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USS Constitution 38" Description
Total Dimensions: 38" L x 10" W x 28" H
SOLD FULLY ASSEMBLED
Ready for Immediate Display - Not a Model Ship kit
With exquisitely fine craftsmanship, unmatched features and careful attention to every detail, these scale replica tall ship models of the USS Constitution are certain to please even the most discriminating enthusiast of naval history. Whether the highlight of an office or den, or the centerpiece of a nautical themed meeting room or family living room, “Old Ironsides” will evoke wonder at her manifest detail and inspire historical pride with her indomitable spirit.
38" Long x 12" Wide x 28" High (1:64 scale)
•Built from scratch over hundreds of hours by master artisans
•High quality woods include cherry, birch, maple and rosewood
•Individual wooden planks used in hull construction
•200% more rigging than 30” tall ship models features over 200 blocks and deadeyes
•Four anchors weigh aside the bow
•Cannon carriages tied-down to deck to reduce recoil
•Other Amazing Details, including:
◦Planked deck with nail holes
◦Authentic scale lifeboats
◦Rudder chains, cannonball racks
◦U.S. shield on the bow
◦Handcrafted rosewood eagle on the stern
◦Solid brass cannons and metal anchors
◦Additional deck details such as cannon balls, barrels, etc.
◦23 masterfully stitched, heavy canvas sails hold shape and do not wrinkle
◦Taut rigging with varied thread gauge and color
•Meticulous painting accurately matches the actual USS Constitution
•Wooden display base features four arched dolphins
◦Pictured with marble base (available for purchase)
•Extensive research of original plans, historical drawings and paintings as well as actual photographs ensures the highest possible accuracy
USS Constitution 38" HistoryConstruction and early service
Constitution was built at Edmund Hartt's shipyard in Boston, Massachusetts from the resilient lumber of 2,000 live oak trees (specifically Southern live oak) cut and milled at Gascoigne Bluff in St. Simmons, Georgia. Constitution's planks were up to seven inches (178 mm) thick. The ship's design was also unique for its time because of a diagonal cross-bracing of the ship's skeleton that contributed considerably to the ship's structural strength. Paul Revere forged the copper spikes and bolts that held the planks in place and the copper sheathing that protected the hull. It took several abortive attempts to launch Constitution in 1797 before she finally slipped into Boston Harbor. Armed, Constitution first put to sea July 22, 1798 and saw her first service patrolling the southeast coast of the United States during the Quasi-War with France. During her service in the conflict, Constitution's sailors and Marines took part in the amphibious operation against Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo wherein the French privateer Sandwich was cut out and guns from the local Spanish fort were spiked.
In 1803 Constitution was designated flagship for the Mediterranean Squadron under Captain Edward Preble and went to serve against the Barbary States of North Africa, which were demanding tribute from the United States in exchange for allowing American merchant vessels access to Mediterranean ports. Preble began an aggressive campaign against Triploi, blockading ports and bombarding fortifications. Finally Tipoli, Tunis and Algiers agreed to a peace treaty.
Constitution patrolled the North African coast for two years after the war ended, commanded by Stephen Decatur and two other captains between 1803 and 1805, to enforce the terms of the treaty.
She returned to Boston in 1807 for two years of refitting. The ship was recommissioned as flagship of the North Atlantic Squadron in 1809 under Commodore John Rodgers.
War of 1812
By early 1812, relations with the United Kingdom had deteriorated and the Navy began preparing for war, which was declared June 20. Captain Issac Hull, who had been appointed Constitution's commanding officer in 1810, put to sea July 12, without orders, to prevent being blockaded in port. His intention was to join the five ships of Rodgers' squadron.
Constitution sighted five ships off Egg Harbor, New Jersey, July 17. By the following morning the lookouts had determined they were a British squadron that had sighted Constitution and were giving chase. Finding themselves becalmed, Hull and his seasoned crew put boats over the side to tow their ship out of range. By using kedge anchors to draw the ship forward, and wetting the sails down to take advantage of every breath of wind, Hull slowly made headway against the pursuing British. After two days and nights of toil in the relentless July heat, Constitution finally eluded her pursuers.
But one month later on August 19, she met with one of them again—the smaller frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia. The British frigate opened fire upon entering range of Constitution. Captain Hull held his ship's guns in check until the two warships were a mere 25 yards apart, at which point he ordered a full broadside. Over the course of the engagement, the ships collided three times but musket fire from the Marine complements on both Guerriere and Constitution prevented boarding parties from being sent. During the third and final collision, Guerriere 's bowsprit became entangled in Constitution 's rigging. When the two ships pulled apart, the force of extracting the bowsprit sent shockwaves through Guerriere 's rigging. Her foremast soon collapsed and it took the mainmast down with it shortly afterward. At the conclusion of the engagement Guerriere was a dis-masted hulk, so badly damaged that she was not worth towing to port. Hull had used his heavier broadsides and his ship's superior sailing ability, while the British, to their astonishment, saw that their shot seemed to rebound harmlessly off Constitution's strong live oak hull—giving her the nickname "Old Ironsides".
Under the command of William Bainbridge, "Old Ironsides" metHMS Java, another British frigate, in December. Their three-hour engagement left Java unfit for repair, so she was burned. Constitution's victories gave a tremendous boost to the morale of the American people.
Despite having to spend many months in port, either under repair or because of blockades, Constitution managed eight more captures under the command of Charles Stewart, including a British frigate, HMS Cyane, and a sloop, HM Sloop Levant, sailing in company which she fought and defeated simultaneously, before she returned to port in 1815 to find the war had ended. After six years of extensive repairs, she returned to duty as flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron. She sailed back to Boston in 1828.
1835 Service after reconstruction
An examination in 1830 found her unfit for sea, but the American public expressed great indignation at the recommendation that she be scrapped, especially after publication of Oliver Wendell Holmes' poem "Old Ironsides". Congress passed an appropriation for reconstruction and in 1835 she was placed back in commission. She served as flagship in the Mediterranean and the South Pacific and made a 30-month voyage around the world beginning in March 1844.
In the 1850s she patrolled the African coast in search of slavers, and during the American Civil War served as a training ship for midshipmen. But Constitution, along with all ships of her type, was becoming rapidly obsolete as a fighting vessel. As early as 1838, steamships had begun to make regular transatlantic crossings and the Civil War's Battle of Hampton Roads had shown the impotence of wooden-hulled warships when faced with ships made of (or clad in) iron.
Even when restricted from front line duties, however, Constitution contin
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