"Old Ironsides"
Tara O'S.
How it became a Historic Sight
The USS Constitution is the oldest fully commissioned warship in the world and is still an active part of the U.S. Navy today. During it's 200 years of military service it has fought in dozens of battles and won most of them. I am going to tell you a little bit about some of the battle it was in and why it was called "Old Ironsides."
In 1794 the Constitution was built
to protect the young nation of America. George Washington named her after
the document United States Constitution. Captain James Sever christened
the Constitution in 1797 but it was their third attempt to launch it.
Then on July 22, 1798 it was first put to sea. From 1798 to 1781 it did
not engage in any battles. 1803-1806 President Thomas Jefferson sent her
to the Mediterranean Sea to protect American ships and seamen from attacks
from the Barbary pirates. The highest point of her early fighting days
was her war with Tripoli. On four different occasions in August 1804,
she led bombardments on towns, harbors and batteries of the Moorish coasts.
During this blockade she captured three enemy gunboats and two Greek ships
which were attempting to breach the Navy's lines. Peace with the Barbary
state was made on the decks of the Constitution on June 2, 1805. It was
official ended when the Bey of Tripoli came aboard to sign a pact which
ended all hostilities.
At the beginning of the War of 1812
the ship was on its way to New York when it came into conflict with a
squadron of five British ships. The escape from the situation is now legendary.
In August of the same year there was a fight with HMS Guerriere that took
place about 600 miles east of Boston. After one hour of inconclusive maneuvering
and shooting, The two ships settled down to a close-range slugfest. After
about 20 minutes the Briton's mainmast fell. After a while later, both
of the remaining masts fell overboard. At some point in the battle, someone
was said to have seen the British cannonball shots bouncing off the Constitution's
side. One person was said to have shouted "Hurrah! Her sides are
made of iron!" And so from this she got the nickname "Old Ironsides."
The Constitution won this battle, sinking the HMS Guerriere.
"Old Ironsides" was about 30 miles off the coast of Brazil on December 29, 1812 when, around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, she began a fight with the much faster HMS Java. The American Commodore William Bainbridge was wounded twice and the ship's wheel was completely shot away. What amazing is that for more than 3 hours he maneuvered fiercely and fought steadfastly until finally the Java had no more mast left and its Captain laid dying. There was 34 American casualties compared to 150 British. Like the Guerriere it was far to damaged to go home so it was to be sunk but before it was sunk Bainbridge had her wheel replaced with the one that was shot away.
On February 20,1815 Captain Charles
Stewart had the Constitution about 180 miles away from Madeira Island,
when he came upon the British men-of-war the Cyane and Levant. The handicapped
fight of one-against-two began as the sun was beginning to set. With Stewart's
skilled sail handling, he swiftly closed on the Cyane. He quickly almost
completely destroyed her rigging and masts. Then he blasted the Levant
enough to render her out of action for a little while, which gave him
time to close on the Cyane and force her to surrender. After Stewart put
a crew in the Cyane, he turned his attention again to the Levant. He chased
her until she had no choice but to surrender. "Old Ironsides'"
crew had for 4 killed and 14 wounded while it opponents had 35 dead and
42 wounded. Stewart wanted to bring his two captures home but he ran into
a British squadron that retook the Levant while the Constitution and the
Cyane safely returned home. Having learned the War of 1812 was over; Captain
Stewart sailed home and anchored "Old Ironsides" in New York
on May 15, 1815. The USS Constitution's war service had ended. But nevertheless
she played a truly glorious part in establishing our freedom of the seas.
Bibliography
Jonathan, our tour guide
Pamphlet U.S.GPO: 1998-601-247
www.ussconstitution.navy.mil/Shiphistoryx.htm
10/19/00
Www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9703//history/constitution.html
10/19/00
http://home.earthlink.net/~navetsusa/history/constitution.html
11/30/00
These pictures were from this website
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/allhands/ah0697/jun-pg30.html
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/ships/oldiron.html