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Navy History

A BIT OF NAVY HISTORY





The USS 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 6 months of sustained operations. She carried no evaporators. However, let it be noted that:



On July 1798, the USS Constitution set sail from Boston. She left with 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 on 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.



By 26 January her powder and shot was exhausted. Unarmed, she

made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde. Her landing party captured a whiskey distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.



The USS Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February, 1799 with

no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no wine, no whiskey and 48,600 gallons of stagnant water.

> > > THOSE WERE THE GOOD OLE DAYS! GO NAVY!

> > > *********************************

Re: Navy History


Frank,



Your story of Old Ironsides brought to mind a thing we had in common as aviators in Maine with our shipmates of yore. We had an expression, commonly used in the wintertime, that made me do some research to find the origin of it so that it made sense.



The old sailing vessels had a means of stacking the cannon shot in a four sided pyramid next to each gunport. Its base was a brass plate with 16 dimples in it and it was called a ‘Brass Monkey’. This was loaded and maintained by crew members called ‘Powder Monkeys’ (later called ‘Ordies’)



There were 16 dimples in this square plate and by placing a cannonball in each dimple a base was formed for the stack. The next row or tier contained 9 cannon balls, the next 4, and the top had 1 for a total of 30 cannonballs per gunport.



Unfortunately, little was known about the varying degree of expansion and shrinkage for dissimilar metals. The brass of the monkey shrank at a more rapid rate than did the iron of the cannonballs when cold. During extremely cold weather, the brass would shrink at such a rapid rate that the balls would fall off and roll around the deck.



Thus was born the saying, referencing the chill, that it was ‘Cold enough to knock the balls off a Brass Monkey’.



I recall many a night monitoring those darn pre-heaters when I figured there had to be a reason for the saying, and now you know the rest of the story! (Sorry Paul Harvey)



Dale Woods




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Replying to:

A BIT OF NAVY HISTORY





The USS 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 6 months of sustained operations. She carried no evaporators. However, let it be noted that:



On July 1798, the USS Constitution set sail from Boston. She left with 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 on 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.



By 26 January her powder and shot was exhausted. Unarmed, she

made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde. Her landing party captured a whiskey distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.



The USS Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February, 1799 with

no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no wine, no whiskey and 48,600 gallons of stagnant water.

> > > THOSE WERE THE GOOD OLE DAYS! GO NAVY!

> > > *********************************

Re: Navy History


Frank;

Thank you for a good laugh.It only prooves that the US Navy always ran on alcahol and not water,as we all tried to prove.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

A BIT OF NAVY HISTORY





The USS 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 6 months of sustained operations. She carried no evaporators. However, let it be noted that:



On July 1798, the USS Constitution set sail from Boston. She left with 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 on 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.



By 26 January her powder and shot was exhausted. Unarmed, she

made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde. Her landing party captured a whiskey distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.



The USS Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February, 1799 with

no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no wine, no whiskey and 48,600 gallons of stagnant water.

> > > THOSE WERE THE GOOD OLE DAYS! GO NAVY!

> > > *********************************