A special on-line presentation from Essex
County Newspapers
A special on-line presentation from Essex
County Newspapers
'Eagle of the Sea'By ALAN BURKE In the dark, bathed in the white of powerful xenon spotlights, the Constitution sometimes seemed a thing of myth, like a Hollywood special effect created on computer. From Front Street in Marblehead, the light caused the white of the ship, including its enormous masts, to glow with an unearthly fire. Through the night, the streets remained full, but crowds were hushed and respectful. Inevitably, spectators were stopped at their first sight of the ship, and they recited the same word, like a prayer, "Awesome ... it's awesome." Farther off, on the causeway, the lamps picked up the mist from the water and the phosphorescent image of the ship shifted with the night, like a mirage. From Chandler Hovey Park at the tip of Marblehead Neck, the black paint on Old Ironsides' hull glistened as if she were a new thing, a literal visitation from 1797. There were those who didn't understand, who wondered, "What is all the fuss over a big boat?" They asked, "Why bring it here? You can see it anytime a few miles down the road in Charlestown." Beautiful, full of romance and myth, she had stayed at her Charlestown berth for all our lives and become a part of the scenery. When she appeared off Fort Sewall, the questions were answered. The Constitution was not an apparition nor a museum relic -- she was in fact brought back to life, a vital thing that would feel the wind in her sails for the first time in 116 years. With her first glimpse of Fort Sewall since 1931, she offered a cannon salute, remembering the 1814 chase when two British frigates threatened, and she sought refuge under the guns of the fort. It was no great leap of imagination to remember as well the men who must have sailed into Marblehead on that April day. Many were Marblehead natives. During a war that proved extremely unpopular in New England, they had no hesitancy about serving their country. They endured long separations from their families, hard work, poor food -- and a steady diet of floggings to maintain discipline. Men of legendThey were the Marines who manned the ship's "fighting tops," aiming muskets at HMS Guerriere and later HMS Java from platforms 100 feet above a tossing deck. Both ships were destroyed by the Constitution. They were the gunners who worked their weapons so quickly that the cannons grew too hot to touch, the smoke choked them. The noise was loud enough that some bled from the ears. They were the men who moved like tightrope walkers in the rigging at the top of a mast. In the heat or the ice, only a thin line danced between them and the deck as many as 200 feet below. They were wounded sailors treated below deck, without painkillers, with primitive instruments, in a compartment called "the cockpit" where the walls and floor were painted red to disguise the blood that was everywhere. They were men who performed numberless acts of courage, often in the roar of battle, often without individual recognition, without notice. When tens of thousands turned out to honor the Constitution, it was to remember this. Only some of the spectators could claim a literal kinship to the Constitution sailors. Often, our ancestors were elsewhere when Old Ironsides made her name, living in Italy, in Russia, in China. And yet, no one questions that there is kinship, that the men of the Constitution made their sacrifice for an idea and for the community that embraces that idea. "This is how we gained our freedom," said Boston Mayor Tom Menino. Honoring heroismNumbers of the senior officers who mounted the visit of the Constitution to Marblehead could remember well the difficulties of serving in an unpopular war, of making sacrifices that seemed unnoticed. And for many, including some already retired, the telling moment came as the ship rounded Marblehead Neck for the first time since 1931 and was greeted by thousands shouting, "Huzza!" Old Ironsides' skipper, retiring Cmdr. Michael Beck, called it "the most magnificent sight I have ever seen in my life." A former skipper, retired Cmdr. David Cashman of Marblehead, was among those who seemed to well up with tears. "It was a dream come true," he said. "We've got to do more things like this," said Marine Gen. Richard Neal, a Hull native. "We can't lose our respect for heroism." It is the most asked question by visitors to the ship: "Where's the iron?" In fact, Ironsides is a nickname won when cannonballs literally bounced off her oak hull 2 feet thick. There is no iron. Or as Neal put it, "The real iron is in the people who served aboard her." At the start, the Constitution was a vessel that defied expectations. Designed by a pacifist, Quaker Joshua Humphreys, she was the largest warship ever built for the fledgling United States Navy. Superstitious sailors were surely doubtful when the first efforts to launch at Charlestown left her stopped fast for weeks on a too-shallow ramp. Yet, when she finally found the water, she would not quit it for 200 years, she would not lose in battle, she would always keep that ability to inspire awe. We see her now as she must have been, a thing of unsurpassing power and beauty, a symbol of our liberty, of a growing nation. She cuts through the waves, mounting an acre of sail. No single ship dares to trouble her. We see her as Oliver Wendell Holmes described her, "the eagle of the sea." We see her vividly. Now more than ever.
This on-line scrapbook was designed and assembled by Paul Briand, director of new media, with technical assistance from imaging technician Jimmy Carlson.
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 Constitution
Cmdr. Michael Beck oversees deck operations during Old Ironside's shakedown
sail in Massachusetts Bay on July 8.Jonathon Whitmore photo/Salem Evening News  Fire
boats are in full plume as they escort the Constitution out of Boston Harbor
for her trip to Marblehead on Sunday, July 20.Paul Bilodeau photo/Salem Evening News  Another
view of the fire boat escort out of Boston Harbor.Paul Bilodeau photo/Salem Evening News  Two
Navy helicopters hover over the USS Constitution as it heads to Marblehead.
Joe Brown photo/Special to the Salem Evening News The
Constitution as seen from the schooner Ernestina. Amy Sweeney photo/Salem Evening News  Another
view from the schooner Ernestina. Amy Sweeney photo/Salem Evening News  The
USS Constitution, escorted by the USS Ramage and USS Halyburton, heads
toward Marblehead Harbor as the crowd at Chandler Hovey Park await Constitution's
arrival. Jonathon M. Whitmore photo/Salem Evening News  The
USS Ramage, foreground, renders honors while passing by the USS Constitution.
The ships parted company at that point, as the Constitution headed to Marblehead
and the Ramage returned to Boston.Paul Bilodeau photo/Salem Evening News  Onlookers
gather along the rocks at Chandler Hovey Park to photograph and get a closer
look at the USS Constitution as it reaches Marblehead Harbor.Barbara Kennedy photo/Salem Evening News  Spectators
greet the USS Constitution as it is backed into Marblehead Harbor. Jonathon M. Whitmore photo/Salem Evening News
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