across the charles river from boston is charlestown navy yard.
home
of the uss constitution and uss cassin young. cassin young is a world war 2 destroyer named after a captain at pearl harbour who was blown off his ship by the blast of an explosion aboard the battleship arizona. after he was blown off the ship, he swam back to his ship and continued to fight on. he was awarded a medal of honour for his actions at pearl harbour, and was later killed in action aboard his cruiser.
so, back to the constitution. construction on her was started after congress passed the naval construction act of 1794 which began the construction of 6 frigates to protect american commerce in the mediterranean from north african pirates. these frigates were built to
ultra-modern designs for the time period and constitutions hull was built from a blend of white and live oak which gave it great strength and ability to withstand shot. constitution fought the french, the barbary pirates of north africa, and the british... she defeated the british frigates
guerriere, java, and cyane.
if you take a guided tour, you can go belowdecks. we had to wait 20 minutes for a guided tour from one of the active duty personnel aboard constitution. but, it was worth it. the non-guided tour only lets you on, to wander about on the open main deck. the guided tour took us down to the berth deck, where the crew and midshipmen lived. i think it was interesting that the midshipmen's pantr
y was basically in the middle of
the deck where all the other sailors slept... the wardroom was at aft on this deck, and seemed small and large at the same time. all the officers' cabins were around this open space. the gundeck carried
the main armament of the ship, forty four 24 pounder cannons. this
was a larger armament than a lot of the british frigates of the day, the smallest of which might carry 28 12 pound cannon...
one of the neat things was the commanding officer's plaque which named all the commanding officers of the constitution for over 200 years. hopefully, one day, my name will be on there.
the ship's helm controol console, the latest technology for 1794
, was exposed to shot and shell during battle and had 38pdr carronades on each side. carronades were smaller than a regular cannon but often larger caliber. they fired larger projectiles over a shorter distance and were particularly useful for repelling boarders and preparing to board a hostile ship.
across the piers from the constitution is the drydock that was built in 1833
, and was used for quite some time. today, most naval drydocks are floating dry docks. but, this one will be used for rennovations on constitution and cassin young.
home 
of the uss constitution and uss cassin young. cassin young is a world war 2 destroyer named after a captain at pearl harbour who was blown off his ship by the blast of an explosion aboard the battleship arizona. after he was blown off the ship, he swam back to his ship and continued to fight on. he was awarded a medal of honour for his actions at pearl harbour, and was later killed in action aboard his cruiser.
so, back to the constitution. construction on her was started after congress passed the naval construction act of 1794 which began the construction of 6 frigates to protect american commerce in the mediterranean from north african pirates. these frigates were built to
ultra-modern designs for the time period and constitutions hull was built from a blend of white and live oak which gave it great strength and ability to withstand shot. constitution fought the french, the barbary pirates of north africa, and the british... she defeated the british frigates guerriere, java, and cyane.
if you take a guided tour, you can go belowdecks. we had to wait 20 minutes for a guided tour from one of the active duty personnel aboard constitution. but, it was worth it. the non-guided tour only lets you on, to wander about on the open main deck. the guided tour took us down to the berth deck, where the crew and midshipmen lived. i think it was interesting that the midshipmen's pantr
y was basically in the middle of 
the deck where all the other sailors slept... the wardroom was at aft on this deck, and seemed small and large at the same time. all the officers' cabins were around this open space. the gundeck carried
the main armament of the ship, forty four 24 pounder cannons. this 
was a larger armament than a lot of the british frigates of the day, the smallest of which might carry 28 12 pound cannon...
one of the neat things was the commanding officer's plaque which named all the commanding officers of the constitution for over 200 years. hopefully, one day, my name will be on there.
the ship's helm controol console, the latest technology for 1794
, was exposed to shot and shell during battle and had 38pdr carronades on each side. carronades were smaller than a regular cannon but often larger caliber. they fired larger projectiles over a shorter distance and were particularly useful for repelling boarders and preparing to board a hostile ship.
across the piers from the constitution is the drydock that was built in 1833
, and was used for quite some time. today, most naval drydocks are floating dry docks. but, this one will be used for rennovations on constitution and cassin young.
