USS Constitution, authorized in 1794 as one of six frigates for the new U.S. Navy, is the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat. Built to defend American commerce, she pursued French privateers in the Caribbean and defeated the Tripolitan Corsairs in the Mediterranean. Constitution’s fame rests in three victories against the Royal Navy during the War of 1812. When battling HMS Guerriere, a Constitution sailor noticed that British shot didn’t penetrate her thick oaken sides. “Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!” This earned her the nickname, “Ironsides”. False rumors of her demise led Harvard student Oliver Wendell Holmes to write “Old Ironsides” in 1830, promoting the ship’s survival. Throughout the 19th century, the Navy used Constitution for diplomatic missions, in the West Africa anti-slavery patrol, as a Naval Academy training vessel and a receiving ship. The 1927-1931 restoration culminated in “Old Ironsides” being towed to the three U.S. coasts as thanks for the support of the ship’s preservation. The Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, became Constitution’s home base in 1897, where she is less than one mile from her 1797 launch site.