Ships Through the Ages: Frigates "Constitution" and "Boston"

King, Frederic Leonard, 1879-1947 · 1934–1935

The Constitution was referred to as "Old Ironsides," as her wooden walls appeared impervious to piercing. The frigate was launched at the Boston Navy Yard in 1797 and carried fifty-two guns, and was considered the finest example of shipbuilding of the day, most significantly deployed during the War of 1812. The Constitution is still anchored in Boston Harbor and has been rebuilt so often that fewer than fifteen of the original timbers remain. The Boston, more modestly armed than the Constitution, was funded by donations from the people of Boston as part of the Naval War Act of 1798, and, with the Constitution, were the basis for what became the present-day United States Navy.