USS Constellation

The USS Constellation was one of the six original frigates built for the US Navy. The first three frigates to be built were the USS Constitution, the USS United States, and the USS Constellation. These were built in 1797 to deal with the Barbary pirates. When England began to prey on US shipping, the three remaining frigates, which had been left unfinished after the Barbary pirates had been dealt with, were completed. Those three frigates were the USS President, the USS Congress, and the USS Chesapeake. I still need reference material for the interior, so if anybody finds blueprints or images or something of the interior of the original USS Constellation, please let me know.


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Additional Notes

The USS Constellation was built in 1797. She saw limited action during the War of 1812, on account of the fact that she was blockaded near Norfolk, Virginia, for the duration of it, but she proved herself an excellent fighting vessel during the "Quasi-War". The Quasi-War was a brief, undeclared war between the United States and France, due to French privateers raiding American shipping. In the first battle, in 1799, the 38-gun Constellation faced off against the 38-gun French frigate, Insurgente, one of the best ships in the entire French navy. Just before the start of the battle, a sudden squall struck, causing the Insurgente to lose the topmost portion of her mainmast. The Constellation fired the first shots, and the Insurgente replied. The Insurgente's crew followed French custom and aimed high, hoping to knock down the Constellation's masts. The Insurgente attempted to cross the Constellation's bow and rake her, but the loss of her main-topmast had hurt her speed, resulting in the Constellation being put in the exact position to rake the Insurgente. After 75 minutes, the Insurgente struck her flag. About a year later, the Constellation proved herself again, this time by routing the 52-gun French ship Vengeance. The damage dealt out on both sides was so great that both captains thought that they had sunk the other ship.