Show 1 1 OLD IRONSIDES I 1 ai I 1 ORY OF ONE OF THE OLD SHIPS IN N THE AMERICAN NAVY i tn in 1 I navy yard she p of veneration loa 0 baet Is the he of people of to the lit fart r art nth ho are 1 itous ud of her know that the people may kot jot dinall many ly constitution so renowned in old 1 frigate is still included at among nong the I 1 0 ur assels as of the navy she is dismantled T at her and is ant be expected age 35 t ta in that condition tion at portsmouth tep she is a craft of 2200 arins disi 4 I 1 N ernect and now carries no 0 o battery 4 1 olace of the forty four guns of the in P I 1 0 of f her glory dayl the constitution that after the tile irwy t as 0 IV V cious opening on oil land of our war as thereat thO tilo reat britain eighty years ago W 11 0 I 1 series of splendid eplen did victories oa on lea 3 the honor of the first capture rapture I 1 the f british war vessel undoubtedly bew 0 to td the essex captain david for por i ter jawbone jaw 1061 whose bose defeat d of the alert occurred dij days before the constitution deed ayed the berriere but the essex carried thirty two 82 aunders gonn ders A and ad tho the alert only twenty 18 28 oders ders so that very soon after open i iii y fire are the crew of the little british I 1 craft which baying having captured one of our tr transports sports had made up to the essex fairing her to be a merchantman were compelled co to quit their guns and within tight eight minutes to strike their flag this thi is conquest though gratifying I 1 was in eri table whereas that of the constitution was gained over a craft nearer her and strength own vm size but while yielding tho the laurels of prior I 1 y to the gallant essex on this score the constitution under captain isaac hull can claim them again for success in ill a trial of seamanship between herself herse if and ud a british squadron till then affairs 1 were looking gloomy for us at sea land the british frigate aa 35 well as on belvidere Belr Bely idere w while convoying a fleet of bhole bad had escaped from a whole squadron of our warships where u a our nautilus had struck to an fx english jh squadron being the first war tiu p captured on either side under these untoward circumstances the con co 1 returning from europe fell in with a british squadron led by tho the africa a 61 gun ship during four days she was chased by this squadron through calm and through breeze the flight and pursuit went on at one time she had boats out opt towing her at another her crew were hauling upon a kedge anchor that had been carried out and dropped a long distance 3 I 1 ahead allea on the fourth day the longed for wind came and with every eail sail set the constitution drew away from her pursuers the scene when five frigates were standing on the same tack and the constitution was showing her heels to her enemies being often recounted eighty years ago some of the historians describe this as the first of our triumphs on the sea in that war but in our time of course tho the fame of the constitution is more familiarly associated with her capture of tho the guerriere it was on aug 10 1812 that th the 0 two vessels net met both eager for a fight the scene was off the coast of massacci massachusetts III tho the british craft commanded by the gallant dacres was fint first to opec oper fire bre but hull hall maneuvered his vessel into the right position before bafo re he replied the th 0 mizzenmast boon soon went by the thi E board followed by her ber mainmast when the she struck she was in fact so completely used up that sho she could not be taken into port and had to be blown up the constitution was superior in ton nago e and complement carried more moro guns and threw throw a much heavier weight of metal in her broadsides broad sides still the vessels were near enough matched for t the be victory to produce a tremendous impression on both sides of the ocean alison describes tho the shock of this unwonted naval disaster in england where tho the belief that britannia ruled tho the waves was so profound that the american na navy ivy had seemed to be a mere mouthful for or her that samo same year the constitution under bainbridge gained It another nother great victory over the java off the coast of brazil the java like her predecessor was a agun 83 gun ship and in the battle she lost foremast and mizzenmast besides a part of her bowsprit while to complete the parallel like the guerriere she was so wrecked in the fight that she had to be blown up it was a great exhibition osgood of good seamanship and superior gunnery on tho part of aha american vessel for as cooper says the java had been literally picked to pieces by shot spar following spar until she had not one left her loss in killed and wounded was very heavy finally in 1815 under command of commodore stewart the famous old ship hip s mado made a double capture of the british frigate cyane and sloop levant old ironsides aa as she bad had come to be called during the war waa was launched at boston in 1797 and who knows but when the hundredth anniversary of that event comes around sho she may again bo put into commission so aa as to receive centennial honors bonoro new york sun |