this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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I feel like the term afloat is used because it not safe to take out in open water?
No, they sail her around all the time. The USS Constitution is a commissioned vessel in the United States Navy, crewed by active duty sailors. They use the term "afloat" because HMS Victory is the oldest commissioned naval vessel, but she is kept as a museum ship in drydock.
That makes sense, appreciate the answer. I’ve just always heard it as “sea-worthy” before, afloat in that sense is a little weird.
Well, knowing the USN, the reason is either a) some extremely long, convoluted line of reasoning formulated through several Senate subcommittee hearings to avoid pissing anyone off or b) someone wrote it that way once 75 years ago, and no one knows enough about why to want to change it.
I’m in the navy. “Afloat” means “goes to sea”, generally. A museum ship might literally be floating in water, but it can’t go to sea.
Fun fact: HMS Victory was actually bombed by the Nazis during WWII, which means she technically saw combat over a span of ~~144~~ 164 years (1778-1942).
Edit: math are hard.
Oldest "active" ship in the US (or any) navy, IIRC, they take it out once a year to get rated seaworthy & remain active. Amazing ship. want to feel like a puny, pampered modern person? Read Patrick Obriens 20 volume Master and Commander series...so many unwashed asses on these for so many months in some of the most inhospitable regions of this planet.
Twice a year to turn it around for equal weathering. They raffle tickets for people to ride on it.
They also sailed her under her own power back in the late 1990’s. I was a USCG Auxiliarist back then and was on one of the escort boats that kept the public from getting too close.
They also occasionally do invite-only turnaround cruises. I was lucky enough to be invited on one of those during my USCG days as well.
I’m more into space, but I’ll put it on the list…
I alternate between space trash and historical fiction
There's an aubreyandmaturin community here on sh.itjust.works but it's pretty inactive.
Nope. Old Ironsides is seaworthy and makes regular trips out to open ocean, usually under tow but she has an incomplete set of sails and can sail under her own power.
The US Navy owns a plot of southern live oak trees in Georgia set aside specifically for maintaining USS Constitution.
From what I've been able to find, the ships were originally built using live oak trees from Georgia, but the forest the US Navy maintains for the USS Constitution is in Indiana.
https://www.military.com/history/why-us-navy-manages-its-own-private-forest.html
https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/2015/05/11/the-wooden-walls/
TIL.
Digging all the little details, of course I could have just looked it up, but engagement!
Wouldn’t be very good if they kept a plot of dead oak trees.
Haha I suspect you know this but live oak is a species of oak. It’s not referring to their mortality status.
I’m not joking when I say I had to study trees in school, I’m a carpenter, they did teach you a bunch of stuff about species of trees and how they grow.