【馬薩諸塞州/波士頓】世界最老現役軍艦 - "憲法"號風帆護衛艦（別名“老鐵殼”）（2021/5/2）

Hello, this is Salvatore Vinciguerra. Welcome to this video on the U.S.S. Constitution in Boston, Massachusetts. The U.S.S. Constitution is kept in the Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charleston Navy Yard and later the Boston Naval Shipyard. This is one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. The Naval Yard was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of the new U.S. Department of the Navy in 1795. After 175 years of military service, it was decommissioned as a naval installation on July 1st of 1974. The 30-acre property is administered by the National Park Service, becoming part of the Boston National Historic Park. Enough of the yard remains in operation to support the moored U.S.S. Constitution or Old Ironsides, as she was called, of 1797, built as one of the original six heavy frigates for the revived American Navy and the oldest warship still commissioned in the United States Navy. The U.S.S. Cassin Young DD-793, a 1943 World War II-era Fletcher-class destroyer, serving as a museum ship, is also birthed here. The museum area includes a dock, which is a stop for the MBTA boat water transport system in Boston. Among local people in the area and the National Park Service, it is still known as the Charleston Navy Yard. So a word of caution before I start talking about the ship and the other parts of the museum is that when visiting the U.S.S. Constitution, please make sure that you look at the website as sometimes the ship is closed, but the museums are actually open. If you want to drive here and park your car, it would be quite problematic, as there aren't that many spaces and parking can be quite expensive. I would suggest either coming by the subway or the train as it's called in Boston, the water taxi, or even walking here on the Freedom Trail. And that's what I had to do because the first day that I visited this ship, which I'm sharing the photography of that right now, is when the ship's actually closed and the museums are open. Still,you can walk around the various areas around the U.S.S. Constitution and take pictures from different angles and still get a glimpse of this beautiful ship that they have here at the Boston Navy Yard. What I did was I came a different day and made it a part of my walk on the Freedom Trail that went inside of Bunker Hill and then down to the north end and then to downtown Boston. And now this is pictures and video of the U.S.S. Constitution when it is actually open to the public and as you can see, some of the naval officers are dressed as they would have in the period of when the ship was built. And remember the ship is actually on active duty so they do take the ship out into Boston Harbor for certain celebrations. So it's pretty neat to see the naval officers and get to talk to them as a part of the trip. So make sure that you do this. I would also recommend that if you are visiting this ship, do it earlier in the day as there won't be that many people there. It'll be easy to walk around the ship and really photograph it if you're into that type of thing. And you won't have tour groups on your back as you're walking through and it won't be so crowded as inside the ship can be quite tight. But take your time as you walk through the ship and if you have questions, the naval officers are right there as you enter and on the different levels of the ship. So as I'm giving you a tour of the USS Constitution, I'll also be sharing with you some of the information on how it is constructed, how it is armed for war, which wars it actually participated in, and also how it came to be restored and brought back to Boston as a museum ship today. In 1785, the United States had problems with Barbary pirates that were attacking American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea, most notably from Algiers. In 1793 alone, 11 American ships were captured and their crews and stores were held for ransom. To combat this problem, proposals were made for warships to protect American shipping, resulting in the Naval Act of 1794. The Act provided funds to construct six frigates or warships, but included a clause that the construction of the ships would be halted if peace terms were agreed to with Algiers. The design of the USS Constitution was very unusual for its time. The designer was Joshua Humphreys. The design gave the hull a greater strength so that you could use very heavy guns on the ship. Humphreys took into consideration the European states and the sizes of their navies at that time, making the USS Constitution designed to overpower any other frigate while escaping from a ship of the line. Therefore, the ship of the line was a navy tactic and was known as the line of battle, which depended upon the two columns of opposing warships maneuvering to fire with the cannons along their broad sides. In conflicts where opposing ships were both able to fire from their broad sides, the opponent with more cannons and therefore more firepower typically had an advantage. Be careful when boarding the USS Constitution as sometimes it can be a little bit tricky going from the platform and then into the ship. The other side of the ship that I showed you before is actually trickier to climb up and then get into the ship. So make sure that one of the naval officers is there for you if you need some assistance. And just as a warning, sometimes when touring some of these ships, it is a ship, so going in between the decks, do note that there is some considerable climbing there, especially if you're not ready to go in between those decks. There's not an elevator, so you must go down the ship stairs that they have for you. Keep in mind that when you're touring the USS Constitution, it is free of charge. And they do have some activities that you can participate in. And one of those is buying one of the US flags and hoisting it up with one of the naval officers back and forth. I've done this on a previous visit to the USS Constitution and it is a great privilege to do that. The cost of that is about $50. But it is a great souvenir to take with you as your remembrance of visiting the USS Constitution. And the proceeds do help pay for the USS Constitution and its maintenance by the US Navy. The USS Constitution's keel was laid down on November 1st, 1794 at Edmund Hart's shipyard in Boston, Massachusetts. The Constitution's hull was built 21 inches thick and her length between perpendiculars was 175 feet with a 204-foot length overall and a width of 43 feet 6 inches. In total, 60 acres of trees were needed for her construction. The primary building materials of the Constitution consisted of pine and oak including southern live oak which was cut from Gasconia Bluff and milled near St. Simon's, Georgia. This is the gun deck of the USS Constitution. In March of 1796, a peace accord was announced between the United States and Algiers and construction of the USS Constitution was halted in accordance with the US Navy Act of 1794. After some debate and prompting by President Washington, Congress agreed to continue funding the construction of the three ships nearest to completion, the United States, Constellation and Constitution. The USS Constitution's launching ceremony on September 20, 1797 was attended by President John Adams and Massachusetts Governor Incree Sumter. Upon launch, she slid down the ways only 27 feet before stopping. Her weight had caused the waves to settle into the ground, preventing further movement. An attempt two days later resulted in only an additional 31 feet of travel before the ship stopped again. Another month of rebuilding the ways, the Constitution finally slipped into Boston Harbor on October 21, 1797 with Captain James Seaver breaking a bottle of Madeira wine on her bow sprit. The USS Constitution was rated as a 44-gun frigate, but she often carried more than 50 guns at a time. Ships of this era had no permanent battery of guns such as those of modern Navy ships. The guns and cannons were designed to be completely portable and often were exchanged between ships as situations warranted. Each commanding officer outfitted armaments to his liking, taking into consideration factors such as the overall weight of stores, complement of personnel on board and planned routes to be sailed. Consequently, the armaments of the ships changed often during their careers and records of the changes were not generally kept. During the War of 1812, Constitution's battery of guns typically consisted of 30 long 24-pounder cannons with 15 on each side of the gun deck. Another 22 guns were deployed on the spar deck, 11 per side, each a short 32-pounder carronade. Four chase guns were also positioned, two each at the stern and the bow. All of the guns aboard the Constitution have been replicas since her 1927-1931 restoration. Most were cast in 1930, but two carronades on the spar deck were cast in 1983. A modern 40-millimeter saluting gun was hidden inside the forward long gun and each side during her 1973-1976 restoration in order to restore the capability of firing ceremonial salutes. Now we're right below the gun deck and this is the last deck that I think visitors get the opportunity to see. Some of the ship is always under a little bit of construction. This is the berth deck and it's basically empty, but they do have some places where they show you how maybe the sailors got to sleep. They had cots here, so this is very interesting even to see how they were to even refurbish the inside of the USS Constitution and some of it they do all the time. For example, I know that they have to continuously do stainings of various parts of the ship in order to protect the ship from the elements. The USS Constitution's first duties were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi-War with France and to defeat the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War. The USS Constitution is most noted for her actions during the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom, where she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships, the HMS Guerriere, Java, Pictou, Cayenne and Levant. The battle with Guerriere earned her the nickname Old Ironsides and public adoration that has repeatedly saved her from being scrapped. She continued to serve as flagship in the Mediterranean and African squadrons, and she circled the world in the 1840s. During the American Civil War, she served as a training ship for the United States Naval Academy. She carried American artwork and industrial displays to the Paris Exhibition in 1878. Constitution was retired from active service in 1881 and served as a receiving ship. This is what the USS Constitution looked like in 1905 as a barrack ship in Boston. In 1900, Congress authorized restoration of Constitution but did not appropriate any funds for the project. Funding was to be raised privately. Most of the private funding and public funding for the Constitution at this particular time had failed for many years. Someone offered to buy the ship for $10,000 and it really became such a debacle with trying to restore such a historical piece of the United States' history. Finally, in 1906, Congress authorized $100,000 for the ship's restoration. The barrack structure on the spar deck was removed and limited amount of funds allowed the partial restoration of the ship. In 1907, the Constitution began to serve as a museum ship with tours offered to the public. An inspection of the USS Constitution in 1924 found her to be in very poor condition with her taking on water which had to be pumped out on a daily basis. The estimated cost of repairs at this time was anywhere between $400,000 and $745,000. The Elks Lodge was the first private organization to help spearhead to help school children raise pennies for the USS Constitution, raising $148,000. Eventually, after raising $600,000 in private donations and Congress throwing in $300,000 to complete the restoration of the USS Constitution, it was restored with a cost of $946,000. This restoration made the USS Constitution seaworthy again and she was recommissioned on July 1st, 1931. In 1934, the USS Constitution completed a three-year 90 port tour of the United States. She sailed under her own power for her 200th birthday in 1997 and again in August 2012 to commemorate her 200th anniversary of her victory over the British warship the Guerriere. Today, the USS Constitution's mission is to promote understanding of the Navy's role in war and peace through educational outreach, historical demonstration and active participation in public events as a part of the Naval History and Heritage Command. As a fully commissioned naval ship, her crew of 60 officers and sailors participate in ceremonies, educational programs and special events while keeping her open to visitors year-round and providing free tours. The officers and crew are active-duty Navy personnel and the assignment is considered to be a special duty. After visiting the USS Constitution, you can then go and visit the Charleston Navy Yard Museum. This is also a museum that is free of charge and is run by the naval officers and the National Park Service. Inside of this museum are some artifacts and a little bit of more of the history of the USS Constitution and the Navy Yard itself showing you how some of the ships are built, what the materials are that were used on some of these ships and basically what this yard was used for. After visiting this museum, you may also want to see the USS Constitution Museum, which is on the other side by the Cassin Young. And the gift store in both of these are quite remarkable. They have some really neat items for sale inside that have to do with the USS Constitution and the Boston Navy Yard. And I would highly suggest that if you wanted to spend the entire day maybe do the USS Constitution in the morning with this museum and then try to have lunch and go and see the other museum. The downside of doing that is there aren't really places to eat in this area as it's quite secluded. So you may have to get on the bus or walk to the north end, which isn't a bad thing to do. It's about a 20-minute walk to the north end from this point here And it's quite a unique walk as it's a part of the Freedom Trail. It gives you more of a perspective of the Navy Yard and then the older part of Boston. So if you're interested in that and especially the great Italian food that they have in the north end, certainly there's a lot to do in the Charleston-Boston Navy Yard area. And this would be a great place to take people who are very interested in naval history, maybe people who are interested in nautical history and boats. It's still a part of United States history just to see the USS Constitution in the extraordinary feat of just preserving such an important part of our history and keeping that alive for many years to come. This is Salvatore Vinciguerra. Thank you for watching this video on the USS Constitution in Boston, Massachusetts. If you like this video, please like it, subscribe to this channel and have a great day. Thank you.