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Join us on July 23, as we celebrate “Old Ironsides’” much-anticipated return to the water! On that night, Dry Dock 1 will be filled and USS Constitution will float into Boston Harbor after a two year restoration. *                    *                    * ThereRead more

USS Constitution‘s bow has been variously decorated over the past 220 years. In Bow Decor, the different figureheads and billetheads were discussed. But the decoration didn’t stop there. The cutwater, which projects from the ship’s stem, has also been embellished. Gracing the curve of the cutwater are the trailboards, decorative elements that enhance the look ofRead more

Sometimes April showers bring May flowers, but not always. Twenty years ago, on April 1, 1997, Mother Nature delivered an April Fool’s Day blizzard. The destructive nor’easter had 70 mph winds and dropped 25.4 inches of snow on Boston. The day before the storm hit, the temperatures were in the 60s and USS Constitution was inRead more

USS Constitution, which has been rebuilt and restored almost too many times to count in her 220-year history, still has a few “secrets” that she only occasionally reveals. The three secrets discussed below help to illuminate not only the numerous changes to the ship but even reveals the names of long-ago individuals who were instrumental inRead more

USS Constitution has been preserved in the Charlestown Navy Yard since her return to Boston in September, 1897, one month before the celebration of the 100th anniversary of her launch. The Naval History & Heritage Command Detachment Boston is the civilian U.S. Navy staff that maintains and restores “Old Ironsides”. Many of the NHHC Detachment BostonRead more

Elaborate structures known as forecastles and after or stern castles were essential elements of naval architecture for hundreds of years. These areas of a vessel, which were often a series of balustraded galleries that were either open to the weather or enclosed in glass, provided living space for the sailors (forecastle) and the captain andRead more

USS Constitution‘s 2015 – 2017 dry docking and restoration is winding down and she will be refloated in Boston Harbor later in the summer. At the USS Constitution Museum, however, the third year of a projected multi-year restoration of the Museum’s 1870s Loring model of “Old Ironsides” has just concluded for this season. We have already writtenRead more

Happy 2017! Every year, we review the progress that USS Constitution’s restoration team has made. Take a look at our Year in Review: 2015 to see how far we’ve come! Constitution continues with her first dry docking of the 21st century. In 2016, “Old Ironsides‘” ongoing work included the installation of more new hull planks, significant rebuilding of the cutwater and the stern, overhauling,Read more

England’s Royal Navy began experimenting with copper-cladding its warships in the early 1760s and found it extended the life of the ships by preventing boring mollusks from destroying the wooden hulls. Below-the-waterline copper sheathing also allowed for greater ease in cleaning barnacles and crustaceans from ships’ bottoms. USS Constitution and the other five frigates ofRead more

The work of rebuilding and restoring USS Constitution requires skilled ship restorers and riggers. They couldn’t accomplish their tasks, however, without a production facility to support the unique work of restoring America’s largest wooden historic vessel. The three videos below, that have been filmed over the past 18 months, focus on the equipment, facility, andRead more