The USS Constitution, affectionately known as "Old Ironsides", is the oldest ship in the US Navy.
On August 19th, 1812, she met the Royal Navy Frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia and handily defeated her. Yesterday, on the 200th anniverasy of Guerriere Day, she left Charleston Harbor and sailed for a short time under sail before returning to her berth.
The Battle:
Constitution fires into the burning hulk of Guerriere, now badly damaged.
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Whatever the excuses for the loss of the Guerrire publicly accepted by the Royal Navy, the 44 gun Constitution class frigates of the US Navy had a secret weapon. They used Georgia Live Oak as the wood for their construction. Georgia Live Oak is a wood that is very hard, heavy, extremely difficult to work with and it resists rot to an exceptional degree. The sides of the USS Consitution were sufficiently strong as to resist the cannon balls of enemy ships to a certain degree. The Constitution battled and defeated five Royal Navy ships during the War of 1812; HMS Guerriere, Java, Pictou, Cyane and Levant.At 2.00 p.m. on August 19, the Constitution sighted a large ship to leeward, and bore down to investigate. The weather was cloudy, and the wind was brisk. The strange ship proved to be the Guerriere, whose crew recognised Constitution at about the same moment. Both ships prepared for action, and shortened sail to "fighting sail", i.e. topsails and jibs only. As the Constitution closed, Dacres first hove to to fire a broadside, which fell short, and then ran before the wind for three quarters of an hour with the Constitution on her quarter. Dacres yawed several times to fire broadsides at the Constitution, but the Guerriere's broadsides were generally inaccurate, while the few shots fired from Constitution's foremost guns had little effect.[10] After one cannon-ball bounced "harmlessly" off the side of the Constitution, a crew member is said to have yelled "Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!"[8]
Once the range had closed to within a few hundred yards, Captain Hull ordered extra sail (the foresail and main topgallant sail) to be set, to close the distance quickly. Dacres did not match this manoeuvre, and the two ships began exchanging broadsides at "half pistol-shot",[11] with the Constitution to starboard and Guerriere to port. After fifteen minutes of this exchange, during which Guerriere suffered far more damage than the Constitution due to the latter's larger guns and thicker hull, Guerriere's mizzenmast fell overboard to starboard, acting like a rudder and dragging her around. This allowed Constitution to cross ahead of Guerriere, firing a raking broadside which brought down the main yard. Hull then wore ship to cross Guerriere's bow again, firing another raking broadside, but the manoeuvre was cut too close and the Guerriere's bowsprit became entangled in the rigging of the Constitution's mizzenmast.
On both ships, boarding parties were summoned, while musket fire broke out from each ship. Lieutenant Charles Morris and Captain Dacres were both wounded by musket shots. Only the narrow bowsprit provided a way between the ships, and in the heavy sea, neither side could venture across it. Some of the gunners aboard Guerriere fired at point-blank range into Hull's stern cabin, setting the American ship on fire briefly. The two locked ships slowly rotated clockwise until they broke free. The Guerriere's foremast and mainmast both then fell "by the board" i.e. snapped off at deck level, leaving her helpless and rolling heavily.[12] Dacres attempted to set sail on the bowsprit to bring his ship before the wind, but it too had been damaged and broke.[13] The Constitution meanwhile ran downwind for several minutes, repairing damage to the rigging, before once again wearing and beating upwind to return to battle.
As Constitution prepared to renew the action, the Guerriere fired a shot in the opposite direction to the Constitution.[14] Sensing that this was an attempt to signal surrender, Hull ordered a boat to take a Lieutenant over to the British ship. When the Lieutenant walked onto the Guerriere and asked if Guerriere was prepared to surrender, Captain Dacres responded "Well, Sir, I don't know. Our mizzen mast is gone, our fore and main masts are gone-I think on the whole you might say we have
Captain Dacres was escorted aboard the Constitution. Hull refused to accept Dacres' sword of surrender, saying he could not accept the sword from a man who had fought so gallantly.[2] He also ordered that Dacres' mother's Bible be returned to him.[2] The Guerriere was clearly sinking, and the wounded were transferred to the Constitution. Hull found that ten impressed Americans had been serving aboard Guerriere but Dacres had permitted them to stay below decks instead of fighting their countrymen.[15]
Hull wanted the Guerriere towed in as a prize ship. The Constitution lay by the Guerriere during the night but at daybreak it was obvious that the Guerriere could not be salvaged. The prisoners and the American salvage parties were brought aboard Constitution and at three o'clock in the afternoon, the Guerriere was set on fire, and soon blew up.[16]
Although Constitution was capable of continuing its cruise (it was substantially undamaged and still had two thirds of its ammunition), Hull wanted the American public to have news of the victory. He reached Boston ten days later, and his news (with the obvious proof of more than two hundred prisoners of war) caused rejoicing. The Guerriere had been one of the most active ships of the Royal Navy in stopping and searching American merchant vessels, and the news of its defeat was particularly satisfying to the American seafaring community.[17] Ironically, Hull was never to hold another fighting command.[15]
Once released by exchange of prisoners and returned to Halifax, Dacres was tried by court martial, as was customary in the case of a Royal Navy ship lost from any cause. He put forward as his defence the facts that the Guerriere was originally French-built, captured by the Royal Navy in 1806, and therefore not as sturdy as British-built ships, and more importantly, that the Guerriere was badly decayed and in fact on its way to refit in Halifax at the time, and the fall of the mizzen mast which crippled the Guerriere early in the fight had been due as much to rot as battle damage.[18] There was no suggestion that Dacres and his men had not done their utmost, or that Dacres had been unwise to engage the Constitution. (Early in the War of 1812, it was accepted in the Royal Navy that a British 38-gun frigate could successfully engage a 44-gun frigate of any other nation.) Dacres was therefore acquitted
An onlooker waves a colonial era flag as the USS Constitution passes through Boston Harbor in Boston, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012. The USS Constitution, the U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned war ship, sailed under her own power during the event Sunday for the first time since 1997. The sail was held to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the ship's victory over HMS Guerriere in the War of 1812. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
photo from here
The USS Constitution fires one of her guns in Boston Harbor as a crowd looks on from the shore in Boston, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012. The USS Constitution, the U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned war ship, sailed under her own power Sunday for the first time since 1997. The event was held to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the ship's victory over HMS Guerriere in the War of 1812. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
photo from here
Military reenactors in the uniforms of U.S. Marines from the war of 1812 march in front of the USS Constitution moments after the vessel arrived at her berth in Charlestown Navy Yard, in Boston, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012. The U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned war ship sailed under her own power Sunday for the first time since 1997. The sail was held to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the ship's victory over HMS Guerriere in the War of 1812. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
image from here
The USS Constitution is escorted by a tugboat in Boston Harbor in Boston, Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012. The USS Constitution, the U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned war ship, sailed under her own power during the event Sunday for the first time since 1997. The sail was held to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the ship's victory over HMS Guerriere in the War of 1812. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
image from here
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