USS Constellation — 1797 U.S. Navy Frigate Model, Medium (29 in / 74 cm, Cedar & Mahogany)
USS Constellation — 1797 U.S. Navy Frigate Model, Medium (29 in / 74 cm, Cedar & Mahogany)
How big is it?
Length about 74 cm / 29.1 in. Drawn to scale; the model outline is a simplified shape.
Model details
- Size
- 29 in / 74 cm
- Materials
- Mahogany, Western red cedar, Brass, Linen sails
- Construction
- Plank-on-frame, built by hand
- Condition
- Fully assembled, ready to display
- Display
- Wooden base with brass nameplate
- Collection
- Tall Ship Models - Admiral Line
- Item no.
- T360
One of the six original frigates of the United States Navy, at 29 inches in cedar and mahogany.
Built plank on frame — each hull plank laid individually over a wooden frame. Fully assembled and ready to display.
Specification
- 29 in / 74 cm
- Plank-on-frame hull in western red cedar and mahogany
- Gun deck and spar deck batteries with cast cannon
- Three masts and bowsprit with complete hand-knotted standing and running rigging
- Hand-stitched linen sails on every yard
- Deck detail: ship's boats, capstan, wheel, gratings and rails
- Metal anchors and wooden rudder
- Solid wood base with engraved brass nameplate
- Fully assembled
History
Launched at Baltimore in September 1797, Constellation was the first of the six original frigates to get to sea. Under Thomas Truxtun she took the French frigate L'Insurgente in February 1799 during the Quasi-War, then fought La Vengeance to a standstill a year later, and afterwards served against the Barbary corsairs.
A note on identity: the sloop-of-war Constellation preserved in Baltimore harbour today was built in 1854. Whether any timber from the 1797 frigate went into her has been argued for over a century, and the Navy's own position has shifted more than once.