The Naval Act of 1794 authorized the construction of six frigates for the United States Navy to provide protection for American merchants and defeat pirates. Joshua Humphreys, the frigate's designer, decided the ships should be larger and more heavily armored than the standard frigates of the time. Of those six ships, the USS. Chesapeake and USS. President were captured by the British, the USS. Untied States was captured by the Confederate States of America and when recaptured broken up, the USS. Congress and USS. Constellation were broken up in 1834 and 1835 and the last, which is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel, is the USS. Constitution. Launched in 1797 the USS Constitution, which had been named by George Washington, was launched from Edmund Hartt's shipyard in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Constitution became famous during the War of 1812 when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships, the HMS Guerriere, Java, Pictou, Cyane, and Levant. During the battle with Guerriere the Constitution earned the name Old Ironsides when many of Guerriere's shots rebounded harmlessly of the Constitution's hull. Supposedly a sailor exclaimed, "Huzzah! her sides are made of iron!" and the nickname, Old Ironsides was born.

But, the Constitution was a wooden ship with a life expectancy of ten to fifteen years, and when she reached thirty one years old the Navy ordered a routine order for survey of ships which estimated the Constitution would require over $157,000 in repairs. An erroneous article appeared in the Boston Advertiser that stated that the Navy was going to scrap the Constitution. Two days later Oliver Wendell Holmes poem Old Ironsides was published in the paper and the resulting public outcry ensured the survival of the vessel.

By the Civil War, steam powered vessels were displacing ships like the Constitution and she was placed on training duty for sailors. In 1876 she was refurbished to take part in centennial events. In 1878 it was decided that she would ferry art to the Paris Exposition of 1878. Upon her arrival she had a collision with another ship which left her in dry dock for the rest of the year being repaired. Then on her departure she ran aground. On her voyage home her rudder was damaged and finally after a fitful journey she returned to the USA.

Once the rudder was repaired she returned to active duty, but it quickly became clear that the 1876 repairs were of poor quality and in 1881 the ship was declared unfit for use and decommissioned. Forgotten and deteriorating, her time seemed to be over until Massachusetts Congressman John F. Fitzgerald proposed Congress appropriate funds to restore her to a condition strong enough to be returned to Boston. While successful in the endeavor, the Constitution was moved to Charlestown Navy Yard, but without further repairs her future was uncertain.

In 1900 congress approved her designation as a Museum Ship on the belief that public funds would pay for the restoration. Unfortunately the efforts were not successful and in 1903 the Massachusetts Historical society requested that the Constitution be repaired and put back into active service. It was eventually Secretary of the Navy, Charles Joseph Bonaparte, who would unwittingly save the ship. In 1905 he proposed that it be towed out to sea and used for target practice. A Boston newspaperman, Moses H. Gulesian, offered to purchase the Constitution for $10,000. The State Department refused, but Gulesian began a public campaign which created a storm of public protest and in 1906 Congress authorized $100,000 to refurbish her.

Briefly she lost her name between 1917 and 1925 when she was known as Old Constitution. Another ship was supposed to take that name, but its construction was canceled. In 1925 another restoration was performed and, after being recommissioned on July 1st 1930, she embarked on a three year sailing tour down the east coast through the Panama Canal and up the Pacific coast. Finally in 1934 she returned home to Boston. During the voyage 4.3 million people had come to see the living museum.

In 1972 she entered dry dock for another restoration in anticipation of bicentennial activities. In April of 1976 the USS Constitution Museum opened. As the bicentennial of the launch of the Constitution approached there was a desire to have her move under her own power which she hadn't done for nearly 100 years. In 1995 a massive effort was put forth to restore her to 1812 specifications and prepare her to leave dock under he own power. In 1997 she was towed out and traveled under her own power at a maximum speed of 4.3 miles per hour.

Today she is a museum and makes annual voyages out to sea, except for the period of 2007 to 2010 as she is once again updated to reflect a more historically accurate appearance with the replacement of her decking with the proper wood type. In 2009 she did make a short voyage and fired 16 shots from her cannons, one for each of the original states, and an additional one for herself.

-Professor Walter

Old Ironsides

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

“Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!”

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!

Oh, 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 threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!

In the United States everyone is taught about Paul Revere and his midnight ride to warn the colonists of the British Troops arrival. His cries of, "The British are coming!" are known by every child and adult who saw Schoolhouse Rock. But, there is another figure who performed a similar action, not for the United States, but against it. Her name was Laura Ingersoll Secord.

Born in 1775 in Massachusetts, Secord was a a child of the American Revolution. Her father moved their family to Canada. Eventually Secord married James Secord and settled in what is not Ontario. During the war of 1812, on May 27th of 1813 the American army launched an attach across the Niagara river and captured Fort George. On June 21st Secord learned of plans of a surprise attack on British troops at Beaver Dams, which would have resulted in a stronger control of America over the Niagara Peninsula. James Secord was recovered from injuries sustained earlier in the war so Laura to warn British Lieutenant FitzGibbon herself. She trekked approximatively 30 kilometers (~18 miles). As a result of her efforts the British and Mohawk warriors were prepared for the attack and took nearly every American hostage in the Battle of Beaver Dams.