Tag Archives: USS Constitution Battles

USS Constitution Battles – Capture of Cyane

by johnk on 21. May, 2010 in Model Ship History

After the Royal Navy’s Captain George Collier was handed command of HMS Leander, he was sent to North America to confront the frigates under American command that were devastating British merchant shipping paths. At this, Charles Stewart saw an opportune moment to slip out of the Boston Harbor on December 18, making his way for Bermuda. Meanwhile, Collier rounded up a squadron composed of Leander, Newcastle, and Acasta, but were still unable to take down the notorious USS Constitution.

By December 24, USS Constitution had overtaken Lord Nelson and maintained its prize crew aboard, which housed a bountiful Christmas dinner for the famished crew of USS Constitution.

While off of Cape Finisterre on February 8, 1815, Charles Stewart received word that the Treaty of Ghent was signed. However, Stewart was well aware that war would still ensue until the treaty had been officially ratified. While on February 16, the USS Constitution captured the British merchantman ship Susanna and escaped with $75,000 worth of animal hides. Afterwards, the crew of USS Constitution spotted two British ships, HMS Cyane and Levant, and began chasing the two on February 20.

While at first USS Constitution appeared outmatched by both Cyane and Levant’s devastating broadsides against it, Stewart eventually out maneuvered the two British ships, and soon forced Levant to retreat for repairs. With Levant out of the picture, USS Constitution focused on Cyane, and managed to overtake her. Levant came back from its repairs, but upon seeing Cyane’s fate, Levant attempted to high tail it out of USS Constitution’s sight. However, USS Constitution still managed to attack, and capture, Levant, with a series of devastating broadsides that struck through her colors.

Stewart stayed with his conquered prizes while having his triumphant USS Constitution repaired from the little damage she maintained from battle. Old Ironsides lived up to her name even more when USS Constitution was discovered to have twelve 32-pound British cannonballs lodged in her hull, of which none could penetrate through. After repairs, the crew of USS Constitution set a course for the Cape Verde Islands, and made port at Porto Praya on March 10.

On the next morning, Stewart, still unaware of Collier’s pursuit, spotted Collier’s squadron and ordered his ships to sail immediately. The now American possessed Cyane was lucky enough to have been able to avoid this squadron, and made sail to America, but Levant was recaptured by the British. Collier, distracted by recapturing Levant, had USS Constitution slip through British forces once again.

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USS Constitution Battles – HMS Java

by johnk on 19. May, 2010 in Model Ship History

Hull’s senior in command, William Bainbridge, took command of USS Constitution, or “Old Ironsides”, on September 8, and began preparing for a mission in British shipping lanes once again. This mission would turn out to be another great heroic tale for the American people. USS Constitution and Hornet arrived close to Sao Salvador on December 13 and sighted the British ship HMS Bonne Citoyenne docked in the harbor. The HMS Bonne Citoyenne was of particular importance because of the cargo it was towing – approximately $1,600,000. This money was supposed to be delivered to England, but the captain of Bonne Citoyenne knew the stakes, and refused to leave the neutral harbor just yet. This delay led the USS Constitution to leave Hornet alone to wait for Bonne Citoyenne to depart, while the USS Constitution sailed offshore to look for prizes.

However, on December 29, USS Constitution engaged with HMS Java, a frigate of the same class as Guerriere commanded by Captain Henry Lambert. When Bainbridge hailed Java, Java delivered a tremendous broadside that dealt serious damage to USS Constitution’s rigging. Despite this, USS Constitution was able to return broadsides back to Java. In the heat of battle, Java successfully destroyed USS Constitution’s helm (wheel), to which Bainbridge, who was himself wounded twice, ordered the crew to manually steer USS Constitution from the tiller. Not unlike Hull’s battle with Guerriere, Java’s bowsprit collided with Constitution’s rigging, which gave Bainbridge clear broadside shots of Java until her foremast was utterly destroyed. The resulting collapse of the foremast sent it down two of the ship’s decks.

The damaged caused to USS Constitution by Java prompted Bainbridge to exit battle for emergency repairs. An hour later, Bainbridge reengaged Java, only to find her in terrible fighting condition with most of her crew wounded or dead. When the British surrendered, Bainbridge concluded that Java’s condition was beyond repair, and after salvaging her helm to be installed on USS Constitution, had her burned.

Bainbridge and USS Constitution returned to Seo Salvador on January 1, 1813, where they rendezvoused with Hornet and her two British prizes. Once again, after dropping off British prisoners, USS Constitution would leave Hornet behind to wait for Bonne Citoyenne to leave harbor, while Bainbridge directed his crew to Boston for repairs. When Bainbridge and company arrived, they were heralded as heroes, even more so than when Hull achieved great victory over Guerriere. This marked the third British warship in a matter of months to be taken by the United States, and prompted the British Admiralty to order his frigates to not engage American frigates one on one.

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USS Constitution Battles – HMS Guerriere

by johnk on 17. May, 2010 in Model Ship History

On August 19, a ship with “Not The Little Belt” painted on her topsails, was sighted and found out to be HMS Guerriere. Once in range of USS Constitution Guerriere opened fire, and a battle between the ships began. The USS Constitution proved its superiority over the Guerriere, as it was able to maneuver more efficiently, and had heavier broadsides that proved to be near impenetrable. The British rounds literally bounced off the USS Constitution’s hull, while USS Constitution continued to maneuver into firing position. At this, a sailor was reportedly boasted, “Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!”, thus earning USS Constitution the name “Old Ironsides”. USS Constitution held her fire until the two ships were within 25 yards of each other, and then unloaded broadside shots into the Guerriere. In the heat of battle, the two ships collided with each other, with the USS Constitution continuing to relentlessly fire broadsides. Guerriere’s bowsprit entangled in USS Constitution’s rigging, and when they pulled away from each other the Guerriere faced heavy structural damage. Soon after, her foremost collapsed and took down the mainmast with it. This left Guerriere dis-masted and virtually dead in the water with many of the crew killed or injured. With USS Constitution still unscathed, the English found it in their best interest to surrender.

The next morning, Hull transferred the English prisoners on board the USS Constitution, and had the practically destroyed Guerriere burned. The crew arrived back in Boston on August 30 to an awaiting public that had heard of their remarkable victory, and were hailed as heroes.

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USS Constitution Battles – Battle of Derne

by johnk on 12. May, 2010 in Model Ship History

On November 9, Captain John Rodgers began commanding the USS Constitution while she was being repaired and resupplied in Malta. On April 4, 1805, Rodgers maintained the blockade of Tripoli, and captured a Tripoline xebec (Mediterranean sailing ship) and two prizes the xebec had captured. While this was going on, Commodore Barron gave William Eaton naval support while Eaton attacked Derne and a US Marine force commanded by Presley O’Bannon attacked the city by land, capturing it by April 27. Afterwards, a peace treaty with Tripoli was signed aboard the USS Constitution on June 3.

USS Constitution arrived in Tunis on July 30, and by August 1 had amassed seventeen more American warships in the Tunis harbor. Among these ships were: Congress, Constellation, Enterprise, Essex, Franklin, Hornet, John Adams, Nautilus, Syren, and eight gunboats. Negotiations for a peace treaty went on for days until a short lived blockade helped bring a treaty about on August 14. Rodgers, who still commanded the squadron, was ordered to send warships back to the United States when they were no longer needed. In the end, Rodger’s fleet consisted of USS Constitution, Enterprise, and Hornet for patrol duty and observing the French and Royal Navy operations during the Napoleonic Wars. On May 29, 1806, Rodgers turned command of USS Constitution over to Captain Hugh G. Campbell.

On May 15, 1807, James Barron and Chesapeake were supposed to give USS Constitution relief as the flagship of the Mediterranean squadron, but Chesapeake ran into the HMS Leopard, starting a conflict known as the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair. During which, Leopard fired upon Chesapeake and boarded the surrendering ship to search for deserters. Of the four Royal Navy deserters found, one of them (British born) was hung, while the other three (American born) were sentenced to 500 lashes each. USS Constitution was unaware of the incident, and continued its patrols. It was not until she reached Málaga, that she learned of Chesapeake’s fate. In response, Campbell began getting USS Constitution and Hornet ready for a war against England. However, after over four years of being out at sea, the crew quickly turned mutinous learning of their botched relief, and refused to sail anywhere except back to the States. Consequently, Campbell and his officers threatened the crew with a cannon full of grape shot. No war was to take place however, and USS Constitution was ordered home on August 18.

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USS Constitution Battles – Tripoli Harbor

by johnk on 10. May, 2010 in Model Ship History

William Bainbridge, commander of Philadelphia, ran into problems when his ship was captured in Tripoli while chasing a Tripoline vessel. The Philadelphia crew was taken prisoner, and their ship was taken into the Tripolines harbor. However, Preble soon came up with a plan to deprive the Tripolines of their new prize, and sent the captured ship Mastico, now renamed Intrepid, into the Tripoli harbor on February 16, 1804. Intrepid, disguised as a merchant ship, was under the command of Stephen Decatur. While in the Tripoli harbor, the crew easily overpowered the Tripoline crew and managed to set fire to Philadelphia.

Afterwards, Preble brought his squadron to Syracuse, Sicily, and began plotting another attack on Tripoli. To do this, Preble acquired smaller gunboats that would be able to move in closer to Tripoli than the massive USS Constitution was capable of. The plan was set into motion on the morning of August 3. The USS Constitution, Argus, Enterprise, Syren, Scourge, six gunboats, and two bomb ketches were all in the ready. They were met with twenty-two gunboats, and through a series of attacks in the coming month, USS Constitution managed to cripple the Tripoline gunboats and take their crews prisoner. USS Constitution was the main source of firepower, and bombarded the shore batteries of Tripoli. In spite of this, Karamanli still remained strong in his resolve for more tribute.

For a final attack against Tripoli, Preble had the Intrepid turned into a “floating volcano”, using 100 short tons of gunpowder to make the ship a ticking time bomb. The plan was for her to sail into Tripoli and blow up close under the city walls, but instead she blew up prematurely, killing Richard Somers and his crew of thirteen volunteers.

USS Constitution and President arrived in Tripoli with Samuel Barron, who Preble was prompted to relinquish command to, due to Barron’s senior rank. USS Constitution captured two Greek ships bringing wheat into Tripoli while on the way to Malta for repairs. The next day, a sudden change in wind caused USS Constitution to collide with President, which badly damaged USS Constitution’s bow, stern, and Hercules figurehead.

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