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Last updated on Tuesday, August 15, 2017
(CRANE) - Sailors assigned to USS Constitution visit USS Constitution Grove at Naval Support Activity during 2017 Navy Week Indianapolis.
Crane's forest, contains white oak trees that are spread over the 64,000-acre base that are designated for Old Ironsides.
Navy Weeks focus a variety of assets, equipment and personnel on a single city for a week-long series of engagements designed to bring America's Navy closer to the people it protects, in cities that don't have a large naval presence.
The USS Constitution
USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy, named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America. She is the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat.
The USS Constitution was launched in 1797, one of six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794 and the third constructed. Joshua Humphreys designed the frigates to be the young Navy's capital ships, and so Constitution and her sisters were larger and more heavily armed and built than standard frigates of the period. Constitution was built in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts at Edmund Hartt's shipyard. Her first duties with the newly formed U.S. Navy were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi-War with France and to defeat the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War.
Constitution is most noted for her actions during the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom, when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships: HMS Guerriere, Java, Pictou, Cyane, and Levant. The battle with Guerriere earned her the nickname of "Old Ironsides" and public adoration that has repeatedly saved her from scrapping. She continued to serve as flagship in the Mediterranean and African squadrons, and circled the world in the 1840s. During the Civil War, she served as a training ship for the United States Naval Academy. She carried American artwork and industrial displays to the Paris Exposition of 1878.
Constitution was retired from active service in 1881, and served as a receiving ship until being designated a museum ship in 1907. In 1934, she completed a three-year, 90-port tour of the nation. Constitution sailed under her own power for her 200th birthday in 1997, and again in August 2012 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of her victory over Guerriere.
Constitution's stated mission today is to promote understanding of the Navy's role in war and peace through educational outreach, historical demonstration, and active participation in public events as part of the Naval History & Heritage Command.
After a restoration process that took more than two years, the USS Constitution. According to the Navy, the $12 million project included replacing most of the ship's copper cladding - a process that required 2,200 sheets - repairing the outside wooden planks and rebuilding 42 gun carriers throughout the ship. Refurbishment of the rigging and masts is to be done before the ship is due to reopens to visitors in August.
As a fully commissioned U.S. Navy ship, her crew of 60 officers and sailors participate in ceremonies, educational programs, and special events while keeping Constitution open to visitors year round and providing free tours.
The officers and crew are all active-duty U.S. Navy personnel and the assignment is considered to be special duty in the U.S. Navy. Traditionally, command of the vessel is assigned to a Navy commander. She is usually berthed at Pier 1 of the former Charlestown Navy Yard, at one end of Boston's Freedom Trail.
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