Today's classic warship, USS Constellation
The first U.S. Navy ship to bear the name Constellation, for the "new constellation of stars" on the American flag, was launched in Baltimore on September 7, 1797. Joshua Humphreys designed the first frigate to be commissioned in the U.S. Navy.
Rating 38 guns, displacing 1,278 tons, with 164-ft. length and 40 ft., 6 in. beam, Constellation combined the firepower of a standard frigate with celerity of a Baltimore Clipper. Capable of cruising at 14 knots, she earned the nickname, "Yankee Racehorse."
In the first test against a foreign foe in the undeclared "Quasi War" with France, Constellation, with Captain Thomas Truxtun commanding, won the first ship vs. ship victory of the U.S. Navy.
On February 5, 1799, Constellation captured the French 36-gun frigate Insurgente off the Island of Nevis in the West Indies. After failing to damage Constellation's rigging, Insurgente closed to grapple. Using superior speed to advantage, Truxton maneuvered ahead and crossed the Frenchman's bow, raking her deck with a murderous broadside. After a half-hour Insurgente struck her colors in surrender. American casualties: two dead, and two wounded. French casualties: 29 dead, 71 wounded.
Off the French base at Guadeloupe Island, Constellation engaged the Vengeance, 52-guns, on February 2, 1800. In a five-hour nighttime slugging match, Constellation suffered 14 dead and 25 wounded. Vengeance, a total wreck in danger of sinking with over twice as many casualties, escaped capture in the darkness.
The frigate Constellation then participated in the campaigns against the Barbary states and Caribbean pirates. During the War of 1812, while blockaded in the Elizabeth River, she participated in the battle of Craney Island, helping to defend Norfolk, Virginia from capture by the British in 1813.
After several overhauls and repairs, time took its toll. In 1853 it was deemed that further renovation was not economically effective, and the frigate Constellation was decommissioned and broken up at the Gosport Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia.