About That U.S. Navy White Oak Forest in Indiana-- Part 2: Welcome to Constitution Grove

The USS Constitution , called "Old Ironsides" is a museum ship docked in Boston, but she has an active duty crew and commander.  She has even sailed under her own power as recently as twenty years ago.

So, one of the Navy's unusual jobs is there at a civilian forester maintained.  They call the group of trees Constitution Grove in Indiana.

From the USS Constitution Museum "The Wooden Walls" of USS Constitution.

The USS Constitution received, according to Secretary  of War Knox, "the best white oak."  However, with each restoration of the ship, white oak of the size needed became increasingly difficult to obtain.  Nearly two generations and three restorations ago, white oak trees at the Naval Facilities Engineering  Command in Crane, Indiana,  were designated for the USS Constitution.

At the time, as the 1973 work began on the ship, the U.S. Navy noted:  "Seasoned white oak, ... needed in the ... overhaul of ... Constitution, was difficult to ... procure."  Over 150 white oak trees spread over the  64,000 acre base were designated for the ship.

In April 2012,  70 of these trees were examined and 35 selected that will be used to replace  the 30-40-foot long rotted hull planks on the ship.

--Brock-Perry

Newly Acquired Documents Shed History of USS Constitution-- Part 2

The USS Constitution is the world's oldest commissioned warship afloat.  It was undefeated in battle and, in the War of 1812,  earned its nickname, Old Ironsides,  when British cannonballs bounced off its wooden hull.

The acquired papers cover several topics, including the construction of the nation's first six frigates, which included the Constitution.  Also, the strategic plans of the  undeclared Quasi-War against France from 1798 to 1800.

The collection belonged to James Sever, the first commander of the USS Congress, another frigate constructed at the same time.  These papers had been in his family ever since.  James Sever was the naval officer officiating at the launch of the Constitution as I have written about before.

Sever supervised the construction of the Congress  and was deployed withy the ship to the Caribbean Sea to protect U.S. merchant ships from French privateers.  The Constitution served alongside the Congress.

The collection also includes  correspondence from the Constitutions commander, Captain Silas Talbot, Henry Knox, Secretary of War under Washington, who oversaw appropriations for the construction of the Constitution and her sister ships; and Toussaint Louverture, the formerly enslaved leader of the Haitian Revolution, who corresponded with U.S. naval commanders about support for his government.

The documents will be  archived at the museum and shared publicly  via email newsletters and social media posts at first.  They also will be digitalized  and made available at the museum's website.

The More We Know.  --Brock-Perry