#old ironsides

[seamusicpoetry]

USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She is the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat.She was launched in 1797, one of six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794 and the third constructed. The name "Constitution" was among ten names submitted to President George Washington by Secretary of War Timothy Pickering in March or May for the frigates that were to be constructed.

[lonestarbattleship]

USS CONSTITUTION by Marshall Johnson, Jr., circa 1896.

"It depicts the ship under sail during her eastbound voyage around the World, May 30, 1844 - September 27, 1846, while under the command of Captain John Percival."

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command: KN-10966

[naldibutnice]

Esther Ralston in Old Ironsides (1926) Dir. James Cruze

[lonestarbattleship]

"USS CONSTITUTION, under the command of Captain Isaac Hull, sailed from Boston on August 2, 1812 to off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. On the afternoon of August 19, 1812 Hull and his crew sighted the British frigate HMS GUERRIERE, under the command of Captain James Richard Dacres.

As GUERRIERE closed to within a mile of the CONSTITUTION, the British hoisted their colors the two ships engaged in a fire fight. The CONSTITUTION’s thick hull, composed of white oak planking and live oak frames, proved resilient to enemy cannonballs. During the engagement, an American sailor was heard exclaiming, 'Huzza! Her sides are made of iron! See where the shot fell out!'. After intense combat, the severely damaged Guerriere was forced to surrender.

The next morning, Hull made the difficult decision to scuttle GUERRIERE. CONSTITUTION sailed for Boston and arrived on August 30. News of Constitution‘s victory quickly spread through town and throngs of cheering Bostonians greeted Hull and his crew. A militia company escorted Hull to a reception at the Exchange Coffee House and more dinners, presentations and awards followed in the ensuing weeks, months, and years. USS CONSTITUTION, for her impressive strength in battle, earned the nickname 'Old Ironsides.'"

Date: August 19, 1812

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 64419-KN, 66-335-L, 66-335-M, 54-017-A, 66-193-A, 07-763-A, 60-362-C

[amos-evans]

[scripta-elegans]

Old Ironsides

by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!

   Long has it waved on high,

And many an eye has danced to see

   That banner in the sky;

Beneath it rung the battle shout,

   And burst the cannon’s roar;—

The meteor of the ocean air

   Shall sweep the clouds no more!

Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood

   Where knelt the vanquished foe,

When winds were hurrying o’er the flood

   And waves were white below,

No more shall feel the victor’s tread,

   Or know the conquered knee;—

The harpies of the shore shall pluck

   The eagle of the sea!

O, better that her shattered hulk

   Should sink beneath the wave;

Her thunders shook the mighty deep,

   And there should be her grave;

Nail to the mast her holy flag,

   Set every thread-bare sail,

And give her to the god of storms,—

   The lightning and the gale!

For my Grandfather, Emil. When Grandpa was the young foreman of a steamfitters shop, he built and repaired steam locomotives for the Milwaukee Road railroad. "Old Ironsides" was the nickname of the great ship USS Constitution, famous for its role in the War of 1812 and for its indestructibility. Grandpa loved this poem and recited it at every opportunity when requested, even when he was elderly and near death with very advanced Alzheimer's disease.

[amos-evans]

Glad to see that my problem of forgetting about the document and thinking only of the ship is not a new one.

(Transcription and source below the cut)

Transcript:

Altering the Constitution—At the late annual meeting in Portsmouth N.H. the question, requiring the yeas and nays on the revisions of the constitution, was asked of the several voters in the train to the ballot box. An "old salt," a regular voter, arrived and deposited his vote. When the question—are you for or against altering the constitution? was propounded to Jack, he, giving his quid a lurch to port, and imagining the constitution to be no other than old Ironsides exclaimed eagerly, "why d—n it, do you want to make a razee of her?"

Source: Historical Society of Cecil County's archive for historic local newspapers. Cecil Republican 1833-04-27

[lonestarbattleship]

USS CONSTITUTION in southern west coast waters, near San Pedro, California.

Photographed on February 19, 1933.

UCLA Library Digital Collection: uclamss_1429_4180