Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1904-04-14

ola bnlp OF war IN ohNn . WoJ - -
retain it in its entirety.
1t is not generally known that thii
frigate, one of the hrst Of the Ameri
can navy, is yet in existence and ca
pable Of crossing the ocean for years
yet. 1t is made of the good old stun
that boats and men were made of In
the 'fimes that tried men's souls"
Great credit is due the members
Of the senate committee for their de
sire to KEEP afoat the ship that sig
nalized the birth of American su-
premacy on the seas and particular
ly so in connection with naval ap-
preparation bill which If adopted,
will place the United States among
the three naval powers of the world,
thus linking the glorious past with
promise for the future
is Century old.
The constitution was built previous
to 1889, but 1t was in that year that
she scored her first notable victory
in sea fight when she met the
French privateer, L'Insurgent, and
in one Of the hottest fights in naval
annals, met and disabled this boat
which was supposed by the French
to be invincible.
She was always the mainstay of
the American navy in the early years.
and when the Barbarity pirates be.
came so insolent in 1903 and 1904,
she was dispatched as the flagship
of the squadron under Commodore
Preble to Tripoli to bring these buc-
cancers to account. One of the YES
sells of the squadron, the Philadel-
phia, commanded by Captain Balm
bridge, while reconnointering the har
Dor at Tripoli, struck a rock and was
captured by the Tripolitans. Her Of
ficers were made prisoners of war
and her crew were made slaves.
When this news reached Preble at
Malta, he at once devised a plan for
the capture or destruction of the
Philadelphia. Lieutenant Decatur,
who afterwards achieved distinction
as Commodore Decatur with "A vol
unteers sailed in a small vessel
named the Intrepid into the harbor
on the Sd of February, 1904, in the
disguise of vessel in distress and
moored alongside of the Philadelphia.
Became Suspicious.
Some time before midnight the
forts overlooking the harbor became
suspicious of the stranger and boat
was put out to get an account of her.
Fearing that their identity would be
come known If the boat reacher her,
Decatur and his crew jumped aboard
the Philadelphia with powder and oil
and set her on fire and placing the
powder in such a position that it
would explode returned to their boat
under heavy fire from the forts and
reached the open sea without losing
a man or sustaining any serious in.
jury to their boat.
1t was under Captain Isaac Hull
and Captain Charles Stewart. how
ever that the Constitution achieved
its most lasting fame.
1t was under Captain Hull that her
most memorable exploit was record
ed. In July, 1912, she left Annapolis.
and when about two days out. fell
In with the entire British squadron.
The Constitutions fame was at this
time almost worldwide. and IL not
unlikely that the squadron was then
searching for her, Hull did not wish
to risk an attack with an entire
squadron and setting every sail tried
to escape
The British vessels also put out
every yard of canvas and for more
than "a hours the same distance was
maintained between them, the Con.
stitution keeping Just outside of the
range of any of the English guns
Toward the afternoon of the second
day of the chase the wind died down
and the vessels practically stood
still, there not being enough wind to
maintain even headway.
This placed the American boat in
a critical position as the English yes
sells We're so positioned that the first
wind that sprung up from the most
likely quarter in that latitude would
reach them. The English command