USS Constitution: Difference between revisions

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The '''USS ''Constitution''''', known as "'''Old Ironsides'''," is a wooden-[[hull (watercraft)|hull]]ed, three-[[Mast (sailing)|masted]] [[frigate]] of the [[United States Navy]]. Named after the [[United States Constitution]], she is the oldest commissioned ship in the world still afloat. ([[HMS Victory|HMS ''Victory'']] is ,three decades older, is the oldest comissioned ship in the world, but is permanently [[dry dock|drydocked]].) ''Constitution'' was one of [[Six original United States frigates|the six original frigates]] authorized for construction by the [[Naval Act of 1794]].

[[Joshua Humphreys]] designed them to be the Navy's [[capital ship]]s and so ''Constitution'' and her sisters were larger and more heavily armed than the standard run of frigates from the period. For a time, ''Constitution'' was assigned the [[hull classification symbol]] '''IX-21''' (the "IX" hull code stands for "Unclassified Miscellaneous"), but was reclassified to "none" on [[1 September]] [[1975]].