The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #61817 Message #996383
Posted By: Charley Noble
04-Aug-03 - 09:04 AM
Thread Name: August Shanty Session at the Press Room
Subject: RE: August Shanty Session at the Press Room
Uncle Jacque-
The USS Constellation was built about the same time as the USS Constitution but was never a "sister" ship; she was a smaller 38-gun frigate rather than the imperial-sized 44-gun model. The Constitution's sisters were the President and the United States.
The Civil War era Constellation was an entirely new ship, a corvette, although the Navy kept the same name and may have done so to confuse Congress that they were merely repairing the old ship. People in Baltimore and elsewhere were confused for years about this question but it seems to have been put to rest after her latest renovation.
The Constellation was still in commission in the 1880's as a training ship, and I seem to remember reading that she did do a run as a relief ship for Irish famine.