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National Register of Historic Places
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General Information
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NR Name
: historic name
Alternate Name
: other name(s) associated with this property.
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NR Name:
U.S.S. CONSTELLATION
NR Alternate Name:
Address Information
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Address information in Medusa may differ from information submitted on the original or amended survey form
Address:
Pier 1, Constellation Dock
Town:
Baltimore
Zip Code:
21202
Counties:
Baltimore City
USGS Quad(s):
Baltimore East
Listing Information
NPS Ref Number:
66000918
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National Register reference number, provided by the National Park Service.
Confidential Location:
(not to be released)
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Is the location of this resource confidential?
Category:
Object
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Category (Building, Structure, Object, Site, or District)
National Historic Landmark:
Date:
5/23/1963
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Is this listed as a National Historic Landmark? For more details, see www.nps.gov/nhl/
Date Listed:
6/1/1968
Delisted:
Date:
Date Revised:
Multiple Property Submission:
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Is this a "multiple property submission? If so, what is the name of the multiple property submission?
Multiple Property Submission Name:
Construction Information
Architect/Builder:
Designer: John Lenthall
Period/Date of Construction:
1854
About This Resource
Capsule Summary Text:
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Brief description of the resource and its significance, produced by MHT staff for its National Register website (apps.mht.maryland.gov/nr/). This is not necessarily the same as the text description in the actual National Register form, which can be viewed (if scanned) using the Open National Register Form link (below).
With plans completed in May and the keel laid on June 25, 1853, just before steam propulsion was adopted as auxiliary power for all new warships, the "sloop-of-war" CONSTELLATION was the last all sail ship designed by the Navy, as well as the largest "sloop" built to that date. Designed by John Lenthall, Chief Constructor of the Navy, she was much larger than most other ships of that category. Her extreme length (knight head-taffrail) was 186', and her extreme beam was 40'-6". The frames, stem, and knees were constructed of live oak, while her keel, keelson, sternpost, and hull planking were of white oak. The ceiling, deck beams, deck planking, and heavy spars were of yellow pine, while her joiner bulkheads were of white pine. Her light spars were of spruce, and her trunnels of locust. The clench bolts and fasteners were of copper below the waterline, and iron above. Her armaments consisted of a main battery (on the gun deck) composed of sixteen 8" "shell guns" capable of firing the innovative "Paixhains" design exploding shell, and four 32-pound "long guns" firing solid shot; a secondary battery (on the spar deck) composed of two 10" pivot guns, one forward and one aft; and one 12-pounder boat howitzer. The ship had five cutters and one launch. Drinking water was carried in 48 iron tanks capable of holding 28,000 gallons. The CONSTELLATION also carried 61 long tons of iron ballast, and 150 fathoms (about 900 feet) of 1 13/16" iron chain for the anchors. The crew authorized for CONSTELLATION included 20 naval officers, 220 sailors, and 45 marines. The CONSTELLATION was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. At that time, it was thought that the ship was the 1797 U.S. FRIGATE CONSTELLATION which was launched in Baltimore, and nicknamed the "Yankee Racehorse" because of her speed. Involved in the undeclared "Quasi War" with France, participating in the campaigns against the Barbary states and Caribbean Pirates, and helping to defend Norfolk from capture by the British during the War of 1812, the frigate was considered worth of listing on the National Register. However, subsequent research determined that the 1797 frigate was decommissioned and dismantled at the Gosport Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1853. That same year, the keel was laid for a new vessel, a sloop of war, at the same Navy Yard. Following Naval tradition, the new ship was named for the recently dismantled one, and the new CONSTELLATION was launched on August 26, 1854. CONSTELLATION was very large for a sloop-of-war, being closer in size to a second class frigate. This enabled the ship to carry a heavier battery of guns than conventional sloops. She was commissioned on July 28, 1855, and began a career which included serving with the Mediterranean Squadron from 1855-1858, capturing three slave ships while the Flagship of the African Squadron from 1859-1861, serving in the Civil War from 1862-1866, and acting as a receiving ship and later a practice ship for the Navy. The ship carried relief supplies to famine victims in Ireland in 1880, and carried works of art from Europe to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1892. She was under sail for the last time in 1893, at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, before being moored at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Newport, Rhode Island, to serve as a stationary training vessel. In 1904 the ship was dry-docked at the New York Navy Yard for extensive survey and repair. By this time, it was generally believed that the ship was the 1797 Frigate, and in 1914 she was ordered restored "as she appeared in 1814" by acting Navy Secretary Franklin D. Roosevelt. To minimize costs, however, these alterations were limited to "such general details as would be noticed by the layman." The 1880s-era bridge platform and 1890s deck housing were removed, and she was displayed in Baltimore and Washington during the fall and winter of 1914 before returning to training duty in Newport. In 1933, she was decommissioned and placed in "Ordinary," essentially being mothballed, until 1955, serving briefly as the Relief Flagship of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and Battleship Squadron 5 from 1941-1945. In 1955, the City of Baltimore acquired the ship and had it "restored" to its supposed Frigate appearance, making several alterations. The ship served as a tourist attraction in the Baltimore Inner Harbor until the 1990s, when it was drydocked for emergency repairs. The keel was severely "hogged" and much of the wood was rotten. Four years of restoration work has returned the CONSTELLATION to a close approximation of its Civil War appearance. This was the largest non-Naval wooden ship restoration ever undertaken in the United States, costing $7.5 million. Through interpretive and hands-on tours, the CONSTELLATION continues to serve the public.
Boundary Description:
Comments:
Pier 1, Constellation Dock; Additional Documentation 13 July 2011
Open National Register Form
Enlarge Photo
USS Constellation Museum Photo, 07/24/2003
View on MHT National Register Website
Related Records
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Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties (MIHP), Archaeology (if authorized), Determination of Eligilibity (DOE), and/or MHT Preservation Easement records associated with this record.
Click on hyperlink to go to related record
B-29
MIHP
U.S.S. Constellation (United States Sloop of War Constellation)
Easement
U.S.S. CONSTELLATION (Sloop of War)
DOE
No DOE Records
Resource Information
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Resource list associated with this form, if any. Entry of this information into the database is an ongoing project.
NR Form Resource List?:
Resource List Type:
Entered in Database?:
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A. That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or B. That are associated with the lives of significant persons in or past; or C. That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or D. That have yielded or may be likely to yield, information important in history or prehistory. a. A religious property deriving primary significance from architectural or artistic distinction or historical importance; or b. A building or structure removed from its original location but which is primarily significant for architectural value, or which is the surviving structure most importantly associated with a historic person or event; or c. A birthplace or grave of a historical figure of outstanding importance if there is no appropriate site or building associated with his or her productive life; or d. A cemetery that derives its primary importance from graves of persons of transcendent importance, from age, from distinctive design features, or from association with historic events; or e. A reconstructed building when accurately executed in a suitable environment and presented in a dignified manner as part of a restoration master plan, and when no other building or structure with the same association has survived; or f. A property primarily commemorative in intent if design, age, tradition, or symbolic value has invested it with its own exceptional significance; or g. A property achieving significance within the past 50 years if it is of exceptional importance.
