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| America's
Flagship: The tradition continues |
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The
name Constellation is one of the most famous in U.S. naval history. The
first ship to be commissioned in the United States Navy; the first to put
to sea; and the first to engage, defeat and capture an enemy vessel was
the three-masted U.S. Frigate CONSTELLATION.
It
started on March 27, 1794, when a special act of Congress provided for
building the U.S. Navy its first new ships. The six frigates were given
symbolic names which the new country could rally around — names such as
CONSTITUTION, CONGRESS, CHESAPEAKE, UNITED STATES, and PRESIDENT. But the
first to be commissioned received the name held in highest esteem by the
fledgling Congress — the name for the “new constellation of stars”
on the American flag.
The
USF CONSTELLATION was built at Harris Creek Shipyard in Baltimore’s
Fells Point. She was designed with a main battery of 36 guns, had a crew
complement of 340 men, and displaced 1,278 tons with a beam of 41 feet and
length of 164 feet.
On
September 7, 1797, CONSTELLATION was launched just in time as the United
States entered its first naval war. The “Quasi War” (1798-1801) with
France was largely CONSTELLATION’s war. On February 9, 1799,
CONSTELLATION fought and captured the 36-gun frigate L’INSURGENTE, the
fastest ship in the French Navy. Under the command of the legendary
Captain Thomas Truxtun, it was the first battle by one of the original six
frigates. This great achievement for a young U.S. Navy was the first major
victory by an American-designed and American-built warship.
There
were many more victories to follow. CONSTELLATION fought a second
single-ship action in February 1800: a night encounter with France’s
54-gun frigate LA VENGEANCE. CONSTELLATION was again victorious, winning a
bloody and violent 5-hour battle. French sailors, amazed at her expert
sailing ability because she could attain the thrilling speed of 14 knots
while sailing under nearly an acre of canvas sails, nicknamed her
“Yankee Racehorse.”
CONSTELLATION
continued to serve with distinction in the Barbary Wars against Tripoli
and the War of 1812 against Great Britain. In 1840, CONSTELLATION
completed a historic voyage around the world, which included being the
first U.S. warship to enter the inland waters of China. After more than 50
years of service, CONSTELLATION was thoroughly worn out. In 1853 she was
broken up at the Gosport Navy Yard in Norfolk, Va.
But
the name of CONSTELLATION would live on. In 1854, the U.S. Sloop of War
CONSTELLATION was launched from Gosport. With similar dimensions to her
famous predecessor, she carried 23 guns and had a crew compliment of 20
officers, 220 Sailors and 45 Marines.
The
new ship’s first assignment was interdicting the slave trade off the
coast of Africa. She captured three slave ships and released the
imprisoned slaves. At the outbreak of the Civil War, CONSTELLATION made
the first Union Navy capture, overpowering the slaver brig TRITON in
coastal waters off Africa.
After
the war, CONSTELLATION saw various duties such as carrying famine relief
stores to Ireland and carrying precious American works of art to the Paris
Exposition of 1895.
After
being used as a practice ship for U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen,
CONSTELLATION became a training ship in 1894 for the Naval Training Center
in Newport, R.I., where she helped train more than 60,000 recruits during
World War I.
Decommissioned
in 1933, CONSTELLATION was recommissioned as a national symbol in 1940 by
President Franklin Roosevelt. Shortly after the country’s entry into
World War II, she became the flagship for Admiral Ernest J. King and Vice
Admiral Royal Ingersoll.
The
treasured warship was decommissioned in 1955 and was taken “home” to
her permanent berth in Baltimore Harbor. Now a National Historic Landmark,
she is the last existing Civil War-era naval vessel and the last
sail-powered warship built by the U.S. Navy. Coincidentally, just as the
aircraft carrier USS CONSTELLATION (CV 64) was beginning her 19th overseas
deployment, the U.S. Sloop of War CONSTELLATION completed a $9-million
restoration project in July 1999. The restoration will allow a new
generation of Americans to learn about the important role CONSTELLATION
had in our nation’s history. |
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Photos |
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(Click on
an image to enlarge it) |
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| USS Nimitz as seen
from the USS Constellation while we were waiting pier side. |
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San Diego in the
early morning light as seen from the USS Constellation. |
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Escalator. It's a
big ship! |
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| The ship is
divided into compartments that are divided into compartments that are ..
you get the idea. They are all separated by these small hatches. |
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F/A 18 on the
flight deck. |
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F/A 18 on the
flight deck. |
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| F/A 18 on the
flight deck. Hmm, what does that say on the nose gear door? |
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Hey, this
aircraft is maintained by CPL ENGS S.P. from SIMI VALLEY, CA! |
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This is my
"Top Gun" photo with the steam rising from the catapult. |
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| Getting ready to
move the aircraft. |
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The barrel
looking things hanging from the flight deck are inflatable life rafts. The
thing with the white dome is a Phalanx 20mm close in weapons system that
uses radar to aim at missiles that get past all of the carriers other
defenses. |
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This is the
catapult shuttle that flings the airplanes into the air. This steam driven
piston and cable can fling a large car half a mile. |
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| It takes a great
deal of energy to put these aircraft into the air and a great deal of
energy to stop them. The aircraft will catch "snag" one of four
cables made of high strength steel that are connected to hydraulic
cylinders below deck. |
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S-3B Viking
antisubmarine and surveillance aircraft. Despite the large engines this is
probably the quietest airplane on the carrier. |
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This is the
USS
Duluth LPD-6 supply ship for the USS Constellation battle
group, used to replenish fuel, ammo and
supplies. |
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| USS Nimitz
was docked next to the USS Constellation in San Diego. |
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4.5
acres (Just the flight deck) of American beach front
property. |
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On the hangar deck
looking toward the stern of the ship. |
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| On the hangar
deck looking toward the bow of the ship. |
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That
is both a promise and a threat. The hangar deck is lit by lights that
gives an amber tone to everything. |
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I
think this is one of the guns that are mounted inside an aircraft,
probably an F-14 or F/A-18. |
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| Smart bomb.
The thing with the fins on the front of the bomb is what makes it a smart
bomb. |
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Assorted
weapons including two types of torpedoes. Ordinance that is painted blue
are practice rounds that contain no explosives. |
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Closer
view of the torpedoes. |
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| Breakfast.
Every part of the ship has the constant sound from the ventilation system
making it somewhat difficult to hear. |
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We
spent much of our day traversing these steep ladders. After awhile you get
the hang of it, climbing up and down these ladders. |
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Aircraft fuel tanks hanging from
rungs in the hangar deck. |
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| Getting the ship
ready to go. This fellow spends about 30 minutes turning these wheels to
get the ship ready to roll. The wheels turn the propeller shafts. At least
he didn't have to get out and push. |
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Ahh,
1200 PSI, just right. It was neat being able to tour the engineering
sections. In a nuclear aircraft carrier we would not be allowed in
engineering. |
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Boilers as seen on
TV in the control room. |
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I heard correctly (IT'S LOUD IN HERE!) these are the steam turbines. |
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Boilers.
If you look through those small round orange windows you will see they are
orange because there is flame from the boilers behind them. |
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CVW-2
is the carriers air wing. Just about every wall and door has something
like this painted on it. It helps identify where you are in the ship.
Besides they look neat. |
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| The
officers of America's Flagship. |
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This crane is
removing the gang plank. There's no going back now, at least for the next
eight hours or so, without taking a swim. |
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RIM-7M
Sea Sparrow used to shoot down missiles and other air borne threats. |
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| Camera watching
the flight deck. |
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One
of the tug boats moving
the great ship away from the pier. |
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F/A- 18 on the move
on the flight deck. |
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| View of the runway
at the Navy base from the carrier while we are slowly moving out of port. |
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Getting some live
bombs ready for air operations. |
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They ended up not
using the bombs during the air operations. |
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| Tracy Justus on
the flight deck of the USS Constellation. |
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SEAL team
members doing their thing. |
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It's a long way
down from the flight deck and I'm afraid of heights. I certainly didn't
want to test the strength of these nets, all that would keep you from the
drink if you fell overboard. |
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| We had armed escorts
on our way out of port. These fellows investigated each boat that came
near the carrier (about 100 yards) while we were transitioning out to sea. |
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Once
one boat was at a safe distance they would quickly maneuver back to the
front of the ship to intercept the next boat. |
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On
the flight deck of CV-64. |
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| This
is at the hanger deck level "Deck One" on a sponson. |
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"We will not tire,
We will not falter,
We will not fail!"
George W. Bush
Commander in Chief
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These fuel lines
are used to transfer fuel from the supply ship to the carrier. Heck of a
lot bigger than the gas hose at your local gas station. |
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| Some
SH-60 Seahawk
helicopters were part of the air power demonstration, buzzing past the
carrier in pairs like angry hornets. |
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F/A-18 breaking
the sound barrier. They did this three times and this is the best photo I
could get. Ear plugs are a good thing! You could feel the sonic boom in
your bones. |
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F- 14 Tom Cat.
They would have one aircraft make a slow pass, getting you to look at it,
while another aircraft would sneak up breaking the sound barrier. It
worked. |
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| These fellows shot
off a few rounds of the .50 cal machine guns. Their target was a flare
that was shot out into the water. |
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USS Cake. |
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Quite the mission
statement. |
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night, the ships number "64" is lit up in red, white and blue. |
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Antenna
farm. |
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Steam catapult.
Notice the angle of the deck compared to the horizon. This isn't a cruise
ship. This big mama rocks and rolls. |
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The ship narrowly
missed hitting this whale (Humpback whale I think). This photo is taken from the bow of the ship at
about the center line. |
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| Superstructure
"Island" serves as an air traffic control tower as well as the
bridge of the ship. |
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On our way back to
San Diego we passed by a submarine on it's way back to port. |
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| Thanks
go out to my family in the Navy for inviting me to go "boating". |
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| For
further reading on Aircraft Carriers I suggest the book
"CARRIER" by Tom Clancy ISBN 0-425-16682-1 |
