The USS Constitution featured a bluff bow (flattened front), has a long, narrow hull for speed and an acre's worth of sails on three masts. It could reach speeds of up to 13 knots an hour in a good wind and even 15 when trying to outrun a pursuer.
For her outgunning an enemy frigate, she carried 24 32-pdr. carronades and 30 long guns on her gun deck.
It's hull was designed like a sandwich, three planks thick. The exterior planks were white oak with a dense live oak framing for ribs. It also had live oak for its interior planking.
Today, the ship's keel is one of the only few original pieces of the ship remaining. It is made of four pieces of white oak harvested from New Jersey in 1795.
--Brock-Perry
2012 marks the 200th anniversary of America's "Forgotten War," the War of 1812 that took place over three years, 1812 to 1815.
Battle of New Orleans.
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