Home › Old Ironsides › Old Ironsides: Constitution

Old Ironsides: Constitution

The Constitution played her part in the war against the pirates of the Barbary Coast in Africa.

For two years there was plenty of fighting, in which the frigate seemed to bear a charmed life.

She never lost her mast, nor was she ever seriously injured in battle or in storm. She never lost a commanding officer, and only a few of her crew were killed.

It was during the War of 1812 that the Constitution won her chief glory. Her most remarkable feat was her escape from a British squadron.