Americas first party boat... The USS Constitution

[spartacus53]

It's amazing that our founders got anything done during the American Revolution.

DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR:
The USS CONSTITUTION set sail from Boston, on 23 August, 1779. She left with 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds of black powder, and 79,400 gallons of rum on board. Her mission was to destroy and harass English shipping.

Making Jamaica on 6 October, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Then she headed for the Azores, arriving there on 12 November, She provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. On the 18th of November she set sail for England.

In the ensuing day, she defeated five British Men-of-War and captured and scuttled twelve English
Merchant-Men, salvaging only their rum. By 27 January, her powder and shot were exhausted. Unarmed, she made a raid up the Firth of Clyde. Her landing party captured a whiskey distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons to board by dawn. Then she headed home.

The Constitution arrived in Boston harbor on 20 February, l780, with no cannon shot, no powder, no food, no rum, no whiskey, but with 48,000 gallons of stagnant water.
[excerpted from U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings]

 

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[diggemall]

Just goes to show that with sufficient alcohol to keep the crew 'well motivated' a well-armed vessel can be REALLY formidable !

Think maybe the discovery of Tequila had anything to do with the downfall of the Spanish armadas ? lol.

(God thing the russians didn't figure this out given Vodka's well-known tendency to bring out the 'mean' in people !)

Diggem'

 

[Blacksheep]

I was fortunate to have the chance at a semi-private tour a few years back, think they kept the sailors boozed up due to the tight
quarters.

(It was a fantastic tour with time to ask questions and get informative answers. Hope to take my little guy there one day)

 

[Dano Sverige]

" In the ensuing day, she defeated five British Men-of-War and captured and scuttled twelve English
Merchant-Men "

Not a bad days work!
I think you'll find it was over a couple of years my colonial mate.

Most of the liquor and water were dumped over her sides,to lighten her while being pursued..and i read nothing about her ever sailing into Britain.

Nice ship though,and can't disrespect the feats she achieved.

 

[spartacus53]

I was fortunate to have the chance at a semi-private tour a few years back, think they kept the sailors boozed up due to the tight
quarters.

(It was a fantastic tour with time to ask questions and get informative answers. Hope to take my little guy there one day)

In the mid 80's I was lucky enough to get a private tour in the evening, after visiting hours. While out to dinner with one of my accounts we were talking about the history of Boston, and he gave his buddy a call who was in charge of the ship. He met us at the ship and gave me a quick port side tour. Needless to say that was one of my best visits to Boston and worth the 5 hour drive.

" In the ensuing day, she defeated five British Men-of-War and captured and scuttled twelve English
Merchant-Men " Not a bad days work!
I think you'll find it was over a couple of years my colonial mate.

Most of the liquor and water were dumped over her sides,to lighten her while being pursued..and i read nothing about her ever sailing into Britain.

Nice ship though,and can't disrespect the feats she achieved.

Well I can't confirm the fight, I wasn't there and just printed what was written according to the records. The main part of the story for me was about all the liquor that bad boy hauled. It is pretty much a fact that liquor did play an important role in the revolution, from beginning to the end. It appears that our forefathers did like to partake in the spirits and quite often. If I'm not mistaken the consumption was about 7 times of what we consume today. There was this one odd book I had and I can't remember the tittle, but it had to do with how drunk the "rebels" were even during the planning stages of the revolution. I love little "off" books like that, as they make interesting reading.