Happy Atheist Forum

General => History => Topic started by: Icarus on October 22, 2019, 06:19:53 AM

Title: Old Ironsides
Post by: Icarus on October 22, 2019, 06:19:53 AM
Old Ironsides.....  The USS Constitution was built in 1797.  She was as long as a football field and had masts seventeen stories tall.  Her planking was of the thickest white oak and live oak, not iron.  Its' first combat duty came in 1803 when president Thomas Jefferson dispatched her to the Mediterranean to protect American merchant ships from the Barbary Coast Pirates.

The four year mission led the Americans to its first overseas military engagement which included the shelling of Tripoli, Libya, and the first foreign combat for the US marines.  She was the most heavily armed ship in the world at that time.

The Constitution saw combat in the war of 1812, defeating four British ships, two in one day. Overall it won 33 battles. 

This past weekend the Constitution took to open water off Boston harbor. There she fired a 21 gun salute to honor its' birthday.

Long may she live.

Title: Re: Old Ironsides
Post by: Bad Penny II on October 22, 2019, 08:58:05 AM
Quote from: Icarus on October 22, 2019, 06:19:53 AMShe was the most heavily armed ship in the world at that time.

Most heavily armed frigate maybe.
Title: Re: Old Ironsides
Post by: Tank on October 22, 2019, 10:15:01 AM
Quote from: Icarus on October 22, 2019, 06:19:53 AM
Old Ironsides.....  The USS Constitution was built in 1797.  She was as long as a football field and had masts seventeen stories tall.  Her planking was of the thickest white oak and live oak, not iron.  Its' first combat duty came in 1803 when president Thomas Jefferson dispatched her to the Mediterranean to protect American merchant ships from the Barbary Coast Pirates.

The four year mission led the Americans to its first overseas military engagement which included the shelling of Tripoli, Libya, and the first foreign combat for the US marines.  She was the most heavily armed ship in the world at that time.

The Constitution saw combat in the war of 1812, defeating four British ships, two in one day. Overall it won 33 battles. 

This past weekend the Constitution took to open water off Boston harbor. There she fired a 21 gun salute to honor its' birthday.

Long may she live.

I visited the Constitution in 2000. Lovely ship.
Title: Re: Old Ironsides
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on October 24, 2019, 08:25:56 PM
Yep, lovely.  I saw a similar (but not nearly as grand) ship in Baltimore last week - the U.S.S. Constellation.  She was a sloop-of-war, the last sail-only ship built by the US Navy.
Title: Re: Old Ironsides
Post by: Firebird on October 25, 2019, 04:49:47 AM
I live 20 minutes away from it, so I've been on it multiple times. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.