((((( Sparky1776 )))))
So GOOD to see you and thanks for posting the you-tube!
HAPPY FOURTH, MY DEAR FRIEND!
Such beauty!
She looks sick without her topmasts. I was hoping for a broadside.
I’d bet my left one that Obama doen’t know ANYTHING about the USS Constitution.
Growing up in Boston, this was one of my favorite places to visit.
I love “Old Ironsides”
RIP Untied States it was a good run.
Thanks for the link.
I have to say, though, that seemed like very sloppy gun drill. Not timed well at all.
In defense of the gun crews, though, I don’t imagine they get much practice.
The was a privilege to see.
Thanks for the post.
Old Ironsides under her own sail power firing a salute. Taken from a few miles away on Spectacle Island:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZNVNTvlqww
That was a privilege to see.
Thanks for the post.
P4L.
I’d like to see the USS Texas get her 14” guns cleared for working order and fired both on a day like today, but Texas’ independence as well.
Old Ironsides
By Oliver Wendell Holmes
September 16, 1830
Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon’s roar;—
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.
Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o’er the flood,
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor’s tread,
Or know the conquered knee;—
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!
Oh, better that her shattered bulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!
I suspect there were a few around, just never noticed them. Supposedly the 200th anniversary of the writing of the Star Spangled Banner at Ft. McHenry in Baltimore is going to be a big deal.
Oh, golly! I love the Constitution. What a beautiful ship. Old Ironsides is the ship that made me fall in love with windjammers.
During my younger teen years I was a very serious model builder and Old Ironsides was my favorite ship, after that were the Clipper ships like the Flying cloud, my grandfather sailed on some of the last clippers.
I have a wooden cheap model about 2’ long that I customized with some stick and peel copper tape and then scribed panel lines, of course it looks shiny but thats beside the point.
Its a unique fact that the powder magazine belowdecks is covered floor and ceiling with copper sheets to prevent any sparks.
Perhaps this winter I will try to get the very large highly detailed model, I have done a 36” model in plastic but in my golden years I want one with real wood and real metal fittings.