Evening star., 1948-05-06

A number of high-ranking Navy men and
prominent civilians have manned their guns
in campaign to raise 81 100000 to restore the
famous old fighting ship Constellation.
The second vessel of the United States Navy
to go into the. water, the Constellation was
launched September T. 1897, and her mastless
hull now floats in Boston Harbor The Navys
first Ship the United States. was broken up
after the Civil War.
Among the members of the restoration COM
mittee, headed by Assistant Secretary of the
Navy for Air John Nicholas Brown, are Fleet
Admirals King, Nimitz, Halsey and Leahy,
former Marine Commandant Vandegrift, Arch
bishop Patrick O'Boyle of Washington, CIO
President Philip Murray AFL President Will
liam Green and Justin Miller, president of the
American Association of Broadcasters.
More than 30 of the committee members met
in Mr.. Browns Office last Friday-the 150th an
| niversary of the Navy-to lay the groundwork
| for the campaign.
There have been projects for the restoration
ever since Franklin D. Roosevelt became As
sstant Secretary of the Navy in 1914. But the
Navy, lacking funds Of its own for the work,
needed legislation giving it proper authority.
Under bill passed by Congress last month,
the Secretary of the Navy was authorized to
repair restore and equip the ship, as far as is
feasible, to its original condition. He was also
authorized to accept donations and contribu-
tions for this purpose.
while she may continue to float for long
time" said Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, "a
complete rebuilding will be necessary to restore
her to proper and safe condition"
The committee estimates it will take at least
81 000,0 900 to make her the frigate of old. The
Constitution sistership of the Constellation
was saved in 1850 by Poet Oliver Wendell
Holmes and the donations of school children.
The Constellation was masterpiece of ship
construction. Her keel was laid in the Sterret
yard on Harris Creek in Baltimore. Capt.
Thomas Truxton, her skipper personally ex-
| amined every beam of oak, cedar and pine that
was doweled into the hull
Her First Battle.
Her baptism Of fire came soon after dawn
on February 8, 1899. Her sails swelling and
her PROV knitting through the Atlantic waves.
she took on the French frigate L'Insurgente.
The Consultations A guns roared into action
and by o'clock that afternoon the French
ship was a battered hulk. This was the first
victory for the newly established United States
Navy
In bloody battle the following year with
another French vessel, La Vengeance, the Con-
stellation's mainmast was shattered by shot
from the enemy's 50 guns But Truxton, now
a commodore held his ground and the French
man was soon hightailing to her home port,
the Constellation plowing in pursuit But the
splintered mast fell overheard, causing Com
modore TruXton to give up the chase and put
into Jamaica.
Two years later, in true Navy fashion, she
engaged II gunboats blockading the port of
Tripoli and destroyed all but seven.
Capt. Alexander Murray, who relieved Com
modore Truxton before the Constellation set
sail for the Mediterranean, said of the battle
In his log, also in true Navy tradition:
Had they been one more mile to the lee
ward Of the reef, or had the wind been from
the Southwark, we must inevitably have de-
stroyed them ALL"
The Constellation was docked in the Wash
ington Navy Yard from the end Of the Tripoli-
tan wars until the War of 1872
During the latter war, under the command
of Capt Charles Stewart, she broke up an
abortive British landing attempt on Craney
Island in Hampton Roads, Va. A British block
ade kept her in the Chesapeake for the remain
der of the war
The proud frigate was laid up in Norfolk in
1881 after service with squadrons in the Med
iterranean and Pacific.
She was soon on the go again, however
rounding the world in 1874. Her last patrols
were against slavers coming in from South
Africa and protecting commerce from Con-
federate raiders during the Civil War
Placed out of commission in 1853 the Con-
stellation was subsequently used as a practice
ship at Annapolis and as a receiving ship at
Newport.
Except for brief trip to the Sesquicenten-
nial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1926 she
fioated in Newport since the turn of the CEN
tury. In the summer of 1910, however, Presi-
dent Roosevelt had her recommiSSoned. The
following year, the Constellation became the
flagship of Admiral Ernest King then COM
mander of the Atlantic Fleet Two years ago
she was towed to the Boston Navy Yard almost
sinking on the way.
Is She Original Ship?
In that Massachusetts, port she came under
the scrutiny of Howard I. Chappelle, q ship
expert of long standing. Mr.. Chappelle looked
over the old hull and studied her history.
Last month Mr.. Chappelle jolted the restora-
ton hackers when he stated that the ship now
docked in Boston is not the original Constella-
ton.
There seems to be no reason to suppose
that there Is a single stick or fastening in the
existing ship that had any relation to Balti-
more (where the original was built)," stated
Mr.. Chappelle.
He contends that the existing ship was built
in Norfolk in 1853 and that the original was
broken up and only the name retained.
The Navy quickly assigned researcher En-
sign William J. McKeon of public relations,
to investigate the matter. He began combing
through the records of repairs to the ship.
He, along with Capt. John P. Heffernan, di-
rector Of Naval History, believes that the cost