Trees for the USS Constitution-- Part 4

Essentially, the USS Constitution had 24-inches of extremely strong wood.  This caused the smaller British cannons to fire cannon balls that seemed just to bounce off the sides of the Constitution earning her the name "Old Ironsides."

For the upcoming repairs, most of the planks will be 30-40 feet long and six inches thick and must have no defects.

Even after being afloat for most of 200 years, some 12% of the wood in the Constitution is original.  Most all of the keel, bottom frames and probably the bottom 13 planks have never had to be replaced.

A grove of trees at Crane was officially named "Constitution Grove" on May 8, 1776, during the nation's Bicentennial.

--Brock-Perry

Trees for the USS Constitution-- Part 2

Much work is involved with these white oak trees before they can be placed on the Constitution.  They must be harvested, milled, shaped and then transported to Boston.  The final step is installation.

In addition, there is only a limited time slot for harvesting the trees because the NSA Crane forest is home for the endangered Indiana bat.

The forest now has 150 GPS-located mature white oaks set aside for future use on the USS Constitution.

The white oak lumber will be used to replace deteriorated hull planking and support structures called knees.  White oak is the same king of wood used originally.

--Brock-Perry

Naval Support Activity Crane

The trees for the USS Constitution repairs were selected from the Naval Support Activity Crane, about 25 miles southwest of Bloomington, Indiana.

This is a huge base, with 64,000 acres, 109 miles of roadway, over 3,000 buildings spread over the 98 square miles.

It is manned by 5,000 Department of Defense civilian and contractor personnel and just 50 military.

--Brock-Perry