USS Constitution is very much a product of Boston from its initial construction through more than two centuries of repairs and restorations.
As one of six frigates appropriated in 1794, Constitution was known merely as “Frigate D” when its construction was assigned to Boston. Other frigates were being built in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; New York, New York, and Gosport, Virginia.
The dispersal was intended to allow multiple ships to be built at the same time, making use of supply chains, labor, and space all along the coast. It also dispersed the economic benefits of the contracts among the different communities. For Boston, the construction project was the beginning of a close association between the ship and the city that continues to this day.
Local Labor
In Boston, hundreds of workers were employed in the initial construction of Constitution. Unfortunately, we know little about them, due to devastating fires that destroyed Navy records in Washington, D.C. in 1800 and 1814. However, based on records that did survive from early repair periods that occurred within just a few years of the launch, it’s clear that most workers came from Boston and surrounding coastal New England towns, where shipbuilding was a dominant industry.
After the hull was complete and the ship launched, work continued with rigging, outfitting, and completion of the interior, a project that continued into 1798.
Local Crew
Even with all the necessary gear, no ship is ready to sail without a crew. Constitution’s first captain, Samuel Nicholson, recruited crew for the ship directly from the waterfront streets of Boston’s North End. Like its workers and much of its material, Constitution’s first crew came largely from Boston and the surrounding New England towns. The Navy’s first officers were often veterans of the Continental Navy during the American Revolution 20 years earlier, but many of the skilled enlisted crew came from the merchant ships that plied the East Coast, Caribbean, and Mediterranean. For many of them, service in the fledgling Navy provided greater physical and financial security than sailing smaller merchant ships that were at risk of going broke or being seized by foreign privateers.
Repair Periods
At the end of Constitution’s first deployment, and only four years after its launch, the ship entered the Navy Yard in Boston for repairs. Every few years during Constitution‘s active sailing career, the ship returned to the Boston Navy Yard for repairs and restoration. Although ongoing maintenance occurred wherever the ship was stationed, it rarely entered any other Navy shipyard for more in-depth work. Sometimes Constitution‘s Boston repair periods followed the wear and tear of heavy sailing and duty at stations around the globe. Other times, restoration was required after the ship had been sitting dockside for extended periods of no use between assignments – a situation the Navy referred to as being “in ordinary,” or better known today as being “mothballed.”
“Old Ironsides” returned to Boston permanently in 1897 and underwent regular maintenance, repairs, and restorations in the ensuing years. However, an inspection in 1970 revealed the ship was inadequately maintained in the decades following its last major restoration from 1927 t0 1931. During the 1950s and ‘60s, only cursory work was done and some repairs deemed unnecessary. As a result, when the ship entered drydock in 1973, it required about a sixth of its hull planking replaced and all of the bottom copper sheathing replaced. Repair work continued above the waterline for another year after the ship left dry dock.
This work coincided with the Charlestown Navy Yard’s closure as an active-duty naval shipyard. In order to ensure the ship’s continued preservation, the Navy established a full-time, permanently based team of shipwrights and riggers to do the work. Known today the Naval History and Heritage Command Detachment Boston, that group still works year-round to care for the ship.
Read our publication USS Constitution: Construction and Repairs for a detailed account of the ship’s original construction and subsequent repairs and restorations.
The Author(s)
Carl Herzog
Public Historian, USS Constitution Museum
Carl Herzog is the Public Historian at the USS Constitution Museum.
