With the bicentennial of the War of 1812 only five years away, the time is right to plan how Americans intend to commemorate what is often referred to as our second war of independence. During that conflict, the frigate USS Constitution earned renown by defeating five Royal Navy warships: the Guerrière, Java, Pictou, Cyane, and Levant. The world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat, “Old Ironsides” is also the Navy’s oldest surviving veteran of the War of 1812, and it is therefore logical that she play a central—and national—role in the war’s bicentennial celebrations. That leads to what has been an often-contentious question: Should the Constitution venture out from her current home in Boston Harbor? To give an educated answer, it is first necessary to examine her 20th-century history.
At the beginning of the last century, Old Ironsides was on exhibit at the Charlestown, Massachusetts, Navy Yard, close to where she was launched in 1797, but she was hardly recognizable as the three-masted heavy frigate of Navy lore. In the late 19th century, she had been a receiving ship, and a large barn-like structure still covered her upper decks. In 1905, public sentiment saved her from Secretary of the Navy Charles J. Bonaparte’s proposal to have her used as a gunnery target for the U.S. North Atlantic Fleet. In 1925, the frigate, once again bearing the name Constitution (after being renamed Old Constitution in 1917 to free her name for a new warship that was never completed), was restored partly through the donations of schoolchildren and patriotic groups. Then, in 1931, the old warship embarked on a 35-month national tour during which more than 4.6 million Americans visited the vessel in 90 port visits.
The Constitution is an intensely political object, perhaps rightfully so given her long-standing relationship, dating back to at least the War of 1812, with the country and its citizens. One notable event in the 1960s illustrates this fact. On 18 April 1963, Captain Tazewell Shepard, naval aide to President John F. Kennedy, wrote to the secretary of the Navy with a question from the President about the practicality of sailing the ship from Boston to New York for the upcoming World’s Fair.1 The frigate would be absent from her Charlestown berth for at least two months. The adverse reaction from local organizations, such as the Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Freedom Trail Committee, as well as from the mayor of Boston, created tremendous political pressure on newly elected Senator Edward M. Kennedy to oppose the voyage.
Robert Friedman, then chair of the Freedom Trail Committee, took great pains to point out that the absence of the frigate from Boston would have a negative effect on local tourism.2 In language ironically repeated 34 years later, a Boston newspaper rhetorically asked if New York could swap the Statue of Liberty for the Constitution. Other opponents claimed the Navy did not have anyone capable of sailing the frigate and that moving the ship created too great a risk of damage to her. The Navy eventually demurred, and Massachusetts Senators Leverett Saltonstall and Edward Kennedy issued a joint statement announcing the Navy’s decision that the ship would remain at her homeport.
Old Ironsides Sails Again
Almost 30 years later, on 25 September 1992, the Constitution was drydocked at the Charlestown Navy Yard for an extensive three-year, $12 million overhaul. Most noteworthy, the ship’s natural hog (bow and stern droop) was straightened and enormous diagonal riders (large internal rib-like beams) missing since the mid-19th century were reinstalled.
On 21 July 1997, Old Ironsides departed her homeport for the first time since 1934 and made a port visit to Marblehead, Massachusetts, about 13 miles from the mouth of Boston Harbor. Captained by Commander Mike Beck, her 64th commanding officer, the Constitution was under tow for the round trip. At noon on 21 July, Commander Beck ordered the tow slipped and gave the command to set her nearly 15,000 square feet of fighting sail. It was a historic moment, and Old Ironsides sailed free for about 40 minutes under her own power for the first time in 116 years. Together with the follow-on Marblehead port visit, the early commemoration of the ship’s 200th birthday turned out to be not so much a Navy public relations drill as a profoundly patriotic event for those fortunate enough to see it. In that sense, it used America’s Sea-Services heritage to bridge civil and naval relations in a simple but elegant manner.
More than 150,000 people jammed the shore or watched from the nearby flotilla of small craft to catch a glimpse of something no one alive had ever seen: an 18th-century commissioned U.S. Navy warship under way under fighting sail. Millions more watched the event on television. In a repeat of the 1920s fundraising effort, thousands of children had donated to the Old Ironsides Pennies Campaign to purchase the ship’s sails. They could now see the result of their civic-minded action. After the Constitution moored in Marblehead, one nine-year-old boy donated a coffee tin full of pennies that he had collected in memory of his father, a former Bluejacket. The pennies campaign raised more than $250,000, and more important, it sparked interest in and involvement with Old Ironsides and naval heritage among a new generation.
Putting the Frigate to the Test
After the Constitution’s successful excursion, the Navy planned for the ship to make a series of trips to nearby ports, leading up to her being towed to New York City in 2000 for a visit. Her proposed itinerary was to proceed to Gloucester, Massachusetts, followed by Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1998; then make a single trip to Newport, Rhode Island, in 1999; and finally a single round trip to New York City through the protected waters of Long Island Sound in 2000.
The purpose of the New York visit was to support the 2000 International Naval Review. President Bill Clinton, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, and Chief Justice William Rehnquist were to embark in Old Ironsides, which would be moored adjacent to the Statue of Liberty. Given that the last serving U.S. president to set foot aboard the Constitution was Herbert Hoover in 1932, the event would have been a significant milestone in the ship’s history.
In preparation, the Navy scheduled formal dock and sea trials. I was then the commanding officer of the Constitution and oversaw crew training that was conducted in the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle (WIX-327) and civilian-owned square-riggers, continuing a precedent established by Commander Beck before the frigate’s 1997 cruise. I spent a good deal of time examining the navigational and seamanship aspects of towing the ship to Gloucester and Portsmouth and made plans to strike down her topmasts so that she would have the air draft to transit the Cape Cod Canal.3
The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) conducted the preparatory sea and dock trials, which cost the Navy about $250,000, on 20-21 May. A Navy tug towed the ship for approximately 50 nautical miles at speeds up to 10.5 knots.4 The maximum movement detected in the Constitution’s structure was ¹/10th of an inch. NAVSEA wanted to tow Old Ironsides up to 12 knots, but that exceeded the single-screw tug’s rated capacity. By comparison, the fastest towed speed recorded during the trip to Marblehead was about 8 knots.
The 2,000-ton, 21-foot-draft frigate was easy to handle at speed: the helmsman effortlessly turned the large double wheel to keep the bowsprit pointed at the tug’s stern. From my vantage point in the hammock netting, I conned the ship—usually by ordering 2 to 4 degrees of rudder—thereby reducing transverse loading on the bow from yawing about the towing hawser. Rudder strain was well within NAVSEA test limits.
At the end of the tow and dock trials, I assessed the ship and crew ready to execute the tow to Gloucester and Portsmouth. I was very comfortable with her structural integrity and the level of Navy technical support for this type of operation. The crew had superbly demonstrated its capability to handle an extended daytime tow.
Preliminary results were released one week after the trials as a two-page quick-look. It stated that the “Constitution operated satisfactorily during the tow trials conducted on 20 May within its current constraints . . . there were no direct observations during the trials that would cause us to reduce or more tightly limit the operational constraints for USS Constitution . . . based on our [NAVSEA’s] quick look, we continue to plan to support data gathering during the August 1998 towing events.”5
A Surprising Decision
A scant dozen days later, however, the Navy announced that it had canceled all planned activities for the ship outside Boston Harbor. It referenced the preliminary results of the sea trials as well as “an operational risk assessment.” The clinching argument was that “risk of unpredicted weather conditions and subsequent requirement to transit at higher speeds for weather avoidance require USS Constitution to remain close to her berth at Charlestown Navy Yard where her support and crew facilities are located.”6
On the same day the Navy publicly scotched the frigate’s planned trips, in what must surely have been déjà vu, Senator Kennedy announced: “Old Ironsides has been saved once again. The Navy is obviously right to give the very highest priority to safeguarding the ship against any possible danger. No vessel more clearly symbolizes the ideals, the heritage, and the history of our country than Boston’s own USS Constitution.”7
The Navy’s 9 June announcement had been closely held—not even I was privy to its content until about 45 minutes before the scheduled press conference. The ship’s crew—both Sailors and civilian riggers—was devastated by the news, especially since the results of the recent trials had supported the Navy reaching an opposite conclusion. The way the announcement was made was a decidedly shabby way to treat a crew of Old Ironsides, and given its abruptness, timing, and content, a reasonable conclusion would be that politics had played a leading role.
The final NAVSEA sea-trials report, dated 5 October 1998, stated: “weather during at-sea operations represents a significant risk. If weather conditions deteriorate unexpectedly during at-sea operations, USS Constitution may be forced to operate outside the bounds of current constraints. A higher tow speed required to return USS Constitution to safe harbor to limit exposure would increase forces on the ship’s hull and subject the ship to potential damage.” The report did not provide a definition of “at-sea operations,” an important point when considering fetch (the distance a wind blows over the sea surface without interference), wave period, and distance to safe haven.8
The report’s risk assessment should have taken into account that in 1997 the Constitution spent 36 hours away from her Charlestown berth, anchoring overnight at Marblehead. Furthermore, during the sea trials the frigate was away from her berth for nine hours, and in the Massachusetts Bay for six. While the Navy had evidently been satisfied with its ability to predict weather for these two events, the final report gave the impression that it was not as confident in its ability to do so for a visit to Gloucester, about 22 miles from the mouth of Boston Harbor, directly across Massachusetts Bay. Nevertheless, the pivotal issue was apparently getting the ship into any safe harbor under safe towing limits, and NAVSEA’s report did not equate “safe harbor” exclusively with the Charlestown Navy Yard.
In 1998, two key factors evidently were critical in cancelling plans to move Old Ironsides outside of Boston Harbor: the ship’s seaworthiness and the adverse effect her absence might have on Boston tourism. With respect to the former, NAVSEA, as well as Naval Historical Center Detachment, Boston—the sole organization responsible for restoring and maintaining the Constitution—had declared her structurally sound. NAVSEA also invited the American Bureau of Shipping to conduct an independent survey of the frigate. Its report, dated 19 June 1998, found her “in exceptional condition for her age . . . the vessel is stronger than she has been in years . . . [she] could be considered for classification with this Bureau under the current service limitations.”9
As in 1963, the Boston-area press had pointed out the potential adverse effect the vessel’s absence would have on local tourism. On the other hand, for the Constitution, national visibility is highly desirable. For example, her trip to Marblehead resulted in a significant increase in the number of people visiting the ship in her homeport, with obvious benefit to local tourism.
Steps to Freedom
If the Navy were to reconsider freeing the Constitution to permit a fuller participation in War of 1812 bicentennial events including an underway sail demonstration similar to the 1997 cruise, experience dictates that several considerations should be included in the planning. First, the Navy should tow the frigate at least once a year in Massachusetts Bay for crew training and enhanced ship maintenance. The American public should be the motivating force behind any plan to display the venerable warship in a venue other than her permanently assigned pierside berth at Charlestown. Local sentiment should also be taken into account, and Boston-area authorities should accurately access the impact on their tourism of the ship temporarily leaving Boston Harbor. Finally, the safety of the Constitution is of utmost importance. The Navy should therefore thoroughly and openly address concerns about her seaworthiness.
Old Ironsides is not a nautical hood ornament belonging only to Boston; she is in effect the nation’s ship of state and should be employed accordingly. An important first step in planning the commemoration of the War of 1812 bicentennial may be to think about the political challenges of unshackling the USS Constitution from the confines of Boston Harbor.
1. Memorandum to the Secretary of the Navy from the Naval Aide to the President, 18 April 1963.
2. Boston Record American, “Ironsides Tilt Joined by Unions,” 22 May 1963.
3. The Constitution’s mainmast truck stands 197 feet above the water.
4. No sails were set during the May 1998 tow trials.
5. NAVSEA, “USS CONSTITUTION Tow Trials Quick Look” letter ser. 03D/007 of 28 May 1998.
6. Office of Naval Operations, “U.S. Navy Announces Plans for CONSTITUTION,” 09 June 1998.
7. Boston Globe, “USS Constitution,” 10 June 1998.
8. NAVSEA, “USS CONSTITUTION Dock and Tow Trials Final Report,” letter ser. 03D/011 of 5 October 1998.
9. NAVSEA, “American Bureau of Shipping Report of Preliminary Survey of USS CONSTITUTION,” letter ser. 03D/011 of 18 September 1998.