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Log Books of the United States Navy, 19th and 20th Centuries USS Constitution General description, specifications and time line |
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USS Constitution around 1803 (USNH&HC Photo, click images to enlarge) |
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(Constitution, written principles of government of the United States of America)
Passing through the Panama Canal in 1932 with tug lashed alongside
Type and Characteristics - Heavy sailing frigate, one of six authorized (along with USS United States) by Congress, approved 27 March 1794, built at Edmund Hartt's Shipyard, Boston, MA, laid down 1 November 1794, launched 21 October 1797, put to sea 23 July 1798, 2,200 tons, 175ft long x 43ft 6in beam x 14ft 3in draft, 13kts, armed with 30-24pdr cannon, 16-18pdr carronades and 10-12pdr cannon, 450 crew, first commanded by Captain Samuel Nicholson.
Log Period and Areas of Service - 1826-81 (some years and months missing), 1931-32, including Mediterranean Squadron, South Pacific Squadron, Home Squadron.
Summary of Service, c1826-81 & 1931-32
1828 - Returned to Boston after period as Flagship, Mediterranean Squadron.
1830 - Surveyed and found unseaworthy, set aside for sale or scrapping, but rescinded because of public pressure.
1833 - Reconstruction begun at Boston.
1835 - Recommissioned.
August 1835 - Started 3-year tour as Mediterranean Squadron flagship.
1839-41 - Flagship, South Pacific Squadron.
1842-43 - Flagship, Home Squadron.
1844-46 - Began 30-month circumnavigation.
1848-50 - Flagship, Mediterranean Squadron.
1851 - Decommissioned.
1852-1855 - West African coast anti-slavery patrols.
1855-60 - Decommissioned.
August 1860 - Took up duties as midshipman training ship at Annapolis.
1861-65 - During Civil War, continued training duties at Newport, RI.
1871 - Decommissioned. Later started rebuild at Philadelphia.
1877 - Recommissioned to carry goods to the Paris Exposition. Then returned to training duties, cruising from West Indies to Nova Scotia.
1882 - Decommissioned.
1884 - Towed to Portsmouth, NH to serve as receiving ship.
1897 - In Boston for her Centennial year. Decommissioned.
1905 - Saved from scrapping by public demand, and partly restored as national museum.
1925 - Plans for complete renovation started.
1 July 1931 - Recommissioned. Next day, started tour of 90 US ports along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts.
May 1934 - Returned to Boston Harbor.
Fate: Still in commission in Boston.