USS Constitution

[Griff]

USS Constitution sail for the 1st time since 1997.

[JReed]

Outstanding

[rodeo kid]

Very neat. I wish they would do that at least once a year. God Bless.

[bdhold]

our Navy was stunning during that war.
Our Army's invasion of Canada was much less so.

[stew71]

I'd give someone's right arm to be aboard that lovely ship while under sail.

Taking a tour of her is on my bucket list.

[El Chivo]

I also appreciate that ship, I toured it when I was in Boston. Built several models of her when I was younger. I think of her as tough more than beautiful, though. I'd rather sail in the Cutty Sark or Thermopylae.

[.45colt]

We were able to Go see it once on vacation,couldn't tour then as they were doing something onboard then. It was really awesome just to be there and see it. Now Ain't THAT.....AMERICA.

[msmith1228]

I was there in May, I'm a Navy veteran but that was the first and only time I have ever been on A US Navy ship.

Mack

[jeepnik]

our Navy was stunning during that war.
Our Army's invasion of Canada was much less so.

True, the damage they inflicted ired the British to a point that when the marched on Washington, they burned it.

[Pitchy]

Seen that on tv, very cool indeed.

[Old No7]

My favorite ship, thanks Griff!

Some more images down below for you all to enjoy...

Boy, don't she look grand?!?!?

(Hope I look that good at half her age...)

Old No7

USS C 01.jpg

USS C 02.jpg

USS C 03.jpg

USS C 04.jpg

That last one is from this week; the others are from 1997.

[2ndovc]

Really cool!

The Niagra and the Pride of Baltimore came through Lake Erie a few years ago. I was just heading out on my speed boat and saw the two ships on the horizon. I punched it and it still took a half hour to catch them. Beautiful sight on a misty day! Was p'd I didn't have a camera!
can't get enough of that stuff! So born in the wrong century!

jb

[Ysabel Kid]

Most excellent!

[El Chivo]

True, the damage they inflicted ired the British to a point that when the marched on Washington, they burned it

now there's an idea...

[Ben_Rumson]

Yep I saw it on the news too & liked it....Searching around the web a few months back for info on Constitution's guns I ran across a video of a load & fire drill of one of Constitution's 24 pndr guns... They were monsters... or all the guys in the drill were half pints... Another thing I ran across was lots of model cannon info... But these guys offer a fair priced high quality fully American Made (to include the brass from American brass producers) 1/8 & 1/10 scale 24 pounder cannon modeled after the ones onboard Constitution, http://www.bestmodelcannons.com/Models_ ... _Info.html
Constitution's cannon were iron but folks like brass cannon better, so that what they provide... If you follow the link you get a sense of perspective what a nice size the fully functional 1/8 scale cannon is...

[wolfdog]

Truly an impressive sight.

[jeepnik]

She's one Tall Ship I would really like to see.

And on that subject, if you live anywhere near the coast, and get a chance to visit a harbor having one of the Tall Ships events it's a must see.

Sadly, I was on the wrong side (these were taken during the early morning and I was on the west side of the channel, and I had stuff on my lens I didn't know about til later), but here's one of my favorite Tall Ships from the Port of Los Angeles "Festival of Sail" in 2008. To see well over a dozen sailing vessels coming up the channel a few even under sail (let's see the America's Cup crews try that on a ship this size) is a sight you'll never forget.

[Ben_Rumson]

Nice snap!

[Blaine]

Tacoma has a Tall Ship To-Do every so often. I should go to one

[trapper45]

Go down to the Post Office and pick up a few sheets of the Constitution/War of 1812 commemorative stamps. The neatest looking stamp in ages, and good 'forever.' She'll sail whenever you mail a letter or payment (some of us still don't do everything on line). And this from an Air Force guy!

[Hagler]

trapper45,

Here you go:





Shawn

[Pete44ru]

The very low heaspace (like, less than 5') below decks was the thing I remembed most from when I was aboard.

I'm glad she got restored.


.

[66GTO]

My area of Florida has played a small role in preserving the USS Constitution. The source for live oak timbers used in the ship during its last restoration came from the Pensacola area. The U.S. Navy established a reserve of live oak trees in the early 1800's for use in ship building and repair. The reserve still exists just east of Gulf Breeze, Florida and was the source of timbers for the USS Constitution when it was restored in 1926. Many of the live oaks there have split trunks that Y a few feet up. These are especially useful for the ribs in the hull.

http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/n ... eoaks.html

[44-40 Willy]

20 years in the Navy (including a couple of tours in Pensacola so I knew about the live oaks there) and I've never seen USS Constitution. I've visited HMS Victory in Portsmouth England, but never was near enough to Boston to go see Old Ironsides.

[jeepnik]

True, the damage they inflicted ired the British to a point that when the marched on Washington, they burned it

now there's an idea...

Yea, but I doubt we could get the Brits to do it again. Their politicians are as bad or worse than ours, and their military just isn't what it used to be.

[trapper45]

I'd been waiting for that stamp since I saw the original advert a while back in the P.O. lobby. When it was issued I promptly hied down to the local counter and cleaned them out. Should last a good long while . . . .

[Ji in Hawaii]

When I was a kid I had the USS Constitution "ship in a bottle" a gift from my Aunt (Dad's older sis) in Boston. Ma. Loved that thing but it disappeared years ago I think a victim of my sister's kleptomaniac daughter.

I have always LOVED tall ships. I'll never forget as a teenager during the Bicentennial celebrations watching the parade of tall ships in Boston Harbor on TV while holding my then brand new 1894 Marlin 44 mag.

We have the "Falls of Clyde" here in Honolulu Harbor but she is really showing her age.

I have toured the Japanese naval training vessel the Kaiwo Maru while she was in port in Honolulu on a couple occasions.

My nephew Ed was crew aboard The Eagle while attending the US Coast Guard Academy. Now he pilots C-130s along the West Coast.

[Old Ironsights]

Cool! New Pics that I can steal to resurrect my original Avatar!

[jeepnik]

Ji, that's a great shot of the Eagle. You'll note in mine, they wimped out and brought it down the channel under power.

[Bob Hatfield]

While picking tobacco for the Consolidated Cigar Corp. They used hillbillies like me as field workers in the summer bussing us up from WV to work with Peurto Ricans. Couldnt get the locals to pick the terbaccy I guess. They sent us on trips to places like Boston on weekend day long trips. The USS Constitution was one of my favorites.

One thing that I noticed as 15 year old kid was that decks are short. Below deck you had to bend over sort of and the sleeping berths looked like they were made for midgits.

Bob

[Ji in Hawaii]

One thing that I noticed as 15 year old kid was that decks are short. Below deck you had to bend over sort of and the sleeping berths looked like they were made for midgits.

Bob

Same on the "Falls of Clyde" pictured above, seemed like it was crewed by munchkins. I was told by the guide that men were generally smaller in stature in the past centuries.