. She is the USS Constitution--the oldest warship afloat anywhere in the world. This proud old warrior has seen--and participated in--virtually all our nation's history. She fought in four wars; circled the world as a symbol of American power; was commanded by the superstars of American naval history: Preble, Decatur, Bainbridge, Rodgers, Hull, Stewart, MacDonough. Constitution is the definitive American icon--older than the Washington Monument, Mount Rushmore, the White House. But her age has been one of her greatest enemies, second only to bureaucratic indifference. The ship that rallied American in the second war of independence later found herself reduced to a floating classroom at Annapolis, and still later became a barracks for transient seamen. Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of the Navy even recommended that she be towed to sea for gunnery practice. In 1830, rumors that she was to be scrapped prompted Oliver Wendell Holmes to write his epic poem, "Old Ironsides." The ensuing public clamor brought Constitution a complete overhaul. She was rescued by the public again in 1876 for the American Centennial, and given a cosmetic makeover in 1907. In 1927, she received an extensive restoration, funded in part by collections from school children. Now, 200 years after her launching, this living link with our nation's beginnings is again preparing to sail. Old Ironsides is the story of this great ship, told by Professor Thomas C. Gillmer, the man the Navy chose to assess her structure and recommend procedures to restore her strength and form. Gillmer answers nagging questions surrounding the true identity of Constitution's designer, settles the controversy about the 1850s-era frigate masquerading as the original frigate Constellation in Baltimore, charts the history of Constitution's major and minor reconstructions, and provides a detailed analysis of her true condition today. Old Ironsides's pages are filled with drawings, plans, and photographs, many never before published, that are a treasure trove for maritime historians. The book includes a full-color section detailing Constitution's earlier triumphs by celebrated marine painter William Gilkerson, commissioned especially for this book. If ships may be considered living beings, Constitution is the last living link with our nation's beginnings--and Old Ironsides brings her to life.
From the decision to build six heavy frigates through the cliffhanger campaign against Tripoli to the war that shook the world in 1812, Toll tells the grand tale of the founding of the U.S. Navy.
On the successful completion of the War of Independence, the American navy was disbanded, and it was not until the late 1790s that a regular naval force was reconstituted. Provoked by the need to protect American merchant shipping from the belligerent European nations and the piratical Barbary powers, Congress decided on a programme of frigate building, which included the 32-gun frigate Essex. Designed by William Hackett, Essex was a typical medium frigate of her time. Working from both US and British sources, the author has reconstructed many previously undetermined details of the ship and in passing has rehabilitated the reputation of the designer as one who was responsible for one of the best balanced of that generation's frigates.
The 'Granado' was one of twelve bomb vessels built to supplement the British fleet at the outbreak of the War Of Jenkins' Ear in 1739. Bomb vessels were a specialization of the warship into a ‘floating siege engine’, carrying huge shell-firing mortars for the purpose of bombarding stationary targets. This volume is of special use to both the scratch-build modeller and the reader of C.S.Forester who wants to know more about bomb vessels. It also provides insights about Jack Aubrey's first command, since the Sophie was also a 14 gun brig-sloop with a quarterdeck and stern windows. The aim of this book is to provide the finest documentation of this important and unusual vessel type ever produced, through a complete set of superbly executed line drawings offering enthusiasts a novel insight into ship design and construction. It includes a service and design history and a pictorial section emphasising close-up and on-board photographs.
When war broke out in 1812, neither the United States Navy nor the Royal Navy had more than a token force on the Great Lakes. However, once the shooting started, it sparked a ship-building arms race that continued throughout the war. This book examines the design and development of the warships built upon the lakes during the war, emphasising their differences from their salt-water contemporaries. It then goes onto cover their operational use as they were pitted against each other in a number of clashes on the lakes that often saw ships captured, re-crewed, and thrown back against their pervious owners. Released in 2012 to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the outbreak of the war, this is a timely look at a small, freshwater naval war.
