USS Constitution Gets Underway for the 4th-- Part 1

From the June 28, 2024, Navy "USS Constitution to go underway in honor of Independence Day.'

The ship is scheduled to go underway from Charleston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, on Thursday, July 4, at 10 a.m..

It will be closed in the morning and will reopen to the public for tours following the underway from to 3 to 6 p.m..

The underway will celebrate the United States' 248th birthday and will include a 21-gun salute viewable from Fort Independence on Castle Island at approximately 11:30 a.m..

The USS Constitution will fire an additional 17-gun salute as she passes the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston, the former site of Edmund Hartt's Shipyard, where the USS Constitution was built and launched on October 21, 1797.

--Brock-Perry

The Attack on Jackson's Head-- Part 1: The Offending Figurehead

From the USS Constitution Museum "Off with his head" by Margherita M. Desy and Kate Monea.

I wrote about this episode in a blog entry earlier.

When the USS Constitution entered Dry Dock 1 in the Charlestown Navy Yard (Boston) on June 24, 1833, her docking had been delayed so that President Andrew Jackson and Vice President Martin Van Buren could be in attendance.  However, Jackson was too unwell to attend it.

Jackson was generally liked by the people of New England at the time, but fell out of favor less than a year later after he vetoed a bill to recharter the Second Bank of the United States, resulting in financial hardship for merchants.

Just prior to Jackson's fall in popularity, the commandant of the Charlestown Navy Yard, Jesse Elliott had hired a local carver named Leban S. Beecher to create a figurehead of President Jackson, a hero of the War of 1812.

When news of this figurehead got out, Bostonians were enraged.  A call went out to save the famous ship "from this foul disgrace" and threats were made to Beecher.

After the figurehead was installed, the Constitution was refloated from the dry dock and placed under the protective cover of the USS Independence and Columbus.

However, this did not deter one brave local captain named Samuel Worthington Dewey, who took it upon himself to decapitate the offending figurehead.

--Brock-Perry

Elliott and the USS Constitution: The President's Head

As you have read in recent pots, Jesse Elliott's time commanding the USS Constitution also led to situations.

This is from the USS Constitution museum blog.

Jesse Elliott took command of the Boston Navy Yard in 1833 where the USS Constitution was beginning its first major restoration.  To impress President Andrew Jackson, Elliott had a full-length figurehead of Jackson carved and installed on the ship's bow.

Bostonians who disliked Jackson were outraged.  To underscore the point, a local sea captain named Samuel Worthington Dewey climbed aboard the ship on the night of July 2, 1834, and beheaded the figurehead.

Jackson was infuriated and embarrassed by the controversy, but no charges were filed.

Elliott received orders to sail the USS Constitution and take command of the Mediterranean Squadron.

--Brock-Perry