Animals on Board

A menagerie of animals have stepped aboard USS Constitution throughout its long career. From pets, to provisions, to gifts and specimens, these shipboard animals were often integral to daily life at sea, contributed to survival and morale, and sometimes added an element of curiosity.

Animals as Pets

War of 1812 (1812-1815)

• Guerriere the Terrier

Dogs were invaluable aboard vessels, serving as both companions and rat-catchers. Leaving Boston in December 1814, Constitution carried 485 sailors and a dog named Guerriere the Terrier. He belonged to Lieutenant Beekman Verplank Hoffman and instantly charmed the crew. Acting Chaplin Assheton Humphreys wrote all about Guerriere in his journal:

“So a display of almost natural [i.e. human] faculties did he exhibit that many were of the opinion that he would talk were it not that he feared he should be set to work, be the talking part as it may, he frequently did work, for whenever all hands were called to about ship he was sure to pay his respects to the Captain of the mast who placing the end of the weather fore brace in his mouth he would lead it along in as perfect order as any two legged sea dog and perform various little duties about the mast full well.”

To learn more about the pup, the Museum has another article all about Guerriere and an original sea chantey.

World Cruise (1844-1846)

• 2 monkeys (Mozambique)
• lemurs and parakeets (Bombetoka Bay, Madagascar)
• 1 chameleon (Nosy Be, Madagascar)

While in East Africa during the World Cruise, crew members took the opportunity to bring various animals on board as pets. Midshipman William Perry Buckner recounted his fascination with the chameleon that he kept in a box:

“[I]t is a curious animal, having the body of a lizard, a head shaped like a hood which he sometimes expands, and eyes projecting out of his head so that he can look fore and aft and one of the most singular’ traits is that one eye could look ahead and the other behind, or one up and one down. The chameleon also could change its color 3 or 4 times a minute, sometimes green, others red, and then a sort of dirt color.”¹

National Cruise (1931-1934)

• Rosie the Monkey
• Shanghai the Puppy
• Commodore Scrappy the Bear

Constitution, tugged by the minesweeper Grebe, visited cities on the Eastern half of the U.S. during the 1931-1932 portion of the National Cruise. Onboard Grebe was a five-pound monkey named Rosie who “exerts an influence all out of proportion to her size” and loved interacting with the children who visited the ship “thriv[ing] upon the applause of her public and constantly thinks up new ways of gaining attention.”²

It was Mardi Gras week when Constitution and Grebe arrived in New Orleans in late January 1932. Along with the ship Arkansas, Grebe and Constitution participated in the festivities and hosted nearly 200,000 visitors. On February 11, the night before Grebe and Constitution were set to leave for Corpus Christi, the next port, Rosie disappeared. The crew frantically searched throughout the night for the monkey and appealed to the newspapers for help. Unfortunately, due to the tight schedule, both ships had to leave the next day.

Distressed was Grebe’s other mascot, Shanghai, who has been called the “foster dog child of Rosie.” Shanghai knew Rosie since he was a puppy and the two animals were “affectionate…inseparable playmates,” in spite of Rosie occasionally slapping the dog. The puppy apparently “grieved himself into a fever over Rosie’s absence” and refused to eat his food.³

As Constitution and Grebe reached the mouth of the Mississippi River, a seaplane “appeared on the northern horizon, circled the ships, and landed nearby.” The ships were notified by radio that the seaplane had a “chattering Rosie” onboard. A small boat was launched to collect Rosie as sailors lined the rails and loudly cheered for her return. Shanghai also enthusiastically celebrated Rosie’s homecoming and “barked joyously.”⁴ With Rosie back, it is reported that Shanghai finally ate his breakfast.

Learn more about Rosie in our short YouTube video.

Photographs of Rosie on board Constitution featured in James William Tytler’s National Cruise Scrapbook. [USS Constitution Museum Collection. Donna and Robert Seipel Gift.]

During the West Coast portion of the Cruise in 1933, the crews of Constitution and Grebe adopted another animal mascot. During a visit to Grays Harbor, Washington, that May, the local Naval Reserve had prepared a gift for the ships in the form of a four-month-old black bear cub named Commodore Scrappy. Constitution sailors took turns feeding the bear cans of condensed milk and let him swim in the various harbors. When he grew too large to safely remain on board, Scrappy was rehomed to the San Diego Zoo.

Learn more about Scrappy in our short YouTube video.

Animals as Provisions

• sheep
• cattle
• chickens
• goats
• fowls
• ducks
• geese
• bullocks
• 1 700-pound water buffalo (Kuala Batee, Indonesia)
• 1 “fat pig” (Da Nang, Vietnam)

A significant portion of the animals that occupied the decks of Constitution were used as fresh sources of meat for the long voyages.

Among the various provisions purchased during the World Cruise, there are two notable provisions. Upon departure from Sumatra, Indonesia, in January 1845, a port official named Po Adams sent aboard a 700-pound water buffalo for $45 (equivalent to $1,900 in 2025). While in Vietnam in May 1845, in spite of a significant cultural and language barrier, Lieutenant William C. Chaplin was able to procure chickens, ducks, geese, fish, two bullocks, and “a fat pig” according to Frederick Christian Fischer, one of the musicians on board.

Animals as Gifts

• 6 donkeys
• 1 Arabian bay horse
• 5 Arabian mares
• 3 Arabian colts
• 1 Andalusian colt
• 3 Andalusian hogs
• 2 Syrian hogs
• 2 Syrian broad-tailed sheep
• Minorca chickens

During a voyage to Mediterranean ports between 1835 and 1837, Constitution’s Captain Jesse Duncan Elliot collected antiquities that he stored in Constitution‘s hold “and eventually every safe corner.” Before returning to the United States, Elliott stopped in Mahón, Spain, to also collect animals. Many of Elliott’s friends, including a congressman from Kentucky, requested that the captain bring specific animals back to America.

To form stalls for the animals, Elliott disabled seven guns and had their timbers fastened from their trucks to the overhead deck beans. Eight to nine crew members made up the care and feeding party on the month-long journey home.

Once in America, these animals were distributed to farms in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Tennessee, and Missouri. Elliott admitted that in many instances, he either partially owned the animals or would profit from their husbandry. As a result of Elliot using his official position to collect and transport artifacts and animals, he was court-martialed in 1840 and found guilty on five counts. He was sentenced to four years suspension from service and loss of pay. Ultimately, his loss of pay was rescinded and the suspension shortened, thanks to his political friends.

Animals as Specimens

Near the Cape of Good Hope

• 1 large blue shark
• Cape pigeons
• Albatrosses

Bombetoka Bay, Madagascar

• Birds similar to quail

Latham Island, Tanzania (Fungu Kizimkazi)

• Sea birds

Labuan Island, Malaysia

• 1 large water snake that had eaten an eel

Da Nang, Vietnam

• 1 large horned owl

A naturalist is a person “who is interested, or makes special study of, animals or plants.” During naval expeditions, naturalists would be aided by “the security, scientific equipment and storage capacity of an armed vessel nearby” to collect specimens, which ultimately furthered the development of botany, zoology, and geology.⁵ During Constitution’s World Cruise from 1844 to 1846, Dr. Joseph Cooper Reinhardt (1810-1873) served as the ship’s naturalist. He collected various specimens from the different countries Constitution visited throughout the voyage.

Lieutenant John Dale recounted one specific adventure. On April 11, 1845, after crossing Brunei Bay, Constitution stopped at Labuan Island for Dr. Reinhardt to inspect to see whether it is rich in coal deposits:

“Reinhardt seemed to be gone for a long time. By mid-afternoon he still had not returned. Setting her kedge anchor, raising the cornet and firing a signal gun, Constitution sent the 3rd cutter to look for the 4th cutter. Late in the afternoon the two cutters returned. Reinhardt had been unsuccessful in finding coal. He did find red sandstone and limestone, which indicated the direction coal would be found further up the bay. And he brought back a large water snake, which had inside an eel which his snakeship had crawled up on a rock to digest.”⁶

_______________________________

_{1 William Perry Buckner Journal, USS Constitution Museum catalog number 2499.1, p. 119.
2 Evening Express (Maine), July 21, 1931. Accessed via Newspapers.com.
3 The Tampa Tribune (Florida), April 6, 1932. Accessed via Newspapers.com.
4 Corpus Christi Times (Texas), February 18, 1932. Accessed via Newspapers.com.
5 Glyn Williams, Naturalists at Sea: Scientific Travellers from Dampier to Darwin, p. 4-5.
6 Journals of John B. Dale, Mss 994, R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, New England Historic Genealogical Society.}

The Author(s)

Kelli Aquino
Curatorial Assistant, USS Constitution Museum

Kelli Aquino is Curatorial Assistant at the USS Constitution Museum.