Thomas Jefferson's administration, N icholson was retained that same year to serve as the first superintendent of the Charlestown N aval Yard outside Boston and was given the rank of commodore aro und that time.9 N icholson served in this role until his death on 29 D ecember 18 11 , in Charlestown, Massachusetts. At the time of his death, N icholson was the senior officer in the US Navy. H e is buried in the crypt of the Old No rth C hurch in Boston. The Constitution wo uld spend the fo ur years between 1803 and 1807 engaging Barbary corsairs outside Tripoli and Tunis, and later observing naval operations during the Napoleonic Wars . From 1808 until 18 11 , Constitution spent mos t of her time on training runs and ordinary du ty. W hile Constitution wo uld earn h er greatest glory in the years ahead during the War of 18 12, it had already become clear
that George Washington h ad chosen her 2 "The Continental Navy," March 27, 2011, name well. While the Declaration oflnde- h ttp://www.rhed earsurprise.com/?p=25 l 9. pendence had staked America's claim as a 3 John A. McM anemin, Captains of the free country, the US Constitution officially Continental Navy (H o-H o-Kus, NJ: selfestablished h er authori ty as a nation. Simi- published, 19 81) . larly, Captain N icholson and the rest of 4 Ibid. the C ontinental Navy staked America's 5 John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes, claim to defend herself at sea. The revived AmericanNationalBiography, Vol. 16 (New US Navy and USS Constitution, as one of York: O xford University Press, 1999). its first ships, establish ed America's author- 6 Niger was later verified as a British sh ip, ity at sea. and the US had to release the ship and Two hundred years later, it is impor- her crew and pay $ 11 ,000 res titution to tant to not only celebrate Constitution and Britai n. America's victory in the War of 1812, but 7 Garraty and Carnes, op.cir. 8 also to honor those who sailed before her. Garratyand Carnes, op.cir. ; McManemin, op.cir. 9 N OTES Garraty and Carnes, op.cir. 1 Michael A. Palmer, "The Navy: The Continental Period, 1775-1890," A History of Dr. J Phillip 'Jack" London is Executive the US Navy, July 16, 2004, www.history. Chairman and Chairman of the Board of navy. mil/history/history2 .htm. CA CI!nternational!nc. A native ofOk/,ahoma City, Oklahoma, D r. London is a graduate USS Constitution by M arshall Joh nson, 19th century. of the US Naval Academy. He went on to earn a master's degree in operations research from the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and a doctorate in business administration from George Washington University. D uring his twelve years ofactive duty as a regular officer in the US Navy, Dr. London served as a naval aviator and saw service during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. H e was with the airborne recovery team for Colonel j ohn Glenn's Mercury Program space flight in Freedom 7 in the Caribbean in 1962 on board USS Randolph (CVS 15), and served as aide and administrative assistant to the Vice Chief of the Naval Material Command-in the Vietnam War. Leaving active duty in 1971, London joined the US Navy Reserve and served as commanding officer of aeronautical engineering units with the Naval Air Systems Command, Washington, D C H e retired from the navy in 1983. D r. London has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the j ohn W Dixon awardfrom the Association ofthe United States Army (2003) for his industry supp ort to the Army warfighter and the Navy League's Fleet Admiral Chester W Nimitz Awardfor his industry leadership in serving the US Navy. Dr. London serves on the board of directors for the US Naval Institute, US Navy Memorial Fund, Naval H istorical Foundation, Center for Security Policy, and CAUSE (Comfort for America's Uniformed Services). Dr. London holds the rank of Capta:in, US Navy (Ret.).
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