Ship model, Frigate USS <i>President</i>
date: label: date made
content: ca 1815
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: The frigate <i>President</i> was built by Christian Bergh of New York; William Doughty of Philadelphia was the naval constructor. It measured 175 feet in length, 44 feet 4 inches in beam, 13 feet 11 inches in depth of hold, and 1,576 tons. The ship was launched on April 1, 1800, sister ship of <i>Constitution</i> and <i>United States</i>. Famous for its speed and appearance, contemporary accounts credit <i>President</i> with being a faster ship than USS <i>Constitution</i>. It served as a flagship in the Mediterranean in 1801-02 and 1804-05. It was on the American coast from 1809 to the War of 1812. During the War of 1812, <i>President</i> served as flagship for Commodores John Rogers and Stephen Decatur. It was captured by the British in 1815 after being disabled and grounded in battle. It was then taken into the Royal Navy but was never serviceable. Its lines were taken off in the Portsmouth Dockyard in 1815, and it was broken up there in 1817. Subsequently, the British built a frigate on its lines, slightly modified and with the same name. It became part of the Royal Navy in 1847.
label: Description
content: In all but size, <i>President</i> represented the highest development in frigate design, for it combined the desired features of its class to such a degree that no marked changes were made from its model in the best of the later frigates.
label: Description
content: The President model was probably built at Dartmoor Prison, 14 miles from Plymouth, England, where many of American prisoner-of-war models were built.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Maritime
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0279.089
label: accession number
content: 2005.0279
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0279.089
objectType: label: Object Name
content: ship model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 18 in x 27 in x 7 in; 45.72 cm x 68.58 cm x 17.78 cm