Preserving history
USS Constitution's custodians fend off the ravages of time
Balanced on a wooden float beside the USS Constitution, Bruce Comeau drives a large metal pin into the ship’s hull. The pa-pa-pa of his pneumatic hammer punctuates the speech of a nearby tour guide. On a sunny dock next to the ship, Jay Flanagan and John Miles measure and mark a colossal piece of wood that will become the main topmast. Tucked away beyond the gaggles of tourists, ship blacksmith Steve Nichols readies his forge.
These men arrived in the Charlestown Navy Yard one day last week, as they do every day, to drive pins, measure masts, and weld iron as a part of the Constitution’s latest restoration, designed to preserve the ship for generations to come. The workers who buzz around the yard are trying to save a piece of history, and they are fighting an uphill battle against the ruins of time, weather, and rot.
“I came to work on the ship not for a job, but because I couldn’t believe they would let us work on something like this,’’ said Flanagan. He said it was an honor to preserve a ship as storied as the Constitution. He acknowledged it is a difficult job; the Constitution needs constant repair. “That’s the nature of wooden construction,’’ he said. “If we want to keep her around for another 200 years, we have to take care of her,’’ echoed Rich Whelan, who oversees the ship’s maintenance as director of Naval History and Heritage Command in Boston.
The $6 million project began in October 2007. It is expected to be completed by December 2010, well in advance of the 2012 bicentennial of the War of 1812.
When the ship is taken on its annual Fourth of July turnaround, it will still be missing the glorious height bestowed by its upper masts. Flanagan and Miles will spend another 30 days shaping the topmast from its current square-sided profile into one that is cylindrical in some places, squared or octagonal in others. Each line Flanagan marks indicates how much the mast’s diameter should taper; when the main topmast is fully extended, the ship towers at 210 feet. “We go through a lot of pencils,’’ joked Barry Person, who is working on the fore gallant mast.
On Wednesday, an enormous crane towered over the ship, making the lowered masts look small, almost dainty, and a gray plastic tarp stretched over a temporary deck roof. Inside, caution tape was strung around, and construction equipment rested on blocked-off portions of the deck. For now, the vessel is a work in progress.
The Constitution, launched in 1797, is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. It was during the War of 1812 that the ship earned the nickname Old Ironsides for its seemingly impenetrable wooden hull. The Constitution won 33 engagements and never lost a battle. Now, the ship is a destination for tourists and locals, and it is open for tours during the restoration.
“When you walk on the deck of the Constitution,’’ said Margherita Desy, a historian for the Naval History and Heritage Command in Boston, “you are touching the beginning of the United States Navy.’’
You are touching it figuratively, of course, because today just 15 percent of the Constitution is original, according to Desy. Most of what visitors see would have been replaced in 1927, when the ship underwent one of its largest restorations. The parts that date back to the 18th century are near the keel, the long beam at the bottom of the ship. These live oak frames are all below the waterline, but the wood - indigenous to the Southeastern United States - is a key component of the ship’s strength.
Since 1927, the ship has undergone three major restorations, including the current one. Desy conceded there will probably come a time when the entire ship has been replaced. The most extensive restoration began in 1992 and bolstered the ship’s structural integrity, enabling it to sail truly for the first time in more than 100 years in 1997. Ship Commander William A. Bullard III said there are no plans to sail the Constitution outside of the harbor again; that would require training a larger crew to operate the historic but outdated navigation equipment.
The current restoration is both cosmetic and structural. It will return the Constitution as closely as possible to its 1812 configuration - closer than it has been in more than 100 years, according to Desy.
The largest task involves replacing the spar deck, the top deck of the ship. Over time, the deck has flattened out, losing its camber, the arc necessary for water to drain out the scuppers on the deck’s sides. Old planks must be popped out from the lower deck, a task as physically demanding as putting new planks in. When the job is done, the deck will be 2 inches higher in its center than on its edges, but those inches are critical, said Whelan.
The restoration will also open the ship’s waist, the area along either side of the deck, replacing the current solid wood with historically accurate hammock netting. Nichols, the blacksmith, is hand-forging 12 U-shaped iron parts called stanchions that string the netting together. The hydraulic press Nichols uses to drill holes for the netting is labeled “Omar the Dentmaker,’’ and he explained that he must be cautious using Omar, lest he crush his hand.
Some tourists visiting the Constitution on Wednesday were surprised to find it under construction.
“I’m ex-Navy, and to me it’s the epitome of the Navy,’’ said Nicola Poitras, from New Hampshire. She didn’t expect the low-pitched whine of a sander to interrupt her tour, “but that’s all right,’’ she said. “I’d rather see it under renovation than fall to pieces.’’
To ensure the ship will remain in one piece, the Constitution’s maintenance crew is planning ahead. The next restoration, which will dry-dock the ship, is expected to begin in 2015. 