Sunday, May 24, 2020

USS Constitution- old ironside early 20th century.


9 comments:

  1. Still under commission on the rolls of the USN. Major reconstruction began in 2015 and she was returned to service in 2017. Early on they found she was hogged a good amount. Research revealed it probable she was that way when she originally slipped the rails. I would have like to have been involved in that project.


    Rick

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    1. One of the books I truly miss from our house fire was a terrific book on The USS Constitution. It explained many facts about her construction, including why the ships performance in the water didn't match up with what marine architects gleaned from historical records.
      It was found that in an early restoration a number of pieces of timber in her hull were removed and not understanding the reason for their being placed there were not replicated in the final restoration.
      (going from memory here)
      There existed diagrams of those pieces and it was found that they were Gambrel Trusses, intended to stiffen the hull to prevent the hogging (or bellying) that increased the ships drag through the water. Part of the genius of the ships original designer, Joshua Humphreys.

      I once installed a telephone system in the USS Constitution Visitor Center and Museum. Got the chance to wander through the workshop area.
      I still remember the phone number assigned to the Visitor Center;(617) 426-1812

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  2. Needs to be cut up for high-end furniture. Nothing says, "our navy is a hugely wasteful bloated bureaucracy" like using your defense budget to restore a ship that has no practical value, all the while crying to congress that they don't have enough ships.
    --generic

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    1. Wow! The anonymous voice of modern America, they don't have a clue!

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    2. You probably put your Grand Ma in @ nursing home.

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    3. I’m guessing you weren’t too surprised when you received that rejection letter from MENSA

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    4. I pity you.
      You don't have any history.
      You don't know where you came from.
      And you're going nowhere.

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  3. Toured it in the early 1970s. No different than keeping a battlefield intact.

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  4. My father-in-law was a crew member. He was piped aboard at her birthday, '97?

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