Tag Archives: USS Constitution

Graveyard Ceremony Commemorates When U.S., Russia Were the Closest of Allies   

Graveyard Ceremony Commemorates When U.S., Russia Were the Closest of Allies   

Russian students listen to a Russian naval officer in the Annapolis National Cemetery, Md. USNI News Photo

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In the back corner of a cemetery, just down the road from the U.S. Naval Academy, is the grave of Nikolay Demidoff. He was a Russian sailor who died during a little-remembered episode more than 150 years ago when Russia was one of the only friends Washington had. Read More

220 Year-Old USS Constitution Leaves Dry Dock Following Two-Years of Repairs

220 Year-Old USS Constitution Leaves Dry Dock Following Two-Years of Repairs

USS Constitution floats in Dry Dock One of the Boston Navy Yard on July 23, 2017. US Navy Photo

This post has been updated with additional information from the Naval History and Heritage Command.

Today, perhaps 15 percent of USS Constitution – including the keel – is original material from the 1790s, but the spirit of the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat remains intact as a 26-month restoration winds down. Read More

Photo Essay: Onboard America’s Oldest Warship

Photo Essay: Onboard America’s Oldest Warship

A sailor makes a quick phone call during a July 4, trip of USS Constitution in Boston Harbor. Glenn Moyer Photo

A sailor makes a quick phone call during a July 4, trip of USS Constitution in Boston Harbor. Glenn Moyer Photo

CLARIFICATION: USS Constitution is the oldest warship afloat, but not the oldest in commission. The U.K. Royal Navy’s HMS Victory is still in commission but has been in dry dock since 1922.

ONBOARD USS CONSTITUTION — Commissioned in 1798, USS Constitution is the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat. Berthed in Boston, the ship was underway on July 4, in one of the last trips the ship will make before entering a maintenance availability that will keep the ship in the yard until 2018.

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The Constitution's Victorius Captains

The Constitution’s Victorius Captains

Naval History Magazine, December 2012
Hull, Bainbridge, Stewart—the roll call of Old Ironsides’ commanders during the War of 1812 conjures a series of sea fights that helped put the young U.S. Navy on the map.

MartinFOND12

The outbreak of the War of 1812 in June of that year pitted a U.S. Navy of fewer than two dozen ships of all sizes against the elephantine Royal Navy, which had almost that many ships of 100 guns or more. Furthermore, the officers and men manning that fleet had had nearly two decades of real-world combat experience. Among our fledgling officer corps of that day, only one senior seagoing officer had experienced a ship duel (and, ironically, he never managed to gain the glory of another during the new conflict). The frigate Constitution , one of the largest American warships, had three captains and two crews between 1812 and 1815, virtually none of whom had any combat experience—and yet they managed to amass an unbroken string of victories. These were those leaders.

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