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USS Constitution was moved from Pier 1 West on May 15, 2015 to Pier 1 East in preparation for her dry docking on Monday, May 18, 2015 at 10 PM. USS CONSTITUTION readied to enter Dry Dock 1, Boston National Historical Park from USS Constitution Museum on Vimeo. – M. M. Desy & K. Monea

Craftspeople from Naval History & Heritage Command Detachment Boston apply industrial grade tallow (i.e. fancy beef fat) to the skids where the haul blocks will slide. The blocks must be correctly positioned to support the weight of USS Constitution in dry dock. Craftspeople apply industrial grade tallow to the skids in Dry Dock 1 in May 2015. [CourtesyRead more

Loammi Baldwin, Jr., a pioneering American civil engineer, designed the first two naval dry docks built in the United States. Born in Woburn, Massachusetts on May 16, 1780, Baldwin showed an interest in engineering at an early age. As a civil engineer, he designed and constructed public works, including canals, dams, and tunnels. Baldwin contributedRead more

  “…few or no materials of any sort…, for construction…, existed….the wood…was standing in the forests; the iron for the cannon lying in its natural bed; and the flax and hemp…, in their seed.” Secretary of War Henry Knox to the House of Representatives, concerning the construction of the six frigates, 29 December 1794. SinceRead more

A time-lapse video showing the installation of USS Constitution’s keel blocks and haul blocks in Dry Dock 1, Charlestown Navy Yard.

The Charlestown dry dock and the one built concurrently at Norfolk, Va., both designed by Loammi Baldwin Jr., were the first such naval structures in the United States.

“Old Ironsides” was able to resist enemy fire in battle, but her oak structure is liable to wood rot. In her long career, sailing out of Boston to the Mediterranean Sea, around-the-world in 1844-46, and later as a navy training ship from the 1860s to the 1880s, she has needed periodic repairs and overhauls – some minor, some extensive – to keep her sailing.