Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Broke was a pioneer in gunfire control. He had marking placed on the deck of SHANNON at each gun describing 180 degree arc behind each gun, and had a pelorus placed amidships, so he was able to concentrate his fire. Broke also believed in practicing his guns with his “director”, rather than the RN standard as fast as possible, at a range too close to miss. With the level of preperation he made, Broke deserved to win. By allowing himself to be provoked into attacking when CHESAPEAKE was not prepared, Lawrence did not stand a chance.
A little known piece of the history of thus battle was that during the engagement, a shot came across the deck of USS CONSTITUTION taking out her wheel and killing the crew members who were manning the wheel at the time. Captain Bainbridge sent his Marines below to move the rudder by hand in response to his commands for the balance of the fight…..no small feat as the rudder weighs several tons.
Once USS CONSTITUTION had triumphed over JAVA, Bainbridge sent his men to JAVA and stripped her wheel off the deck and had it affixed to CONSTITUTION. That same wheel is the wheel you see today on the deck of the USS CONSTITUTION when you visit her….
One of the many facts I used to share with visitors when I gave tour there as a member of her crew from 1997-1998…..she is Boston’s most victorious team, 42 wins and no losses.
USS CONSTITUTION will be the star attraction next summer when they commemorate the War of 1812 in Boston.
…wow…you were a member of the Constitution’s crew…
…(1997-1998)…count me deeply impressed. ICSFTH… Best
That’s one hell of a record. I’d love to see a turnaround cruise with that big beast of a ship. I toured her and I couldn’t believe how heavily built she was. If the RN officers would’ve gotten a tour before the war, I doubt they would’ve challenged her with their much lighter-constructed 36s.
What is amazing about her is how light she is on her feet when she catches the breeze….the Mainsails are as large as the area of a basketball court….when full rigged, she would have a total of 36 sails.
We sailed her in the Undersail Operation in July 1997 in ” Battle Configuration ” of 6 sails. They ran that way as you didn’t want to provide the enemy with a large amount of sail to target.
SK1:
That must have been so much fun. I saw her sometime between 1958 and 1960 and was greatly impressed.
Paul
Magnificent ship, could run away from anything she couldn’t beat, and beat anything she could run away from.
Magnificent history.
…There is a marvelous and touching moment after Java surrendered that rarely gets mentioned – Java’s skipper, Captain Lambert, was mortally wounded and was taken below, nearly delirious. When Captain Bainbridge went aboard to accept Java’s surrender, Lambert through a supreme effort, composed himself long enough to offer Bainbridge his sword. Bainbridge himself was in considerable pain from a bolt that came off Constitution’s wheel when it was hit, but he was also remembering the three ships he’d lost himself (Retaliation during the war with France, George Washington commandeered by the Dey of Tripoli, and Philadelphia captured by the Tripolitians), and whatever faults Will Bainbridge may have had, he wasn’t going to humiliate a defeated enemy who had fought so well.
And with that, Bainbridge gave Lambert his sword back.
Mike
It was a war between gentlemen. A more civilized time.
I’ve dealt with live oak living on the Gulf Coast & they are amazingly tough. What’s even more amazing is that ships could be fashioned from such trees. Cutting the stuff eats saws for breakfast.
I would love to see Old Ironsides under sail. Beautiful ship.
And this is where USS Chesapeake ended up, as the frame work for this mill. http://www.chesapeakemill.co.uk/ Incidentally, the former Hogpen (chez nous) was 100 yds up the road, with many of her timbers masquerading as beams in our ceilings. Ghosts?
I always wanted to visit the Chesapeake Mill with, say, a chisel concealed in my pocket, to recapture some of that good Georgia Live Oak.
And again, I highly recommend the fine documentary writing of Ian Toll: “Six Frigates.”
Superb book.
Oh, as we know, Jack Aubrey played a significant part in the fight, until that pesky US Marine shot him.
Oh, yeah, Scott, it wasn’t just the great guns with Broke. I recall reading that everybody on Chesapeake’s quarterdeck was shot at least twice. There’s even a paragraph about it in “Starship Troopers.”