By Commander Holloway H. Frost , U. S. Navy Author of We Build a Navy U. S. NAVAL INSTITUTE ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND { Copyright 1931 · United States Naval Institute } DESIGNED AND PRINTED BY GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY MENASHA, WISCONSIN...

On a September day in 1803 an American frigate bowled along the rocky Spanish coast toward Gibraltar. From her bluff bows curled back a foamy wave. Above the blue waters rose a gracefully proportioned black hull. Around it, halfway up from the water line, ran a broad white stripe. This was broken at regular intervals by the dark squares of the gun ports. Spars tapered aloft. White rectangles of billowing canvas completed a picture of beauty unsurpassed on the Seven Seas. Such was the United Stat

An effective demonstration off Tangiers soon cooled the ardor of the Sultan of Morocco. He reconfirmed the old and highly favorable treaty of 1786. One potential enemy had been removed. On now for Syracuse, the naval base from which our campaign against Tripoli was being conducted. Off the coast of Sardinia the Constitution hailed H.M.S. Amazon , a frigate attached to the squadron of Lord Nelson. From her Preble received “the melancholy and distressing intelligence of the loss of the U.S. ship P

As spring came on the commodore pushed his preparations for a naval attack on Tripoli. He now had only one large ship, the Constitution . There were five brigs and schooners. A captured Tripolitan brig, commissioned as the Scourge , made a sixth. Preble knew that these ships could not get in close enough to the enemy to win the decisive results he was determined to have. So he borrowed six gunboats, two bomb vessels, and ninety-six sailors from the King of Naples. Even with this reënforcement, P

At last the day has come. Long and eagerly awaited has it been by American seamen. A tall-sparred frigate plows through the purple waters of the Gulf Stream. From her mastheads lookouts report a tiny speck upon the clear horizon. Sharp eyes distinguish it from the far-distant masses of cumulous clouds it counterfeits so well. Larger and larger it grows. It becomes, in fact, another frigate, equally large and beautiful. Across one of her topsails is painted a cryptic phrase, “Not the Little Belt.

While the Constitution was taking a little rest in Boston Stephen Decatur in the sister-ship United States had taken the sea. In the latter part of October he encountered the British frigate Macedonian , likewise a sister-ship of the Guerriere . So the scene was set exactly as in the previous battle. But, whereas Hull had decided the issue by sheer overpowering force at point-blank range, Decatur fought a distant battle in an effort to capitalize to the full his superiority in gunnery and seaman

The Constitution took a long rest after this battle. The Java’s shot had discovered some rotten spots in her sides. A long overhaul was required to make her again ready for sea. Meanwhile the Navy had won many a victory and had suffered some defeats. Our little sloops-of-war won a long succession of splendid successes. Gallant James Lawrence, hero of the Hornet-Peacock fight, lost the Chesapeake to the British frigate Shannon —crying, as he lay dying, “Don’t give up the ship!” Sewing this motto

Scarce one tall frigate walks the sea Or skirts the safer shores Of all that bore to victory Our stout old Commodores. So wrote Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1865. Many years have passed since then. Again a tall frigate walks the sea. She carries a message from many a stout old commodore, many an alert topman, many a keen-eyed gunner. In fact, she carries a message from our Navy to our People. All the stories of “Old Ironsides” in this little pamphlet are based on chapters of We Build a Navy , by Com

The two bow chasers are 18-pounders bored for 24-pound shot. They are lighter than the standard 24-pounder to reduce top weights. Total weight of broadside, 734 pounds. As shot were frequently underweight, this figure is not exact. Her complement was 400 officers and men, but she usually cruised with about 50 men in excess. At sea the men were crowded closely together and there was much sickness. The ration was fixed by law and it made a monotonous diet. The legal ration for Sunday was 1½ lbs. b