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USS Constellation (1797)

History

The Naval Act of 1794 allows the United States government to formally finance the construction of a standing naval force at sea. The first ships to enter service with the new United States Navy (USN) consisted of six 38-gun sailing frigates. These include the USS Constellation, which has two notable "firsts" in service the first U.S.

Navy ship to go to sea and the first to surpass an enemy ship. She was ordered on March 27, 1794, built under the direction of David Stodd, and cost over $300,000. She was launched on September 7, 1797, and served under the nickname "Yankee Derby."

A fast and well-equipped sailboat, the USS Constellation features a hull designed by Joshua Humphrey that requires great length against narrow beams - this allows the Constellation to have good speed against larger and more powerful enemy types, And give it the ability to assemble a large number of weapons. Such moves are commonplace to help the navy remain competitive, as the nascent U.S.

Navy lacks the size and power of a contemporary nation such as the United Kingdom.

When completed, the USS Constellation was classified as a "38-gun frigate", armed with 28 x 18-pounders (long guns) and 20 x 32-pounders (caron guns). The "38-Gun" in the name was a generic firearm rating as there was no proven true naming standard in this regard at the time. As such, ships like Constellation will likely see their armament change over the course of their service.

The vessel has a crew of 340 and structural dimensions include a barrel length of 164 feet, a beam of 41 feet and a depth of 13.5 feet. She displaced 1,265 tons and sailed on a standard three-mast approach.

The first action of the USS Constellations took place in the quasi-war against France (1798-1800). The war was named because it was an informal, undisclosed conflict between former allies rooted in the Americans' refusal to repay their loans to France.

As a result, French ships began to accept American merchants. The 1800 Convention ended the conflict, in which the USS Constellation claimed possession of the French 36-gun frigate L'Insurgente. It also tangled and severely damaged the Nemesis during the war.

Tensions with the North African nation over American shipping and piracy increased, leading to the First Brutal War. In May 1802, the USS Constellation acted as an escort escort in Mediterranean waters for the blockade of Tunisia.

Peace was reached with Tunisia in 1805, and the Constellation was withdrawn from the United States - anchored in Washington until 1812.

In 1812, a new conflict broke out between the United States and Great Britain, the so-called War of 1812. Constellation was returned to service in 1813, and her notable actions during the war were two rejections of British attempts to take her to Hampton Roads.

The war continued until 1815 and resulted in a stalemate.

During this period, American warships were dispatched against the British, and North African pirates took the opportunity to confront American ships again, thus triggering the Second Barbarian War. An official declaration of war on Algiers followed, and the Constellation returned to Mediterranean waters to bolster U.S. naval power in the region.

She captured the enemy frigate "Mashuda" in June 1815 and helped enforce a treaty that led to Constellation's return to the United States in late 1817.

Further anti-piracy operations followed, first in Atlantic waters off the coast of South America and later in Pacific waters. Returning again to Mediterranean waters, she was used to quell the Seminole rebellion in 1835. Before traveling the world, Constellation served in the West India Squadron.

In 1853, she was delisted from the Naval Registry in Norfolk, Virginia, and stripped of her military worth. Her seafaring days are over.

Her name was brought back to life with the construction of the USS Constellation, a sloop launched in 1854. Unlike the original Constellation, this 1854 ship was preserved from scrap after its voyage and remains a protected ship in Baltimore, Maryland.