On This Day 19 August

[Coog]

At 2.00 p.m. on 19 August 1812, the 44-gun USS Constitution, under Captain Isaac Hull, sighted a large ship to leeward, and bore down to investigate. The weather was cloudy, and the wind was brisk. The strange ship proved to be the 38-gun HMS Guerriere, under Captain James Richard Dacres, whose crew recognised Constitution at about the same moment. Both ships prepared for action, and shortened sail to "fighting sail", i.e. topsails and jibs only. As the Constitution closed, Dacres first hove to to fire a broadside, which fell short, and then ran before the wind for three quarters of an hour with the Constitution on her quarter. Dacres yawed several times to fire broadsides at the Constitution, but the Guerriere's broadsides were generally inaccurate, while the few shots fired from Constitution's foremost guns had little effect. After one cannon-ball bounced "harmlessly" off the side of the Constitution, a crew member is said to have yelled "Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!"

Once the range had closed to within a few hundred yards, Captain Hull ordered extra sail (the foresail and main topgallant sail) to be set, to close the distance quickly. Dacres did not match this manoeuvre, and the two ships began exchanging broadsides at "half pistol-shot", with the Constitution to starboard and Guerriere to port. After fifteen minutes of this exchange, during which Guerriere suffered far more damage than the Constitution due to the latter's larger guns and thicker hull, Guerriere's mizzenmast fell overboard to starboard, acting like a rudder and dragging her around. This allowed Constitution to cross ahead of Guerriere, firing a raking broadside which brought down the main yard. Hull then wore ship to cross Guerriere's bow again, firing another raking broadside, but the manoeuvre was cut too close and the Guerriere's bowsprit became entangled in the rigging of the Constitution's mizzenmast.

On both ships, boarding parties were summoned, while musket fire broke out from each ship. Lieutenant Charles Morris and Captain Dacres were both wounded by musket shots. Only the narrow bowsprit provided a way between the ships, and in the heavy sea, neither side could venture across it. Some of the gunners aboard Guerriere fired at point-blank range into Hull's stern cabin, setting the American ship on fire briefly. The two locked ships slowly rotated clockwise until they broke free. The Guerriere's foremast and mainmast both then fell "by the board" i.e. snapped off at deck level, leaving her helpless and rolling heavily. Dacres attempted to set sail on the bowsprit to bring his ship before the wind, but it too had been damaged and broke. The Constitution meanwhile ran downwind for several minutes, repairing damage to the rigging, before once again wearing and beating upwind to return to battle.

As Constitution prepared to renew the action, the Guerriere fired a shot in the opposite direction to the Constitution. Sensing that this was an attempt to signal surrender, Hull ordered a boat to take a Lieutenant over to the British ship. When the Lieutenant walked onto the Guerriere and asked if Guerriere was prepared to surrender, Captain Dacres responded "Well, Sir, I don't know. Our mizzen mast is gone, our fore and main masts are gone-I think on the whole you might say we have struck our flag."

Captain Dacres was escorted aboard the Constitution. Hull refused to accept Dacres' sword of surrender, saying he could not accept the sword from a man who had fought so gallantly. He also ordered that Dacres' mother's Bible be returned to him. The Guerriere was clearly sinking, and the wounded were transferred to the Constitution. Hull found that ten impressed Americans had been serving aboard Guerriere but Dacres had permitted them to stay below decks instead of fighting their countrymen.

Hull wanted the Guerriere towed in as a prize ship. The Constitution lay by the Guerriere during the night but at daybreak it was obvious that the Guerriere could not be salvaged. The prisoners and the American salvage parties were brought aboard Constitution and at three o'clock in the afternoon, the Guerriere was set on fire, and soon blew up.

[Anav]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-...ver-a-century/

Getting underway today.

[Coog]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-...ver-a-century/

Getting underway today.

Wish I could be there to see it. And then I would settle for just seeing her at her at her dock. Maybe I'll make it up to Boston in a year of two.

[Anav]

https://www.facebook.com/home.php?re...4206740&type=1

Underway

[csadn]

Something for the Mythbusters to try: Replicate not only the hulls, but the guns of _Constitution_ and _Guerierre_, and see what that initial broadside actually looked like. (I'm thinking massed compressed-air -- trying to replicate all those cannons with gunpowder seems a mite dangerous. :) )

[Berthier]

"will unfurl four of its 36 sails, Neely said. The tugs will stand by as a precaution when the Constitution sails on its own. And the trip can't happen unless the weather conditions are right. The ship won't move in winds less than five mph and anything over about 15 mph would put too much stress on the vessel, Neely said. But the forecast looks favorable."

.... sort of takes the romance out of it a bit.

[David Manley]

Something for the Mythbusters to try

Didn't they run an episode where they "busted" the "myth" of splinters causing casualties in naval battles (around about the time that some other TV programme with a smaller budget and less exposure but experts who actually knew what they were talking about proved just how deadly they were)? :)

[Coog]

Mythbusters...the same reliable people that fired a cannonball through a house near one of their tests.

[csadn]

Didn't they run an episode where they "busted" the "myth" of splinters causing casualties in naval battles (around about the time that some other TV programme with a smaller budget and less exposure but experts who actually knew what they were talking about proved just how deadly they were)? :)

They were using small cannonballs -- 6-lb.ers; most accounts I've read of people suffering lethal hits from splinters were getting hit by 12-lb. and larger balls. I suspect if they redid it using the larger ammo, they'd get the lethal hits they were looking for. (For the story they were doing -- pirates, as opposed to full-on naval battles -- the smaller ball was more commonly used, as it did a pirate no good to destroy the ship and cargo; the cargo provided profit, and the ship provided spare parts.)

And the recent screwup appears to have been the fault of the range-safety officer not making sure the weapon was aimed at the backstop.

[David Manley]

Having seen various weapon effects on a variety of structures and other things I'd have no problems in believing that a 6pdr shot could create a significant and lethal splinter hazard, especially when hitting light structure. And IIRC the programme I was referring to was using pretty lightweight shot. I think I have it stored away on a hard drive somewhere. I'll go and look in the morning.

[Coog]

Of course we can't be too tough on the Mythbuster folks. They do bring us some very credible research:

[David Manley]

Of course we can't be too tough on the Mythbuster folks. They do bring us some very credible research:

False alarm my a**e :D

[csadn]

Of course we can't be too tough on the Mythbuster folks. They do bring us some very credible research:

This one, of course, didn't make onto the air except as part of a special.

The real problem was the guy who originally created the show -- not only was he a colossal jerk, he was more interested in the arguing and "four minutes of science, ten minutes of me hurting myself" (to quote Adam Savage). Once he left, the show switched over to being more about Actual Science. (I suspect there's a connection. >:) )