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USS Constellation (1854)

1854 shipsBaltimore National Heritage AreaHistoric American Engineering Record in BaltimoreIndividual sailing vesselsInner Harbor, Baltimore
Maryland in the American Civil WarMilitary and war museums in MarylandMuseum ships in BaltimoreNational Historic Landmarks in MarylandNational Register of Historic Places in BaltimoreShips built in Norfolk, VirginiaShips of the Union NavyShips on the National Register of Historic Places in MarylandSloops of the United States NavyTraining ships of the United States NavyUnited States Naval AcademyUse American English from March 2019
USS Constellation Inner Harbor
USS Constellation Inner Harbor

USS Constellation is a sloop-of-war, the last sail-only warship designed and built by the United States Navy. She was built at the Gosport Shipyard between 1853 and 1855 and was named for the earlier frigate of the same name that had been broken up in 1853. The sloop's primary armament was 8-inch (203 mm) shell-firing guns and four 32-pounder long guns, though she carried other guns as well, including two Parrott rifle chase guns. Constellation's career as a front-line unit was relatively short; after entering service in 1855, she served with the Mediterranean Squadron until 1858, and in 1859, she was assigned as the flagship of the Africa Squadron, where she served with the African Slave Trade Patrol. During the American Civil War (1861–1865), the ship returned to the Mediterranean to patrol for Confederate vessels. In late 1864, she returned to the United States to be decommissioned, as most of her crews' enlistments had expired. She spent the rest of the war out of service. Constellation was recommissioned in 1871 for use as a training ship, being used for shooting practice and training cruises for midshipmen. She filled this role for twenty-two years, and during this period, she saw a number of other activities, including transporting exhibits for the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris and carrying food to Ireland during the 1879 Irish famine. She was reduced to a stationary training hulk in late 1893, being moored in Newport for the next twenty years. During this period, the mistaken belief that the two Constellations were one and the same arose, and she was presented as such in 1914 during the centennial of the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the United States. Briefly renamed Old Constellation in 1917 to free the name for a new battlecruiser of the Lexington class, she reverted to her original name when the battlecruiser was scrapped in 1925. Constellation was recommissioned in 1940 as part of the build-up in anticipation of the United States' entry into World War II, during which she served as the port flagship of the commander of the Atlantic Fleet. Proposals to restore the vessel as a museum ship had been submitted already in the 1930s, but work began in earnest after World War II. Shortages of funds prevented her transfer to the city of Baltimore, Maryland until 1955. Operating under the mistaken belief that she was the original Constellation, the organization responsible for the ship modified her to match the earlier vessel's appearance during a refit in the late 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, a controversy arose over the vessel's identity that lasted into the 1990s, when new research definitively proved that the Constellation launched in 1797 and the 1854-launched vessel were distinct ships. Periodic repairs have been carried out since the mid-1990s to repair rotted wood. Constellation remains open to the public as part of the Historic Ships in Baltimore in the city's Inner Harbor, having been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article USS Constellation (1854) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

USS Constellation (1854)
Baltimore Waterfront Promenade, Baltimore

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Latitude Longitude
N 39.285527777778 ° E -76.611194444444 °
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Pier 1

Baltimore Waterfront Promenade
21203 Baltimore
Maryland, United States
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USS Constellation Inner Harbor
USS Constellation Inner Harbor
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Nearby Places

Baltimore Heritage Walk

The Baltimore City Heritage Walk is a heritage trail that links 20 historic sites and museums in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. It is 3.2 miles long. Sites and museums located along the trail include: U.S.S. Constellation Museum, Pier 1, (Constellation Dock), East Pratt Street, at South Calvert Street World Trade Center / Top of the World observation deck, (Maryland Port Administration), Pier 2, 401 East Pratt Street Baltimore Maritime Museum, (Historic Ships in Baltimore), Pier 3 (and Piers 4 & 5), 500 block - East Pratt Street Baltimore Public Works Museum, (old Eastern Avenue Sewage Pumping Station), 751 Eastern Avenue, at President Street boulevard. President Street Station, (Baltimore Civil War Museum), 601 President Street [boulevard], at Fleet Street Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, and War of 1812 Museum, (home of Mary Pickersgill), 844 East Pratt Street at Albemarle Street Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, 830 East Pratt Street (at President Street boulevard) Carroll Mansion, (city townhouse/mansion of Charles Carroll of Carrollton), East Lombard Street, off Front Street / President Street boulevard Jewish Museum of Maryland, (Lloyd Street Synagogue and B'nai Israel Synagogue), Lloyd Street at Watson Street (off East Lombard Street) McKim Free School, 1120 East Baltimore Street at Asquith Street Old Town Friends' Meetinghouse, 1201 East Fayette Street, at Asquith Street Nine North Front Street (Second Mayor Thorowgood Smith's Home / Women's Civic League offices) Phoenix Shot Tower, East Fayette and North Front Streets St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church, 120 North Front Street (at East Fayette Street) War Memorial Plaza (War Memorial Hall), 100 block North Gay Streets, between East Fayette and Lexington Streets Zion Church of the City of Baltimore, (Evangelical Lutheran), 400 East Lexington Street at North Gay Street Peale Museum, (old Municipal Museum - now conference center), 225 North Holliday Street Baltimore City Hall, 100 Holliday Street (between East Fayette and Lexington Streets) Battle Monument, (War of 1812 / Battle of Baltimore, 1814), 100 block North Calvert Street, between East Fayette and East Lexington Streets Alex. Brown Building, 135 East Baltimore Street, at South Calvert Street

United States lightship Chesapeake (LV-116)
United States lightship Chesapeake (LV-116)

United States lightship Chesapeake (LS-116/WAL-538/WLV-538) is a museum ship owned by the National Park Service and on a 25-year loan to Baltimore City, and is operated by Historic Ships in Baltimore Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. A National Historic Landmark, she is one of a small number of preserved lightships. Since 1820, several lightships have served at the Chesapeake lightship station and have been called Chesapeake. Lightships were initially lettered in the early 1800s, but then numbered as they were often moved from one light station to another. The name painted on the side of lightships was the short name of the Light Station they were assigned to and was the day time visual aspect of the many Aids to Navigation on board lightships. The United States Coast Guard assigned new hull numbers to all lightships still in service in April 1950. After that date, Light Ship 116 was then known by the new Coast Guard Hull number: WAL-538. In January 1965 the Coast Guard further modified all lightship hull designations from WAL to WLV, so Chesapeake became WLV-538. Chesapeake had many redundant systems in order to maintain her position through most storms. The 5000-pound (2300 kg) main anchor was backed up by a second 5000-pound anchor attached to the side of the ship. The 30,000 candela main light was also backed up with a secondary lamp and the Radio Locator Beacon also had a backup system. On more than one occasion (in 1933, 1936, and 1962) the main anchor chain snapped during violent storms and the ship had to use her engines to stay in place and drop her second anchor.

Pratt Street
Pratt Street

Pratt Street is a major street in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It forms a one-way pair of streets with Lombard Street that run west–east through downtown Baltimore. For most of their route, Pratt Street is one-way in an eastbound direction, and Lombard Street is one way westbound. Both streets begin in west Baltimore at Frederick Avenue and end in Butcher's Hill at Patterson Park Avenue. Since 2005, these streets have been open to two-way traffic from Broadway until their end at Patterson Park. Although Lombard is also a two-way street from Fulton Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Pratt is still one-way eastbound in this area. To the east of Patterson Park, both Pratt and Lombard Streets start again. Pratt continues as a side street from Linwood Avenue until Haven Street. Pratt Street has historic significance as the location of the Baltimore Riot of 1861. Today it is known for being an important gateway into the Inner Harbor, connecting it with the Baltimore Light Rail line. It is for the latter reason that the city decided to redesign the street and surrounding area to be more pedestrian-friendly. Pratt Street is named for Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden a supporter of Civil liberties in the 18th century, and not the noted Baltimorean Enoch Pratt (1808–1896). Pratt Street appears on maps of Baltimore as early as 1801.Pratt Street was ranked the 33rd "most expensive city street" in the United States.Notable landmarks on or near Pratt Street include: Runs through Little Italy Oriole Park at Camden Yards (nearby) Baltimore Convention Center Inner Harbor/Harborplace and the Gallery National Aquarium The Power Plant B&O Railroad Museum Camden Station 100 East Pratt Street University of Maryland, Baltimore Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture Flag House & Star-Spangled Banner Museum Baltimore Freedom Academy Stratford University