The U.S.S. Constitution, commissioned by the navy in 1798, is one of the most famous and amazing ships in United States history.  The impressive vessel has carried a maximum of 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 44 cannons, and tens of tons of food and ammunition, which was enough to provide for up to 475 men for six months at sea without taking on more supplies.  She had no distillers on board, though, so she always had to carry all of her fresh water on board.

            She set off on her first mission on July 27, 1798.  On board was almost 49,000 gallons of fresh water, 7,400 cannonballs, 11,600 lbs. of black powder, thousands of pounds of food, and over 79,000 gallons of rum.  The vessels mission was To destroy and harass English shipping.  The Constitution arrived in Jamaica on October 6, 1798 to accept over 800 pounds of flour and 70,000 gallons of rum.  She then set sail for the Azores, arriving there on November 12.  550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine were loaded onto the ship.  She stayed in the Azores for six days, leaving on November 18 for England.  On the way, she defeated five British Men-Of-War and sunk twelve British Merchantmen, only taking the rum aboard each.  On January 26, 1799, even though all of her ammunition was gone, the vessel conducted a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, attacked a distillery, and stole over 40,000 gallons of Scotch before dawn.  She left that morning and headed home.  When she arrived in Boston on February 20, 1799, she had none of her 7,400 cannonballs, 11,600 pounds of black powder, tens of tons of food, or hundreds of thousands of gallons of rum and Portuguese wine left, and 40,000 gallons of very poor water.

            Later, the vessel was used in the war with Tripoli in 1803 and 1804.  In the War of 1812, led by Isaac Hull, the Constitution left the British Warship Guerriere a total wreck after only a half and hour of fighting.  Also in the War of 1812, in December, the ship took control of the British frigate Java off of the coast of Brazil.

            In 1829, the vessel was condemned as unseaworthy.  However, partly because of Oliver Wendell Homes poem Old Ironsides, the Navy decided to preserve the ship.  After continuous repairs and renovations ever since, the U.S.S. Constitution is still on display in the Boston Navy Yard.

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Encarta Encyclopedia 97