13/10/2026
𝟐𝟓𝟏 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧.
Few ships connect us to that history like 𝐔𝐒𝐒 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, “𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐈𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬.”
Launched in Boston in 1797, Constitution was one of the Navy’s original six frigates. She was built from some of the strongest natural materials available at the time, including Southern live oak, white oak, and white pine. Her hull was designed to be more than 22 inches thick at the waterline, which helps explain how British cannonballs appeared to bounce off her sides during the War of 1812.
That is how “𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐈𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬” earned her name.
But here is what many people do not realize: USS Constitution is not simply preserved once and left alone. She is a living preservation project, continually maintained, repaired, and restored by people who still practice rare historic trades.
Today, USS Constitution Sailors, Naval History and Heritage Command’s Detachment Boston, and skilled ship restorers, riggers, shipwrights, and blacksmiths help keep her alive at the Charlestown Navy Yard. During her 2015–2017 restoration, crews replaced 100 hull planks, rebuilt the cutwater at the bow, worked on her rigging, upper masts, and yards, and helped install new copper below the waterline.
Even the replacement wood has a story. Since 1976, Naval Support Activity Crane in Indiana has supplied white oak from Constitution Grove for future USS Constitution restorations. For the 2015–2017 restoration alone, roughly 350,000 pounds of white oak were harvested, shipped to Boston, and shaped into new hull planks and structural pieces.
And when old material is removed from Constitution, it does not simply disappear. Some pieces are too deteriorated to remain in the ship, but removed wood and metal have long been preserved, studied, displayed, or turned into meaningful mementos. Even the wood that comes out of the ship can continue carrying the story forward.
For 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, this story hits close to home. Our work is built around historic wood, craftsmanship, and preserving the stories that deserve to outlive us.
And with a co-founder who spent over 31 years in the Navy, honoring this legacy is personal.
𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐲!