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Show "Nautical Novelties" Are you informe'd of the fact that? The famous frigate, the XT. S. S. Constitution was launched at Boston Bos-ton on September 20, 1797. The ship carried 44 guns, was of 157i3 tons displacement, and cost $302,-719. $302,-719. Her first Commanding Officer was Captain Nicholson. This ship known also as Old Ironsides, was restored to her original condition a few years ago by the contributions contribu-tions of pennies, nickles and dimes from school children throughout the United States. During the current cur-rent year, the Constitution has been cruising on the East Coast. On December 7th she left Washington Wash-ington for the West Coast where she will make stops between San Diego and Bremerton. She will remain re-main in each port long enough to permit school children In the vicinity vi-cinity to visit the ship. At the close of the eighteenth century "ships-of-the-line" were heavy vessels of two or three gun decks, carrying from seventy-five to one hundred and twenty-five guns. The "frigate" was ship-rigged also but had only one gun deck below the spar deck. Being speedier speed-ier than the heavy ship-of-the-line, the frigate was generally used for scout duty; she was the "cruiser" of this period. The "sloop of war" was the smallest type; all her armament was mounted on the spar deck. The naval guns of this period were of two classes-long guns and short guns ("carronades"') . The carronades were used at cloe quarters. The carronades were named from the village of Carron in Scotland where the type of gun was first cast. Tide, which is the vertical rise and fall of the ocean level, is due to the attraction of the moon and the sun upon the waters of the earth. Dueto the fact that the sun is much further than the moon from the earth, the sun ha3 only about two-fifths the effect that the moon has on the tide. The first American Naval Force to participate in the World War was a destroyer division under Commander Joseph K. Taussig. It consisted of the destroyers Wads-worth, Wads-worth, Conyngham, Porter, Mc-Dougal. Mc-Dougal. Davis and Wainwright. The British destroyer "Mary Rose" greeted the division at sea with the signal "Welcome to the American Amer-ican Colors", and escorted it to Queenstown. Whenever a vessel crosses the equator, those members of the crew called "shell-backs" who have previously been over the line, initiate the other members, known as "pollywogs", into the mysteries of the Deep. These initiations are often very elaborate affairs, Certificates Certi-ficates are issued to all "shellbacks". "shell-backs". On December 7, 1917 the Sixth Battle Squadron of the U. S. Atlantic At-lantic Fleet, . under the command of Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman, arrived at Scapa Flow, Scotland to augment the British Fleet. The above "Nautical Novelties" were furnished by the U. S. Navy Recruiting Station, Salt Lake City, Utah. |