Old Ironsides--The USS Constitution

The oldest commissioned warship still floats in Boston Harbor, crewed by US Navy Sailors dressed in their period uniforms--canvas white bell-bottom pants; short navy blue pea coats with double breasted gold buttons, and rats-tail hats bearing the name "USS Constitution."

Dating from the 1790's, the USS Constitution never lost a battle and took over 40 enemy ships.
She gained the nickname "Old Ironsides" after British cannonballs bounced off her solid oak sides during the war of 1812.

In the 1800's, the ship was a worn out hulk, and it was decided that she should be broken apart for scrap. The oft-wounded Civil War officer--and later Supreme Court Justice---Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote this poem that embarassed the U S into saving her. Holmes' poem argued that she should be sunk at sea as a memorial, rather than picked apart as scrap. It was decided that such a historic symbol should not be desecrated. Now she still stands guard over Boston Harbor, birthplace of our nation's liberty, with modern warships from the US and other nations docked beside her.

OLD IRONSIDES
[Written with reference to the proposed breaking up of the famous US frigate Constitution]

Ay, tear her battered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle-shout,
And burst the cannon's roar:
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more!

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor's tread,
Or know the conquered knee:
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

O better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave!
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave:
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,

And give her to the god of storms,

The lightning and the gale!

[From Best Loved Poems of the American People]