On August 6, 1976, CDR Tyrone Gabriel Martin took command of USS Constitution and began his decades-long endeavor to research and write about the 200+ year history of “Old Ironsides.” His research culminated in several published works, including the award-winning book A Most Fortunate Ship, first published in 1980.

In 1998, CDR Martin launched The Captain’s Clerk website (original URL: www.captainsclerk.info) as a comprehensive assemblage of his extensive research into the stories, statistics, and history of USS Constitution. The site is part of the Library of Congress Web Archives and the current domain is now maintained by the USS Constitution Museum.