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Battlefield Chronicles: The USS Constitution Captures HMS Guerriere

Sometimes called America's Second War of Independence, the War of 1812 often finds itself a footnote in American history classes. The war didn't really change much in terms of lines on a map, but it did make one big change: Great Britain would think twice before it went pushing the United States around anymore. 

The war was fought on both sea and land, but it was a naval engagement that shook the world almost as much as Washington's victory at Yorktown that secured American independence 31 years before. When the United States declared war on Britain on June 18, 1812, many in the Royal Navy scoffed at the idea that British superiority of the seas could be challenged - but that was the whole point. 

British ships had been seizing American merchantmen, boarding their vessels to impress American sailors into the Royal Navy, and making off with their precious cargo. President James Madison and the United States had to draw the line somewhere and demand their rights to the seas be recognized. It would be the United States' first declared war. 

When the war broke out, the British navy had twice as many ships operating in American waters than the U.S. Navy had commissioned. Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton immediately ordered Commodore John Rogers to form a squadron of America's most powerful ship in New York and the USS Constitution to join it there from Annapolis. 

It took three weeks for Capt. Isaac Hull to get the Constitution to sea. Off the coast of New York, he encountered a four-ship British squadron dispatched from Halifax to chase down Rogers. One of the ships, the HMS Guerriere, had strayed away from the main force and could not identify its friendly flotilla. The Constitution recognized both Guerriere and the British ships as hostile and kept their distance. 

Having outrun the British, Hull set sail for Boston to replenish supplies and raid British shipping near the St. Lawrence River. The British continued its pursuit of Rogers' squadron, but Guerriere was detached to Halifax. 

On August 19, 1812, the crew of the Constitution sighted Guerriere as it sailed for its home port. The Guerriere recognized the Constitution and, now that the odds were even, both ships cleared for action. 

Guerriere's commander, ​​Captain James Dacres, fired off the first shots of the engagement, but the broadside he fired at Constitution fell well short. All the better because if the British knew what would happen when they did hit Constitution, they might never have committed to battle. The two ships fired shots at each other for almost an hour as they tried to gain the upper hand in position.

Then, a British cannonball hit Constitution's hull and bounced harmlessly off into the sea. An American sailor reportedly cried out, "Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!"

After closing some of the distance between the two ships, Capt. Hull moved his ship to get within half-pistol shot range. The two ships fired into one another with broadside after broadside for 15 minutes. The Guerriere was no match for the Americans, with a thicker hull and heavier cannon, and its mizzenmast soon gave way.

As the Guerriere began to lurch into the sea, Constitution moved to cross Guerriere's bow and fired a raking broadside into the ship, which brought down the yard of the British mainsail. Hull attempted to repeat the maneuver when Guerriere's bowsprit got caught in the American's rigging. The two ships were locked together, but neither side could board the other across the tangled bow. 

Guerriere got a few shots into the hull of the Constitution before the ships were free of one another, but the damage to Guerriere was done. The British ship lost its foremast and mainmast now too. Its bowsprit fell into the sea, and it was completely adrift. When Constitution moved to fire on it once more, the Guerriere fired a shot on the opposite side of its opponent, a signal of surrender - there was no flag left for the British to strike. 

The encounter was the second battle of the War of 1812, and the Guerriere was unsalvageable, so the Constitution burned it in the water. No one in America was sorry to hear about its loss. Guerriere was one of the most reviled ships by American merchants, responsible for much of the pre-war harassment in North America. 

Losing one ship was just a drop in the ocean, given the sheer size of the British Royal Navy, but captains of the Royal Navy were still shocked to learn the first naval victory of the war had gone to the Americans. 

The victory also had a profound effect on American morale. The Constitution earned its nickname, "Old Ironsides," and went on to defeat four more British warships in battle: Java, Pictou, Cyane, and Levant. Its last combat duty came in 1853, capturing an American slave trader off the coast of Angola. It returned to Portsmouth Navy Yard in 1855 to end its career on the front lines.

Constitution remained undefeated, with a perfect battle record for all of its active combat service. Today it is the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy and the oldest ship of any type still afloat.