The frigate Constitution was launched in 1797 from Hartt's shipyard in Boston and soon saw action in the Quasi-War with France.  But her fame and nickname "Old Ironsides" were gained in the War of 1812 when she sank the British frigates Guerriere and Java and in a single battle captured the sloops-of-war Cyane and Levant.

After the war Constitution made several cruises to the Mediterranean.  In 1830 the old ship was to be broken up, but an inspirational poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes helped raise funds for her overhaul.  In 1833 she became the first ship to use the new drydock at Boston Navy Yard.  In the next 20 years the frigate made an around-the-world cruise, captured the slave ship H.N. Gambrill off the African coast, and served as a training ship for midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Following the Civil War, the ship suffered a long period of neglect and deterioration.  In 1925 extensive repairs were begun that culminated, in 1931, in a 90-port tour of the U.S.  She returned to the city of her birth, where she remains as a memorial to the Navy's age of fighting sail.

From stem to stern the U.S.S. Constitution is 204 feet, weighs 2,200 tons, has a beam of 43 feet, 6 inches and draws 22 feet, 6 inches.  She has 8 miles of running rigging and 6.6 miles of standing rigging.  In 1812, she carried 450 crew including 55 marines and 30 boys.  Today, the U.S.S. Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, manned by an active duty U.S. Navy crew of 55 men and women.   She is undefeated in battle.

For more information about the U.S.S. Constitution, visit the Boston National Historical Park website.