Richard Hill, OS. --Part 2: So That's an OS.

So, the current OS in the U.S. Navy would not likely hold up in the War of 1812 U.S. Navy.  It would not be Operations Specialist.  Hey, no aircraft or electrical systems in the War of 1812.

So, then, what is an OS in the War of 1812, which is the rank that Richard Hill held?

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I found the answer at the USS Constitution Museum site.

It gave the five ranks of men serving on the ship.

Commissioned Officers

Warrant Officers

Petty Officers 

Enlisted Men

Marines

Most likely OS would be an enlisted man.  And, since Hill was a black man, it would not likely be as as officer of any sort.

And, I looked at the three ranks of enlisted men:  Able Seaman, Ordinary Seaman and Boy.

Hey, OS.  Ordinary Seaman

I think I have his rank.

OS  --Brock-Perry

Traveling Body of Capt. Gwinn-- Part 6: About That Silver Plaque

In the following month of Captain John Gwinn and his wife Carline's bodies at the Arlington National Cemetery, September 1931, the USS Constitution made a scheduled  visit to the port of Philadelphia during its National Cruise, the silver plaque that was  mounted on the original Gwinn coffin was presented to the ship.  The plaque was displayed on board  until 1974, when it was transferred to the USS Constitution Museum.

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The plaque reads:

Died

September 4th 1849

U.S. Navy

In Command of the 

U.S, Frigate Constitution

At  Palermo, Sicily

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And, you something?  The saga wasn't yet over.

See Next Post.  --Brock-Perry

Saving the USS Constitution in 1830-- Part 1: Also the WW II USS Hornet Saved

From the May 19, 2020, East Bay (Massachusetts) Times  "Snapp Shots:  Closed USS Hornet too great a treasure to be lost" by Martin Snapp.

The aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-12) was slated to be scrapped on September 2, 1995, the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.  This was the second aircraft carrier by that name.  The first one (which had launched the famous Doolittle Raid) was sunk in battle during the war and this aircraft carrier was renamed from the Kearsarge in the former's honor.  It participated in the rest of the war and continued service to its country, even picking up those first astronauts to land on the moon on their return to earth back in 1969.

She was towed across San Francisco Bay for the occasion and afterwards, those in attendance decided she would be better as a museum ship, which she became.  The USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum formally opened on October 17, 1998, in Alameda, California.

This was not the first ship in the U.S. Navy to be saved from destruction.  An earlier one was the famous USS Constitution, veteran of the Barbary Wars and War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry

USS Niagara (1813)-- Part 1: Second Flagship of Perry at the Battle

From Wikipedia.

Snow brig, square rigged vessel, wooden hulled, with two masts.  A snow-brig has a snow or try-sail mast located behind the main mast.

It was the relief flagship for Oliver Hazard Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie after his USS Lawrence was too smashed to continue fighting.  It is certified for sail training by the U.S. Coast Guard and as such is the SSV Niagara.  It is usually docked behind the Erie Maritime Museum in Erie, Pennsylvania.  It often travels the Great Lakes during summers.

It was constructed 1812-1813 to protect  the vulnerable American shore of Lake Erie and played a pivotal role in the Battle of Lake Erie.

--Brock-Perry