What do you know about four sister ships of the USS Constitution "Old Ironsides" which only saw active service in the War of 1812?

2016-03-31T20:42:34-04:00

These four frigates: USS Constellation, USS Chesapeake, USS Congress, and USS President were a direct response to the Naval Act of 1794. The act was established with the intent to construct six frigates at a total cost of more than $600,000. Frigate designer, Joshua Humphreys, recommended the ships be equipped with enough firepower to engage in battle with French and British navy vessels.
Pictures: USS Constellation choppy sea with sails; USS Chesapeake brown sea with sails; USS Congress blue sky with island behind; USS President no sails choppy sea

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made Mar 31 at 2016 8:46 PM

2016-03-31T20:46:37-04:00

LTC Stephen F. knew all of these, but that is only because of my love for USS Constitution that I found out about her sisters.

Response by SPC Corbin Sayi made Mar 31 at 2016 8:51 PM

2016-03-31T20:51:03-04:00

I didn't know any of this... Is that sad? Thank you LTC Stephen F. for educating us

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Mar 31 at 2016 8:52 PM

2016-03-31T20:52:22-04:00

Here, as Paul Harvey used to say, is the rest of the story about these four ships:
Since RallyPoint truncates survey selection text I am posting events that were not included and then the full text of each survey choice below:
A. USS Constellation was built in Baltimore and first launched on Sept. 7, 1797. Her two biggest battles were both against French vessels; one in February 1799 against L'Insurgente and one in February 1800 against La Vengeance. In 1853, the ship was broken up and timbers were used to build the new Constellation, which is currently stationed at the inner harbor in Baltimore.
B. USS Chesapeake, built in Gosport Navy Yard, in Virginia, was launched on Dec. 2, 1799. Her biggest battle occurred on June 22, 1807 when it was fired upon by HMS Leopard for refusal to comply with search warrants made by the Royal Navy. The ship was determined defenseless and surrendered to HMS Leopard. In June 1813, USS Chesapeake was captured by HMS Shannon after going to sea to battle the British vessel. Upon losing this fight USS Chesapeake was taken by the Royal Navy to Halifax, Nova Scotia and later England where she was broken up in 1820.
C. USS Congress was launched on Aug. 15, 1799. In 1804, she participated in the first Barbary War performing blockade and patrol duties. During the War of 1812, USS Congress was part of the squadron under the command of Commodore John Rodgers, and patrolled the North Atlantic Ocean from June to August. Congress continued patrolling from October to December collecting nine prizes along the way. Following this duty the vessel became the flagship for Commodore James Biddle, and a receiving ship at Norfolk, Virginia until she was broken up in 1834.
D. USS President was the last frigate to be completed, and was launched from New York City on April 10, 1800. She participated in patrols during the Quasi-War with France and made numerous recaptures of American merchant ships. In January 1815, while heading out of New York harbor under the command of Stephen Decatur, USS President ran aground and damaged the ship's hull while trying to break through a British blockade. While on the way back home, Decatur and his crew were attacked by the British frigates HMS Endymion, Pomone, Majestic, and Tenedos, said Parmer. The President was in a firefight with Endymion, but it was the latter three British ships that forced Decatur to surrender. The Royal Navy changed her name to HMS President and she was used until she was broken up at Portsmouth, England in 1817.
Although USS President's surrender signaled the end of her existence, it was not the demise of the class. A frigate's contribution in mission deterrence and protection of the seas is still a vital part of today's Navy's execution of the maritime strategy.
On March 27, 1794 the act was established with the intent to construct six frigates at a total cost of more than $600,000. Frigate designer, Joshua Humphreys, recommended the ships be equipped with enough firepower to engage in battle with French and British navy vessels, taking into consideration speed, weight and reliability. Each ship would have no less than 30 guns, with two having 36 guns and the other four having 44 guns.
To maximize the speed at which the frigates would be completed and to maximize the financial benefit across the region, six separate locations were used. For each vessel one civilian naval constructor was placed to oversee steady progression toward the finish. Subsequently, by December 1795 each keel was laid, utilizing the best wood that could be found: live oak.
Following the successful laying of each keel the production flow hit a standstill when the realization that more funds were required was brought to light. To quickly solve the problem at-hand, Secretary of War James McHenry requested additional funds from Congress for allocation between three ships nearest completion: USS United States, USS Constellation and USS Constitution. Of the three remaining frigates, USS President and USS Congress were completed in August 1799, and USS Chesapeake in 1800.
Outfitting each vessel with armament was the final step; USS United States, USS Constitution, and USS President received 44 guns, while USS Congress and USS Chesapeake received 36 guns, which were later re-rated to 38. Each ship carried their standard allotment of guns into battle; however, more guns were often taken along because of their mobility. USS Constitution typically fit between 55 to 60 guns depending on the situation and captain, according to Rebecca Parmer, a historian for the USS Constitution Museum at Charlestown Navy Yard. Some of Constitution's guns weighed as much as 6,000 pounds on the carriage and required a crew of 14 men to operate them. The carronade, another type of gun Constitution used during its history, weighed more than 2,000 pounds without the carriage and needed a crew of 4 to 8 men.
USS United States was commissioned on July 11, 1797, and its greatest battle was fought on Oct. 25, 1812 when it engaged in combat against, and then captured, HMS Macedonian. The vessel was decommissioned on Feb. 24, 1849 and was later used by the Confederate Navy during the Civil War as a blockade against Union forces. After this point the vessel was salvaged by the Navy, but because of the cost of repairs was broken up in 1865.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sister+ships+of+USS+constitution.-a [login to see]

Sister ships of USS constitution. - Free Online Library

Free Online Library: Sister ships of USS constitution.(History) by "All Hands"; Military and naval science Frigates

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Mar 31 at 2016 9:47 PM

2016-03-31T21:47:18-04:00

I remember the Legend of the USS Congress.

Response by SSgt Robert Marx made Apr 1 at 2016 2:46 AM

2016-04-01T02:46:14-04:00

Those five ships were excellent, well engineered, and able to fight the British on near equal terms. The combination of excellent ships paired with disciplined, well trained crews meant that Royal Navy ships always had a fight on their hands and it came about during the War of 1812 that the Admiralty forbad one-on-one duels with those five frigates after losing the Guerre.

Response by CSM William Payne made Apr 1 at 2016 5:21 PM

2016-04-01T17:21:50-04:00

George Washington was responsible for naming all but one of our new frigates, selecting names with particular significance to the United States; Constitution, Congress, United States, Constellation and the President. The sixth, the Cheasapeake was named after the Chesapeake bay by the Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddert.

Primarily for expediency of building them they were spread out among the charter colony / states. What states that were not directly involved in the construction made contributions as to materials for the build. This also had the added benefit of giving a number of the new states a stake in contributing to the defense of our young nation.

It was aboard the USS Chesapeake that the mortally wounded Captain James Lawrence uttered the famous worlds "Don't give up the ship".

The USS Constitution is the second oldest commissioned warship in the world behind Lord Nelson's HMS Victory. The US Navy does have a caveat to that though. The HMS Victory while still crewed sits in a dry dock in Portsmouth, England. The USS Constitution, a fully manned naval vessel sits in the water and when not under repairs is taken out on July 4th for a short cruise and turned around so the she will weather equally in her berth. The US Navy calls a ship not in the water a building.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Apr 1 at 2016 5:38 PM

2016-04-01T17:38:02-04:00

Not much but it's cool that there was a fleet of that were of the same type.