The USS Constitution was one of six frigates commission by Congress in 1794 and was launched in Boston in 1797. Its first patrol was on the southeastern coast of the United States during the Quasi-war with France. It patrolled the West Indies, Brazil, and West Africa before being permanently berthed in the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston.

            During the War of 1812, she fought the battleship HMS Guerriere. Sailors on the Guerriere said that cannonballs fired at the Constitution bounced off the sides of it. These accounts coined the ship’s nickname of “Old Ironsides”. The British surrendered after only 20 minutes due to the extensive damage to their ship.

            The Constitution was declared unfit for sea in 1830. American protests resulted in congressional appropriation for the ship to be reconstructed in 1835. The newly reconstructed ship patrolled the coasts of Africa and served as a training ship in the Civil War.

            The ship was reconstructed again in 1871. She then served as a supply transport to France until 1877 and became a training ship once again.

            It was decommissioned again in 1882 and was used as a receiving ship in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. It was returned to Boston in 1897. In 1925, the ship was restored through donations from school children and patriotic groups.

            The USS Constitution was recommissioned again in 1931. She toured through 90 port cities along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. It is the oldest United States warship still in commission.

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Sources: http://www.navy.mil/navydata/nav_legacy.asp?id=192

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