Every year around this time, the following “article” makes the rounds through various social media outlets:
The USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”) as a combat vessel carried 48,600 gallons of fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men. This was sufficient to last six months of sustained operations, and she carried no evaporators.
On July 22, 1798, the USS Constitution set sail from Boston. She left with 475 men, 48,600 gallons of water, 7,400 cannon shots, 11,600 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum. Her mission: to harass British shipping. Making Jamaica on Oct. 6, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Then she headed for the Azores, arriving on Nov. 12. She provisioned 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. On Nov. 18 she set sail for England. In the ensuing days, she defeated five British Man of War and captured and scuttled 12 English merchant ships, salvaging only the rum.
By Jan. 27, her powder and shot were exhausted. Unarmed, she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde. Her raiding party captured a whiskey distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.
The USS Constitution arrived in Boston on 2Feb. 20, 1799 with no cannon shot, no food, no rum, no wine, no whiskey and 48,600 gallons of stagnant water.
Now then…
The Internet and emailing can be wonderful things at times, but as I’m sure we’re all aware false information can spread at lightning speed. At the same time, in a sort of “checks & balances” scenario, it’s equally easy to poke around to verify stories and news items like the one above. That’s exactly what I did and I came across the following, including the Snopes website:
There was indeed ⎯and still is ⎯ a USS CONSTITUTION. She is the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat, with the United Kingdom’s HMS VICTORY claiming the oldest commissioned warship title, being in a graving dock as opposed to water. CONSTITUTION was launched in 1797 to a successful career, fought well in three wars, and is now home ported in Boston.
To detail:
The claim: The USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) as a combat vessel carried 48,600 gallons of fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men. This was sufficient to last 6 months of sustained operations; she carried no evaporators (water maker).
The fact: Well, obviously as far as the evaporators go, unless the Founding Fathers’ friends were cleverer than we know, 48,600 gallons would give around 1⁄2 a gallon a day of water for each ship’s company member over the proposed six-month voyage. However, the water would not have kept that long. In fact, water was not drunk in quantity aboard ships, simply because it would not last long enough. For that reason, other beverages which would keep longer were preferred.
The daily ration of liquid other than water for sailors in 1816, records John Winton in his piece Hurrah for the Life of a Sailor, was “half a pint of spirits, or a pint of wine, or a gallon of beer every day”. For the uninitiated, a gallon of beer is eight pints or very large glasses ⎯ the sort served in British pubs ⎯ of 500 ml. or about 11 standard glasses of “small beer” (a little lower in alcohol content than the” heavy” beers of today). That would mean that sailors would be able to get reasonably drunk every day, although the effect of this of course would be tempered by the size of the drinker and whether he was used to such consumption and how much he had eaten beforehand. Half a pint of spirits is around 250ml. or perhaps a third of a modern bottle. The USN, derived from the British Navy in many respects, also followed the rum ration tradition, until its demise on Sept. 1, 1862.
If the ship’s company were receiving a daily ration of rum this would be 0.9 gallons of rum a day over six months to get through the lot… and the story implies they did. Perhaps, however, the ship was planning an open-ended voyage. Human beings cannot consume 0.9 gallons of spirits a day and survive!
A basic problem with the story overall is that the USA was at peace with Britain between 1783 and 1812, so the ship cannot have entered combat with the British Navy at that time. Now, we can, if you like, decide that the story has a simple mistake in the date. So, when was Britain at war with the United States and USS Constitution also in commission? Obviously in the war of 1812. In fact, the ship fought three battles with British vessels and won them all. Perhaps the date has been mixed up. The story can indeed be found with a different date. No less a person than the Secretary of the US Navy, repeated the tale in 1997, at the Years Reunion Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, on 19 September. He mentioned the year “1812” however. So, let us continue, and digress to some of the other figures.
The claim: Making Jamaica on Oct. 6, CONSTITUTION took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum.
The fact: In less than three months, even a very enthusiastic and unrestricted ship’s company could hardly be expected to have gone through that much rum. Was CONSTITUTION planning on selling it or taking it home? However, before we let them escape back to the no doubt thirsty US Navy, we have a problem getting out of the harbor. Jamaica was then a British colony. If the ship’s mission was “to harass British shipping” in 1812, it is doubtful indeed that CONSTITUTION would provision at a British port. Obviously not, as the forces there would attempt her capture. In any event, there would be no reason for her to re-provision after only a few weeks at sea.
The claim: Then she headed for the Azores, arriving on Nov. 12. She provisioned 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. On Nov. 18 she set sail for England. In the ensuing days, she defeated five British Man of War and captured and scuttled 12 English merchant ships, salvaging only the rum.
The fact: There is absolutely no historical record for any of this. Nevertheless, would not CONSTITUTION have put prize crews on these valuable ships and taken them back to a friendly port where a prize agent could arrange for their sale to give valuable prize money to the captors? This was an important motivator in those days. In the war of 1812 between Britain and the United States, one famous action between two ships ⎯ the British HMS SHANNON and the USS CHESAPEAKE ⎯almost did not commence because of a dispute over prize money. As the two ships closed for battle, the morale aboard the CHESAPEAKE and the SHANNON was in startling contrast. As the captain ordered his men to their guns, the crew of the CHESAPEAKE wouldn’t comply, complaining that they hadn’t received the prize money due them from earlier engagements, thus they were refusing to fight unless they were paid. The captain, Lawrence, quickly ordered the ship’s purser to issue vouchers promising payment to the crew, and only then did they follow orders to man the guns.
The claim: By Jan. 27, her powder and shot were exhausted. Unarmed, she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde. Her raiding party captured a whiskey distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.
The fact: Very interesting. If she put ashore a raiding party of, say, 200 men, each of them would have had to transfer 200 gallons aboard. If this was done, say, at sunset (around Jan. 27, say 2000 hours?) and the men worked all night for 10 hours straight, they would have had to move 20 gallons an hour each. If each man could carry four gallons at a time, that would still mean five trips an hour aboard the ship. If she was lying off, this would be a mighty effort. Still, a very good Scotch or 20 can inspire great feats.
Perhaps the biggest fumble of the whole story, however, is to suppose that a party of Americans could make their way into Scotland and capture the Scottish lifeblood. Given the Scots’ attitude to battle, probably all of the Americans would have been met with broadsword and musket and never seen home again. However, then the ship headed home.
The claim: The USS Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February 1799 with no cannon shot, no food, no rum, no wine, no whiskey and 48,600 gallons of stagnant water.
The fact: Again, the date is wrong. But, disregarding that, there is no evidence to suggest CONSTITUTION went out of waters near the United States during the war of 1812. The last phrase is significant in pointing to the illogicality of the whole story: why would the ship have stagnant water on board with all its attendant health problems? Even a ship needing ballast can pump through fresh seawater every few days.
Adding up the gallons of rum we can see that CONSTITUTION apparently went through ⎯ because there was none left when she supposedly arrived home ⎯ 187, 700 gallons of rum and whiskey in seven months… let us say 210 days. That is 894 gallons a day, or 1.9 gallons per man per day.
Disregarding the rum supposedly captured from the supposed British merchantman and the Portuguese wine, consumption of spirits to this magnitude would have meant that no one would have been able to make it out of their hammock, let alone weigh the anchor, man the yards, haul on the sheets and all of the other myriad of tasks a wind-powered ship needed performing by human labor. Indeed, a liter of rum a day is enough to lay most people low, and if continued day after day would undoubtedly have resulted in the demise of most of the ship’s company.
Still, never let the truth get in the way of a good story!