Alexander Martin Model Ship Gallery

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U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides)

Who is there with a liking for things of the sea and a desire for beautiful decorations in his home who would not take delight in owning a model of Old Ironsides, the most famous ship that ever carried the Stars and Stripes.

This model represents the famous frigate substantially as she appeared during the War of 1812. In her is embodied the spirit of the American Navy. Every school child learns her history and knows the story of her valiant battles. She not only played a monumental part in the early wars of the republic, but she has figured gloriously in fiction, poetry and the movies. In the spring of 1927 she was the center of intense national interest because of a campaign conducted for funds for her restoration at the Boston (Charleston) Navy Yard.

As the history of the Constitution is to be found in many books and numberless articles, it will be sufficient here to say that her keel was laid down by Joshua Humphries of Philadelphia. She was built after the best French practice on the lines of a battleship, but with one deck less, making her a frigate. She was commissioned in 1798, one of the first three up-to-date warships to be built for the young republic. She saw service in the French wars, dictated peace to four of the Barbary corsair states and won a succession of victories in the War of 1812. She was in active commission for 84 years. In 1882 she was made a receiving ship at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was towed to Boston in 1897.

In 1906-1907 she received her third reconditioning. Her principle dimensions are: length overall (hull) of 204 feet, beam 43.5 feet, depth of hold 14.6 feet, displacement 2200 tons. Her speed was up to about 12.5 knots and her crew up to 500 men.

The model represents her about as she was in the War of 1812. The plans were adapted and simplified from government blueprints. The scale used is 1/10 of an inch to one foot. This model is 18 inches on the load water line and 31 inches long from the end of the flying jib boom to the end of the spanker boom, and 24 inches high from keel to main truck. The Constitution was affectionately called Old Ironsides because she was so toughly built and that she always withstood the onslaughts of her enemy's cannon balls and was never beaten. No wonder she remains with us after about 175 years, a glorious monument to the might of the sea power of the United States.

The Constitution in 1812 carried 30 long 24 pounders on the gun deck, 22 cannonades of 32 pounds, 2 long 24 pounders, and one long 18 pounder on the frigate (top) deck. The building of the Constitution commenced actually in 1794, and Congress dilly-dallied with payments, and it was only due to the increased activities of the Barbary pirates that she was finally finished and commissioned in 1798. Her first cruise under Captain Samuel Nicholson accomplished nothing and her fame did not start until Commodore Edward Preble took her out in 1803. Her subsequent actions finally ended the war with Tripoli, and it was in her cabin that the treaty was drawn up and signed in 1807. She returned home and was dismantled in the New York Navy Yard where she was laid up until 1810 when Captain Isaac Hull, her former First Luff (Lieutenant Commander), took her out. Then began her real fame in the War of 1812 under Hull, Bainbridge, and Stewart. She made history and was laid up at the end of the hostilities in 1815. During the following years she was active and inactive as naval needs dictated until she was relegated to the bottom of the Navy lists as a receiving ship, a housed-over hulk with stub masts. On the centennial anniversary of her building she was towed from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Boston and laid up at the Navy Yard for extensive repairs. In 1927 she was saved from scrapping and was rebuilt and fitted to conform to her 1812 period. Afterwards she toured both coasts of the United States though regretfully not under sail, and will always prove an inspiration for upholding the statutes for which she is named. Restored by authority of Congress and the pennies of the children of the nation , the U.S.S. Constitution has become a sacred shrine of our Navy and our country. At rest now in the place of her birth, she preserves the memories of the dramas enacted upon her decks and lives on as a tradition of the U.S. Navy at Boston Navy Yard.

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