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USS Constitution The following true tale is from the history of the oldest commissioned warship in the world. It comes by way of the National Park Service, as printed in *Oceanographic Ships, Fore and Aft,* a periodical by the oceanographer of the U. S. Navy. On 23 August 1779, the USS Constitution set sail from Boston, loaded with 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of water, 74,000 cannon shot, 11,500 pounds of black powder, and 79,400 gallons of rum. Her mission: to destroy and harass British shipping. On 6 October, she made Jamaica, took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Three weeks later, Constitution reached the Azores, where she provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 2,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. On 18 November, she set sail for England, where her crew captured and scuttled 12 British merchant vessels and took their rum aboard. By this time, Constitution had run out of shot. Nevertheless, she made her way unarmed up the Firth of Clyde for a night raid there. Here, her landing party captured a whisky distillery and transferred 13,000 gallons to her stores, and headed for home port. On 20 February 1780, Constitution arrived in Boston with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, and no whiskey. She did, however, still have her full crew of 475 officers and men and 18,600 gallons of water. The math is quite enlightening: Length of cruise: 181 days. Booze consumption: 1.26 gallons per man per day (this does NOT include the unknown quantity of rum captured from the 12 British merchant ships in November). Naval historians say that the reenlistment rate from this cruise was 92 per cent! Leave a Comment Directions: Charlestown Navy Shipyard. The Harbor Tour boat stops here, as does the Old Town Trolley Tour. The travelogue has photos of the shipyard dock where you disembark for the ship and museum.Other Contact: See my
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