Evening star., 1897-01-21
THE FRIGATE CONSTITUTION.
Brief Statement of Her Record
ShaIl ..Old IrOnsides" be Saved.

Brief Statement of Her Record
Shall "Old IrOnsides" BE Saved.
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
The resolution adopted by Congress last
week asking for an estimate from the Sec
retary Of the Navy the necessary amount
of money to move the frigate Constitution
from the Portsmouth navy yard to this
city and convert her into a naval museum
and preserve her from further decay is in
dorsed by every patriotic American. The
remarks of Congressman Fitzgerald of
Boston, as published in The Star, were ex-
cellent, and awakened memories of the
remarkable career of this old battle snip.
No warship of the American, or, indeed, Of
any other nation, can show such a record
of continued successes. of victories won,
vessels captured, and with SO little loss of
life or injury to the ship this one.
Fennimore Cooper says of her, "She
never was diSmasted, never got ashore,
and scarcely ever suffered any Of the usual
accidents of the sea, though often in
battle, no very serious slaughter ever took
place en- board" AS the sailors say, she
was lucky" for seamen rate ships as
lucky or bad the old Ironsides was
always and ever a lucky ship" She was
always well commanded. Hull, Balm
bridge and Stewart are brilliant samples of
her officers commanding. She was not only
well officered, but we'll manned. One writer
says that her men were almost qualified
to fight the ship without her officers"
This remark applies to her last cruise in
the war of 1872, when Capt. Stewart fought
and captured in a single engagement two
British slcops-of-war, the Cyane and Le
want.
During this war she captured the British
frigate Guerriere, having completely dis
masted her by her fire. This action came
on on the eastern coast somewhere near
Halifax, Nova Scotia. On the 10Th Of De-
cember, 1872, in the Bay Of Biscay, she
fought and captured the British frigate
Java. losing nine men killed and twenty
five wounded. In this fight she also dis
masted the Java, while the Constitution
did not lose spar. although she went into
action with royal yards crossed. Febru-
ary 20, 1915, she captured the British
schooner-of-war Picton. Altogether, in the
war of 1872 she captured five vessels of
war, also ten merchantmen belonging to
the enemy. This ship-the Constitution-is
older than our Navy Department. having
been ordered built by an act of Congress in
1I94. and finished and put in commission in
l19S, costing over $3OOOD She was built
under direction OF the Treasury and War
Departments.
Before the war of 1912 she had been in
active service in the Mediterranean during
the war with Tripoli. and was the flagship
OF Commodore Edward Preble. Since the
war with England she has been commits
stoned to important and honorable service
In various parts of the world. Her last
voyage across the Atlantic was on special
mission, and one or peace instead of war
being designated to carry the American ex-
hibits to the Paris exposition, and so this
famous man-of-war,
Whose deck. once red with heroes blood
Where knelt the vanquished foe,"-
she goes as e messenger of peace bearing
the olive branch and not the sword in the
interest of industry and the advancement
OF commerce, manufactures and the peace
ful arts. This was fitting termination of
her active life. and now a hundred years
old. like 'shock of corn fully ripe" let
her be gathered to the capital city a mu-
scum of precious relics, an object lesson
and reminder of the patriotism of our
revolutionary fathers and of the naval
heroes who once trod her deck.
LUTHER CALDWELL,