#7: USS Constitution: Old Ironsides Still Afloat After 228 Years
USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat anywhere in the world, launched on October 21, 1797, and still crewed by active-duty U.S. Navy sailors today. During the War of 1812, British cannonballs were seen bouncing off her 21-inch-thick oak hull, earning her the legendary nickname "Old Ironsides" that has endured for over two centuries.
Constitution defeated five British warships in ship-to-ship combat during the War of 1812, including HMS Guerriere, HMS Java, and HMS Cyane, at a time when the Royal Navy was considered virtually unbeatable. Her 44 guns and copper-sheathed hull (using copper provided by Paul Revere) made her faster and more powerful than any frigate she might encounter. In 1830, when the Navy considered scrapping her, Oliver Wendell Holmes' poem "Old Ironsides" sparked a nationwide preservation movement, one of the first in American military history. She is berthed at Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston and periodically sails under her own power, a living monument to the founding era of American naval warfare.
