the HMS Java Dec.1812
"Old Ironsides" |
| the HMS Java Dec.1812 |
The Consitution firing her Starboad guns in 1998 |
By Oliver Wendell Holmes September 16, 1830 Ay, tear her tattered 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! Oh, better that her shattered bulk 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! Often called Old Ironsides, 44-gun frigate, one of the most famous vessels in the history of the U.S. Navy. The Constitution was commissioned in 1798 and was used in the war with Tripoli in 1803 and 1804. In the War of 1812, the frigate, under the command of Isaac Hull, fought in August 1812, with the Guerrière, a British warship, leaving it a total wreck after an engagement of 30 minutes. In December, under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, the Constitution captured the British frigate Java off Bahia, Brazil. Although pronounced unseaworthy about 1829, the Constitution was preserved in deference to the sentiment aroused by the poem "Old Ironsides" by the American poet Oliver Wendell Holmes. Rebuilt several times, the frigate is on exhibition at the Boston Navy Yard.  The Continental Marines |
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