September 3 – Boston

There was one more site on the Freedom Trail that we wanted to visit. Late this morning we visited the Navel Shipyard in Boston Harbour and toured the USS Constitution.


USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, is a three-masted wooden-hulled heavy frigate. She is the world's oldest commissioned naval warship still afloat. The Constitution was built in the North End of Boston and was launched in 1797. She was larger and more heavily armed than standard frigates of the period. Her first duties were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi-War with France and to defeat the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War.

The Constitution is mostly noted for her actions during the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom, when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships. She continued to serve as flagship for the Mediterranean and African fleet. In the 1840s she circled the world. During the American Civil War, she served as a training ship for the United States Naval Academy.

The Constitution was rated as a 44-gun frigate, but she often carried more than fifty guns at a time. All of the guns aboard the Constitution have been replicas since her 1927–1931 restoration. 


The three masts are 198, 172 and 172 feet in height. On each of the masts are platforms from which snipers would climb to and then shoot at the enemy.

The captain’s quarters would put most suites on today cruise liners to shame. It was very spacious, and the layout looks comfortable. The only drawback is the canon on each wall of his quarters.


In the afternoon we took a tour of the rest of Boston, using the Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour. The guides were amusing and very knowledgeable. We stopped on Charles Street for lunch at a local deli. Charles Street has multiple fashion shops and antique stores and leads to the Boston Common.

As we drove by the home of the Boston Bruins, the TD Center, we got to see the statue honouring the best defensemen in hockey history – Bobby Orr. It brought back good memories.

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