SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS CRUISE BY FREIGHTER USS Constellation Comes into Her Own On 2 July 1999 the 22-gun sai ling sloop of war USS Constellation was returned to her permanent berth in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland. The ship had been under restoration for the past 2 1/ 2 years to bring her to her appearance as she was early in the American Civil War. Built in 1853-55 by the Gosport (now Norfolk) Navy Yard, Constellation was the last sailing warship designed for the Navy. After service in the Mediterranean, and in the African Squadron, the ship was a midshi pmen's summer training vessel and, for about 30 years afrer 1893, an enlisted men's trai ning ship. By erro r, it is ass umed, the Navy as of 1909 started classifying her as the friga te of 1797, modified into a sloop of war in the 1850s. Based on th is belief she came to Baltimore in 1955, to be preserved and exhibited as the frigate. T he pros and cons of this action led to much fierce controversy locally, which was finally only resolved in the early 1990s afrer the publication of Dana Wegner' s book Fouled Anchors: The Constellation Question Answered and his later article in The American Neptune, "An Apple and an Orange, Two Constellations at Gosport 1853-55." [This conclusion had been anticipated in a Sea History article by John Lyman in 1975, in which he discussed the views of various maritime historians, including Howard I. Chapelle.] A major restoration effort from 1997 to 1999 has successfully ended with the ship now accurately restored to her Civil War appearance. T he use of cold-molded laminated layers of wood for the h ull above the waterline was unorthodox, bur it was the only way to do the work at reasonable cost. Below the waterline practically all is original. Most of the hull's original frames were re rained. USS ," Constellation is once again open to the public. She serves now to illustrate the service of the US Navy and its officers, seamen and marines during the Civil War. -
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Timonium, Maryland USS Constellation, Pier 1, 301 E. Pratt St., Baltimore MD 21202-3134 Looking aft during and after restoration and on aboard with the decks replaced. Below, the ship returns to her berth Uohn D. Barnard)
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SPUN YARN Full information on these and other news items appears in Sea History Gazerre, September/ OctoberandNovember!December 1999. We'll sendyou a copy ofthese issuesfree ifyou subscribe to theGazetteforoneyear(6issues at$18. 75add $10 for foreign postage). T he North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, North Carolina, has expanded operations to include museums on Roanoke Island/Manteo and in Southport. U nder the new arrangement, the rwo m useums will become branches of the SEA HISTORY 9 1, WINTER 1999-2000
1684 Barrington Street Halifax, N ova Scotia B 3J 2A2 Canad a 902-429-1 652 www. d o ullb ooks .com NCMM, a section of the Archives and History division of the NC Department of Cultural Resources . (NCMM, 315 Front Srreet, Beaufort NC 285 16; 252 728-73 17) .. . The Sail and Life T raining Sociery launched its new sail training schooner Pacific Grace on 9 October 1999 from the Point Hope Shipyard in Victoria, British Co lumbia. (SALTS, PO Box 5014 Station B, Vicroria BC, V8R 6N3, Canada) ... T he Ukrainian bark Tovarishch has finally received its certificate of seaworthiness fro m the Russian Registry ofShip(Continued on page 38)
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