A Little Naval History

[krisis7]

The U.S.S. 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 at sea. She carried no
evaporators (i.e. fresh water distillers!).

However, let it be noted that according to her ship's log, "On July 27, 1798, the U.S.S. Constitution sailed from Boston with a full complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum."

Her mission: "To destroy and harass English shipping."

Making Jamaica on 6 October, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum.


Then she headed for the Azores, arriving there 12 November. She� provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine.

On 18 November, she set sail for England. In the ensuing days she defeated five British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchant ships, salvaging only the rum aboard each.


By 26 January, her powder and shot were exhausted. Nevertheless,
although unarmed she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Her landing party captured a whisky distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons of single malt Scotch aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.

The U.S.S. Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February, 1799, with no
cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no wine, no whisky, and 38,600
gallons of water.

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GO NAVY!!!
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[Swami]

For some reason I thought these numbers were a little high but when I did the math it almost seems reasonable:

At sea for 210 days,
475 officers and men,
A total of 252,000 gallons of spirits (not counting the unknown amount salvaged from the scuttled ships),
Comes out to 530.5 gallons per man for the duration of the voyage or 2.5 gallons per man per day.

Knowing that water that's kept in a cask aboard a ship gets slimy and nasty pretty fast, I guess it would be possible to drink 2.5 gallons of booze a day but you'd be, ahem, ship-faced for the duration of the trip.

[000's]

Need alot of asprin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[eagles2003fan]

If the USS Constellation had that much run on her . I WOULD OF NEVER LEFT.

[Boston Whaler]

Great story! I sent this to a teacher friend of mine who writes about alcohol and how it has affected world history.

Do you have the source? He would like to use it.

[krisis7]

It was emailed to me, I am not sure how accurate it really is, but definatly sounds plausable.

[Boston Whaler]

It was emailed to me, I am not sure how accurate it really is, but definatly sounds plausable.

I did a little homework.


From Wikipedia -

Urban legend
On August 6, 1997, Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton gave a speech about the Ironsides.[9] He described in detail a journey as part of the War of 1812, that took her from Boston to Jamaica to the Portuguese Azores to England, defeating five British men-of-war and scuttling 12 English merchantmen, before heading, unarmed, up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland to raid a whisky distillery, and finally returning to Boston Harbor on February 23. The point of the story was that the Navy and Marine Corps had "spirit", and weren't much for drinking non-alcoholic beverages. However, despite the seemingly specific details, and the fact that the story is often forwarded around the internet via email, and appears in several personal "naval history" websites (often suffixed with the traditional "Go Navy!" or "Beat Army!"), it is almost certainly false. There is no historical record of the ship sailing anywhere near Scotland, nor of engaging in battle with that many warships. Additionally, the legend would have required each crewman to consume over two gallons of alcohol per day.

Some versions of the story have the journey 1812–1813, some have it 1779–1780 (especially unlikely, since the ship was not launched until 1797). The exact origin of the story is not clear. Some reports say that it was printed in a periodical of the Oceanographer of the U.S. Navy, Oceanographic Ships, Fore and Aft, although this may have simply been an embellishment on the urban legend.[10] Another source is quoted as "U.S. Atlantic Command, Joint Training, Analysis and Simulation Center."

Chris
Baltic 37 Brut
Volendam

[trollman]

I have seen that ship many many times and been aboard many also, and from seeing her you would never think she could hold that many crew, let alone all that other good stuff. i am sketical, but believe in the Marines & Navy spirit!