I object: Bring Back "The Ranger"!

[Medicine Man]

Nothing funny about the name Constitution. Even sans the obvious allusion to the founding of the union, it could also be a reference to the endurance of the ship. Quite apt when you consider how stout the original Constitution is.

[Rhydderch Hael]

Of course, no one should go on any displayed info without delving into the matter of interest themselves, and I've made more than one mistake here...

Recolloecting further, I now remember that Congress isn't one of the first three, but rather Constellation takes her place in that triad of ships. United States, launched from New York; Constellation, from Baltimore; and Constitution from Boston.

Furthermore, the Constitution's website details her history and states that "Old Ironsides" stick twice on her slipways during launch, so technically it wasn't a flawless launch. But I am certain that United States definitely hit the water too hard (for the damaged false keel contributed to the fact that she was the least fleet of the frigates).

[Occhidiangela]

(From the USS Constellation Web Site, covering the Sloop of War still afloat at the Baltimore Inner Harbor. They link to the original)

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. (Craney Island is now a Naval Weapons depot. Occhi Note)

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.

In 1854, "Sloop of War" Constellation was launched. :)

The current USS Constellation, CV-64, will be decomissioned this December.

From a 164 foot frigate, Connie has pulled of a serious case of "My How You've Grown!"

Builder: New York Naval Shipyard (<== no longer functional)
Keel Laid: September 14, 1957 Launched: October 8,1960 Commissioned October 27, 1961
Cost 400 Million (1961) Dollars (CV's now cost some 4 or 5 billion)
Combat Load Displacement: 88,000 tons
Overall Length at Flight Deck 1,049 Feet (over 3 football fields long)
Width: at Flight Deck 270 Feet
Height Keel to Mast: 17 Stories
Area of Flight Deck: 4.5 Acres
Speed: 30+ Knots
Propulsion: System Eight Steam Boilers
Main Engines: Four Steam Turbine Engines
Shaft Horsepower: 280,000 (Yeah!)
Propellers Four, 21' Diameter, 44,000 lbs each
Freshwater Distilling Capacity: 400,000 Gallons/Day
Number of Aircraft Elevators: Four
Catapults: Four Steam Catapults (Accelerates F-18 from 0 to 120 kts in 2 seconds!)
Arresting Gear Cables: Four Steel Cables
Anchors: Two (30 Tons Each)
Compartments and Spaces: 3,000+
Accommodations: 5,500+
Telephones: 1,400+
Meals Served Each Day (At Sea): 18,000+
Size of Air Wing: Approximately 75 Aircraft

So, will there ever be another Constellation, another Ranger?

I sure hope so.

[--Pete]

Hi,

Accommodations: 5,500+
Meals Served Each Day (At Sea): 18,000+

So who's eating the extra 1,500 meals? Second breakfast? Elevenses? Tea? ;)

--Pete

[Occhidiangela]

No, I dont refer to medium sized rodents, I refer to "Midnight Rations." 1500 might be an overstatement, but a few hundred folks per night on watch, and those on the late maintenance shift in the hangar bay, typically have that chow requirement.

The sailors on duty for the late watch 2000-2400 and the Mid Watch 2400 - 0400, as well as those on the graveyard maintenance shift, are eligible to wander down to the galley or the Dirty Shirt Wardroom under the bow catapaults (for the officers) to wolf down some grub.

For a man with a high metabolism, Mid Rats is a good thing for refuelling after the typical 16-18 hour work day. For normal mortals, Mid Rats is just a way to put on weight while at sea.

[Wiccan]

Ronald Reagan still alive, i thought he died 2 years ago

[Occhidiangela]

Given the stage of Alzheimer's Disease he has apparently advanced to, he may not even be aware that they are referring to him while he is at the ceremony. I hope for his sake, and Nancy's, that he had a lucid day when the ship was christened.