The Original Six: United States, Constitution, President, Constellation, Congress, Chesapeake

After the Revolution, the 13 States had no navy. The Continental Congress had sold the Alliance in 1785, leaving them with no warships. The fledgling country felt that a navy was too expensive to maintain and too provocative toward the European powers.

During George Washington’s second presidential term, the Barbary Pirates, operating out of Algiers, had captured many US merchant ships. These actions finally prodded Congress to authorize procurement of six ships to allow the US to protect its naval interests. This law, called the “Act to Provide a Naval Armament” and passed at the end of March 1794, provided for construction or purchase of four ships carrying 44 guns and two ships carrying 36 guns. In a nod to the naval power opponents, the law also called for halting construction if the country signed a peace treaty with the Barbary princes.

Construction began soon, based upon designs from Joshua Humphreys, in six cities: Boston (USS Constitution), Philadelphia (USS United States), Baltimore (USS Constellation), New York City (USS President), Portsmouth, NH (USS Congress), and Norfolk (USS Chesapeake). In March 1796, a peace treaty was reached with the Barbary powers, putting the fate of the six ships in limbo. After some prodding by many, including President Washington, money was authorized to finish the three ships furthest along: Constitution, Constellation, and United States. However, in 1798 France began harassing US shipping, so the three others were also funded to completion.

The six ships, of a type called a “frigate” (a ship similar to a modern-day cruiser, combining long range, high speed and moderate firepower), were conceived to be bigger and stronger, both in construction and firepower, than any European frigate, and able to elude the massive ships-of-the-line. Theoretically then, they could outrun any ship they couldn’t outfight. Each ship also had one key design feature that made them harder to defeat than any other ship of comparable size: diagonal “riders”, beams running up and out at an acute angle from the keel toward the main deck. Six were placed forward, three on each side, and six were placed aft, also three port and three starboard. Much use was also made of native American trees, especially the southern live oak, which was harder than any wood used in Europe.

The six were completed in this order: United States (launched May 1797), Constellation (Sep 1797), Constitution (Oct 1797), Congress (Aug 1799), Chesapeake (Dec 1799), and President (Apr 1800). The Big Three, designed and built as 44-gun frigates, included United States, Constitution, and President. Chesapeake, built as a 36-gun ship, was originally intended to be a 44 also, but her Master Constructor, Josiah Fox, departed boldly from Humphreys’ design, enough that the designer essentially disowned the ship. Congress and Constellation were also 36’s.

The ships first saw service in the Quasi War against France and in skirmishes against the Barbary Pirates, mostly escorting merchant ships, but at least one also faced off against the enemy. Constellation fought the French frigates L’Insurgente in 1799 and La Vengeance in 1800, capturing the first and sinking the second.

Chesapeake suffered an ignominious episode in 1807. While leaving Norfolk to take station in the Mediterranean Sea as flagship of our squadron escorting merchant ships and protecting them against the Barbary Pirates, the Royal Navy frigate Leopard followed her out. Chesapeake was not ready to respond to any challenges (having all her guns tied up for the long transatlantic voyage) when Leopard closed in and ordered her to stop, receive a boat, and muster up her crew for inspection, looking for deserters. The British ship opened fire, which went unanswered (except for one lone cannon that was fired, reputedly by an officer hand-carrying a hot coal to touch off the powder), killing three men. The ship’s young captain, overshadowed by Commodore James Barron, acquiesced when Barron ordered the flag hauled down, effectively surrendering. Ignoring the surrender, Leopard’s officer took five men (of questionable nationality) off and sailed to Halifax, where one was executed after a trial.

Just prior to the War of 1812, President mistakenly took on the small Royal Navy sloop Little Belt for 15 minutes during the night of 16 May 1811. The US ship was patrolling the coast between Maine and the Carolinas looking for HMS Guerriere, which had been accused of impressing US sailors, similarly to HMS Leopard in 1807. Each ship accused the other of shooting first, but Commodore John Rodgers halted the engagement once he realized his ship greatly outclassed his opponent’s.

As a group, the six ships gained their fame during the War of 1812. United States captured HMS Macedonian in October 1812. In three separate encounters, Constitution captured the British frigates Guerriere and Java and the sloops Cyane and Levant.

Constellation and Congress served in the war without notable actions. Two others were not so lucky.

At the end of May 1813, HMS Shannon captured Chesapeake outside Boston. Captain James Lawrence utter the famous words, “Don’t give up the ship,” just before he died, ironically also just before the ship surrendered. (Commodore Oliver H. Perry adopted that phrase as his motto upon taking command of the squadron on Lake Erie.)

In Jan 1815, blockading British ships outside New York captured President. Despite being the speediest of the six (and possessing possibly the hardest sides, despite Constitution’s sobriquet “Old Ironsides”), she broke her keel while running aground trying to escape a British blockade of New York City on the night of 15 Jan 1815. Slowed by the grounding and a storm, two more British frigates moved in while President defeated HMS Endymion.

Their final fates varied. The British broke President up after copying her lines and building a new version. They also broke up the captured Chesapeake in 1820. Congress was laid up before the end of the war and was broken up in 1834. Decommissioned in 1849, United States was laid up in Norfolk, VA. At the beginning of the Civil War, the Confederacy seized and then scuttled her. Recovered in 1862 by the Union, she was finally broken up in 1865. Constellation ended up back in Baltimore, where she was either completely reconfigured or torn apart and rebuilt (the records conflict). This reconstructed ship still sits in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Finally, Constitution was kept in service in various operational capacities until 1881. She was last at sea in 1931. Constitution still is in commission as a US warship, the oldest commissioned ship in the world.