DECK LOG “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. … It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” —The Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933–2020), US Supreme Court Justice
CDR Billie J. Farrell is the first woman to command Old Ironsides in the ship’s 224-year history. USS Constitution is based at Boston’s Charlestown Navy Yard, where it receives the public for tours and events year-round, interpreting its role in the history of the US Navy. One of the Navy’s original six frigates, Constitution played a crucial role in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812, and remained undefeated in battle, destroying or capturing 33 opposing vessels. CDR Farrell hails from Paducah, Kentucky, and is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and the University of Arkansas.
us navy photo by mass communication specialist 2nd class skyler okerman
It is an exciting time for female firsts in the maritime world; in 2022, for the first time in our nation’s history, two of the most famous sailing ships in the United States will be commanded by women. In January, CDR Billie J. Farrell became the 77th commanding officer of USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned warship afloat. In June, the 295-foot barque Eagle, the training ship and ambassador vessel of the United States Coast Guard Academy, will get underway with its first female commanding officer, CAPT (select) Jessica Rozzi-Ochs.
courtesy jessica rozzi-ochs
In June 2022, CAPT (select) Jessica Rozzi-Ochs will relieve CAPT Michael Turdo as the next commanding officer of USCGC Eagle. Known around the world as CDR Billie J. Farrell, USN “America’s Tall Ship,” the three-masted barque Eagle is underway from March through October each year, taking cadets and officer candidates to sea under square rig, to ports around the country and around the world. Rozzi-Ochs is an alumna of the US Coast Guard Academy; she also has advanced degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Florida and in National Security and Resource Strategy from the National Defense University, Dwight D. Eisenhower School; and is a graduate of the Defense Acquisition University’s Senior Acquisition Course. Throughout her career, Rozzi-Ochs has served in positions both ashore and afloat, including shipboard assignments aboard the cutters Tahoma and Valiant, and as Eagle’s executive officer (XO). She is currently serving as Deputy Chief in the Coast Guard’s Office of Congressional Affairs. This summer, when cadets look up to the bridge at their captain, they will also be receiving commands from sailing master CWO2 Melissa Polson, who will CAPT (select) Jessica serve as the first female in this position aboard Eagle. Rozzi-Ochs, USCG Regarding the premise that women have had to prove themselves by working harder, being smarter, and being better prepared than their male colleagues in a world when there were law schools in this country that didn’t even have women’s restrooms and when girls were told that studying mathematics would hurt their brains, it was quipped that Ginger Rogers did what Fred Astaire did—only backwards and in high heels. Neither backwards nor in heels, it is fantastic to see these women at the helm. —Burchenal Green, president 4
NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUBLISHER’S CIRCLE: Peter Aron, Guy E. C. Maitland, Ronald L. Oswald OFFICERS & TRUSTEES: Chairman, CAPT James A. Noone, USN (Ret.); Vice Chairman, Richardo R. Lopes; President, Burchenal Green; Vice Presidents: Jessica MacFarlane, Deirdre O’Regan, Wendy Paggiotta; Treasurer, William H. White; Secretary, Jean Wort; Trustees: Charles B. Anderson; Walter R. Brown; CAPT Patrick Burns, USN (Ret.); CAPT Sally McElwreath Callo, USN (Ret.); William S. Dudley; David Fowler; Karen Helmerson; K. Denise Rucker Krepp; Guy E. C. Maitland; Capt. Jeffrey McAllister; Salvatore Mercogliano; Michael Morrow; Richard Patrick O’Leary; Ronald L. Oswald; ADM Robert J. Papp Jr., USCG (Ret.); Timothy J. Runyan; Richard Scarano; Capt. Cesare Sorio; Chairmen Emeriti: Walter R. Brown, Alan G. Choate, Guy E. C. Maitland, Ronald L. Oswald; Howard Slotnick (1930–2020) FOUNDER: Karl Kortum (1917–1996) PRESIDENT EMERITUS: Peter Stanford (1927–2016) OVERSEERS: Chairman, RADM David C. Brown, USMS (Ret.); RADM Joseph F. Callo, USN (Ret.); George W. Carmany III; Christopher J. Culver; Richard du Moulin; Alan D. Hutchison; Gary Jobson; Sir Robin KnoxJohnston; John Lehman; Capt. Brian McAllister; Capt. James J. McNamara; Philip J. Shapiro; H. C. Bowen Smith; John Stobart; Philip J. Webster; Roberta Weisbrod NMHS ADVISORS: John Ewald, Steven A. Hyman, J. Russell Jinishian, Gunnar Lundeberg, Conrad Milster, William G. Muller, Nancy H. Richardson SEA HISTORY EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Chairman, Timothy Runyan; Norman Brouwer, Robert Browning, William Dudley, Lisa Egeli, Daniel Finamore, Kevin Foster, Cathy Green, John Jensen, Frederick Leiner, Joseph Meany, Salvatore Mercogliano, Carla Rahn Phillips, Walter Rybka, Quentin Snediker, William H. White NMHS STAFF: Executive Director, Burchenal Green; Director of Development, Jessica MacFarlane; Head Bookkeeper, Andrea Ryan; Executive Assistant, Heather Purvis; Senior Staff Writer, Shelley Reid; Membership Coordinator, Marianne Pagliaro SEA HISTORY: Editor, Deirdre E. O’Regan; Advertising Director, Wendy Paggiotta Sea History is printed by The Lane Press, South Burlington, Vermont, USA.
SEA HISTORY 178, SPRING 2022