Old Ironsides

My trip to Boston was not planned. Well, I’m a planner so let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. What I mean is it was not planned in the way I usually plan my trips: based on the books I read or movies I once saw. I simply purchased the plane tickets, booked a room at the hotel and whoop! off I went. As I was sitting in the plane, little did I know Boston was about to overthrow New York in my heart! 

This post however has little to do with Boston and everything to do with a very old lady who loves the ocean just about as much as I do: Old Ironsides! I discovered her by pure accident. I was coming back from Bunker Hill monument, pretty bummed because I didn’t get to climb its 294 steps all the way to the top as it was closed due to the freezing weather. I had hoped to get a nice view over the city so I was kinda sad, dragging my feet back to the city centre along the Freedom Trail when I saw her: tall, lean, stretching its mast into the open sky. It was already getting dark but I took my chance and asked the marines at the gate if it was still possible for me to visit it. I must have looked very pitiful, sitting there frozen and sad with my mind still at Bunker Hill tower that I didn’t get to climb. Turns out this look worked in my favour because a very nice marine asked me and a couple of other late tourists if we wanted to come aboard. They were about to shoot the evening cannon and thought we might enjoy this. Boy, was he kidding me? I actually was so excited I squeaked like a girl!  

Now here’s why I got so excited (besides the cannon shooting and the descent of the flag, of course): USS Constitution (by its real name) was built around 1795. It’s the oldest US commissioned war ship. Paul Revere (the famous independence revolutionary) forged the copper bolts that held the planks in place and the copper sheathing that protected it. When it was build, the Americans wanted a ship that was more powerful than any enemy ship of comparable size yet light enough to outsail a stronger opponent. Its battery consisted of more than 50 guns, all portable and who could be reconfigured to accommodate any battle situation. Kind of like an old age lego 🙂 

Isn’t she a beauty? 

Here’s how she got her nickname: in 1812 a mortal combat took place between the USS Constitution and the British frigate Guerriere 750 miles off the coast of Massachusetts. Barely fifty yards apart; each ship fired its twenty-two cannons point-blank into its opponent. The barrage from the British frigate seemed to be having little effect as its cannon balls bounced off the Constitution’s rugged oak sides. Seeing this, one of the Constitution’s crewmen shouted: “Huzza, her sides are made of iron!” The Constitution’s nickname Old Ironside was born. 

It was the first time I witnessed a US navy ceremony much less a cannon shooting (no seagulls or evening runners were hurt in this process) so I was pretty happy.

Inside, the ship is just as beautiful though tall people should walk carefully! I’d like to think that the cannons are more than 200 years old but cannot vouch for that.

While we were still outside, I found an ad-hoc model/photography student, resident of the USS Constitution who took the shot below. If he were to read this post, I bet he would cringe at the sight of my poor navy vocabulary but I’m hoping he would overlook it once he would see he has a good eye for photography and is doing quite alright in low light conditions!