die from accidents and disease, and if they captured any enemy vessels, they'd need sailors to navigate those ships to friendly ports. Therefore, navy ships always tried to sail with as many men as they could fit on board. What kind of people signed on as crew back then? The USS Constitution Museum in Boston has been researching each individual sailor in the ship's War of 1812 crew to learn what his life was like. Using all sorts of government records stored in the National Archives in Washington, DC, as well as birth, death, and census records, we've learned a lot about them. The typical navy sailor back then was young. Although the average age in a full crew was 26 years old, some sailors were as young as 9 and others as old as 52. Most of Constitution's crew was born in Massachusetts, but there were also crewmembers on board from all over the United States, Great Britain, and Western Europe. 7 to 14 percent of the crew were free men of color who, at a time when slavery was still legal in this country, earned the same wages as their white shipmates.
USS Constitution's 21st-century crew farling the main topsail. Count them- there are 23 people on the yard. Under fall sail, Constitution set 44 sails, enough canvas to cover almost a fall acre!
sailors from the late 1860s.
SEA HISTORY 138, SPRING 2012
Most navy seamen had worked as sailors for years before they joined the service. Most of the 40 men from Marblehead, MA, for example, were fishermen by trade. Even though the able seamen were skilled sailors, they probably could not read or even write their own names. Constitution was undefeated during the War of 1812, and, compared to the experiences of sailors in other navy ships in battle, relatively few of her crewmen died or were wounded in battle. With luck, the typical sailor who served in Old Ironsides survived the war without a scratch, and when his rwoyear enlistment ended, he returned home with a pocket full of prize money! This is the common experience-the average taken from the life stories of nearly 1,200 men who sailed on the ship during between 1812 and 1815. As historians do more research, we continue to learn about the sailors and Marines who fought for "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights!" j:, You can learn more about USS Constitution and her crew online at www.asailorslifeforme.org andwww.ussconstitutionmuseum.org.