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Rating: 
Summary: Not the final word, but a volley in a continuing war
Review: For over half a century, controversy has swirled around USS Constellation, the wooden warship today preserved in Baltimore harbor. Although popular opinion had identified this vessel with the frigate of that name launched in 1797, Howard Chapelle in his "The Story of the American Sailing Navy" proclaimed that the original frigate had been broken up in 1853 and replaced by a new sloop of war bearing the same name. But Chapelle's ideas were hotly challenged by others and debate raged. In 1991 Dana Wegner and associates published "Fouled Anchors: The Constellation Question Answered" which, with the help of computer analysis and forensic testing of documents, offered a firm "No!" to the question of whether today's Constellation was in any meaningful way still the 1797 frigate (and, thus, the oldest surviving ship of the US Navy, slightly older than even the USS Constitution, Old Ironsides). For many people, Wegner's study seemed the final word. The private foundation preserving and displaying the old ship agreed that she was in reality a sloop of war of the 1850's (the last surviving ship of the Civil War era Navy). When Donald Canney published his "Sailing Warships of the US Navy" in 2001 he unreservedly adopted Wegner's conclusions. But not everyone agreed. Geoffrey Footner has now published a lengthy, detailed study that seeks to reverse Wegner; Footner unequivocally states that, despite major repairs over the years and the rebuilding in the 1850's, the 1797 Constellation still lives on in the present vessel. Whether or not the reader in the end will accept that conclusion, Footner's book is important reading. As the Constellation's story is told, so is the history of the US Navy during the first half of the Nineteenth Century, together with an illuminating picture of the practice of repair of wooden warships. It is important to recognize that Footner does not merely echo the traditional position of the 1797 Constellation school of thought; it previous years the defenders of that notion contended that the sloop of war of the 1850's was built by cutting the keel of the original frigate in two and inserting a new section to length the hull. Footner fully accepts that the old frigate keel was discarded in 1853 and a new one laid for the sloop of war hull, but Footner contends that the identity of the Constellation was preserved, in part through the reuse of much of her framing timber in the new ship (Wegner concluded that little such material was reused). And, it seems to me, Footner's position extends beyond the speaking of the merely physical nature of a ship's identity, contending instead that identity can validly continue even with great physical changes, as happened with the transformation of Constellation from frigate to sloop of war in the 1850's. It is probably fair to say that two students of this controversy could believe in essentially the same chain of events and physical history of the vessel(s) in question and yet sincerely give two opposite answers to the question of whether today's Constellation is still the original ship. Whether Footner's book will reverse the opinion of many people previously convinced by Wegner's work, I cannot predict, but at the very least it raises serious questions that the reader should consider. I am sure that this book will not be the final word, but it is an important volley in a long-running war.
Rating:
Summary: Not the final word, but a volley in a continuing war
Review: For over half a century, controversy has swirled around USS Constellation, the wooden warship today preserved in Baltimore harbor. Although popular opinion had identified this vessel with the frigate of that name launched in 1797, Howard Chapelle in his "The Story of the American Sailing Navy" proclaimed that the original frigate had been broken up in 1853 and replaced by a new sloop of war bearing the same name. But Chapelle's ideas were hotly challenged by others and debate raged. In 1991 Dana Wegner and associates published "Fouled Anchors: The Constellation Question Answered" which, with the help of computer analysis and forensic testing of documents, offered a firm "No!" to the question of whether today's Constellation was in any meaningful way still the 1797 frigate (and, thus, the oldest surviving ship of the US Navy, slightly older than even the USS Constitution, Old Ironsides). For many people, Wegner's study seemed the final word. The private foundation preserving and displaying the old ship agreed that she was in reality a sloop of war of the 1850's (the last surviving ship of the Civil War era Navy). When Donald Canney published his "Sailing Warships of the US Navy" in 2001 he unreservedly adopted Wegner's conclusions. But not everyone agreed. Geoffrey Footner has now published a lengthy, detailed study that seeks to reverse Wegner; Footner unequivocally states that, despite major repairs over the years and the rebuilding in the 1850's, the 1797 Constellation still lives on in the present vessel. Whether or not the reader in the end will accept that conclusion, Footner's book is important reading. As the Constellation's story is told, so is the history of the US Navy during the first half of the Nineteenth Century, together with an illuminating picture of the practice of repair of wooden warships. It is important to recognize that Footner does not merely echo the traditional position of the 1797 Constellation school of thought; it previous years the defenders of that notion contended that the sloop of war of the 1850's was built by cutting the keel of the original frigate in two and inserting a new section to length the hull. Footner fully accepts that the old frigate keel was discarded in 1853 and a new one laid for the sloop of war hull, but Footner contends that the identity of the Constellation was preserved, in part through the reuse of much of her framing timber in the new ship (Wegner concluded that little such material was reused). And, it seems to me, Footner's position extends beyond the speaking of the merely physical nature of a ship's identity, contending instead that identity can validly continue even with great physical changes, as happened with the transformation of Constellation from frigate to sloop of war in the 1850's. It is probably fair to say that two students of this controversy could believe in essentially the same chain of events and physical history of the vessel(s) in question and yet sincerely give two opposite answers to the question of whether today's Constellation is still the original ship. Whether Footner's book will reverse the opinion of many people previously convinced by Wegner's work, I cannot predict, but at the very least it raises serious questions that the reader should consider. I am sure that this book will not be the final word, but it is an important volley in a long-running war.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly documented and well written
Review: The argument over the provenance of the Constellation has been going on for over 50 years, and it's unlikely to end now. However, Footner has put a new slant on the argument that has been overlooked in the past. Footner gives lie to the theory promulgated by Howard Chappelle from the 1940's onward until his death that the 1797 Constellation was broken up and an unauthorized ship of the same name built in her place. Footner convincingly demonstrates that a rebuild of Constellation was authorized with the knowledge of congress and the Naval establishment. Footner shows that the dismantling of the ship, laying of a new keel, and rebuilding of the hull using a considerable amount of the timber from the original hull was done as the Navy's way of saving one of its oldest and most historic ships. Footner demonstrates that considerable changes were made to the ship during her four rebuilds between her launch in 1797 and the relaunch as a sloop of war in 1854. The most important service Footner provides in this book is that the ship now afloat in the Baltimore Inner Harbor is the rightful heir to the name, traditions, and history of the ship launched there in 1797.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly documented and well written
Review: The argument over the provenance of the Constellation has been going on for over 50 years, and it's unlikely to end now. However, Footner has put a new slant on the argument that has been overlooked in the past. Footner gives lie to the theory promulgated by Howard Chappelle from the 1940's onward until his death that the 1797 Constellation was broken up and an unauthorized ship of the same name built in her place. Footner convincingly demonstrates that a rebuild of Constellation was authorized with the knowledge of congress and the Naval establishment. Footner shows that the dismantling of the ship, laying of a new keel, and rebuilding of the hull using a considerable amount of the timber from the original hull was done as the Navy's way of saving one of its oldest and most historic ships. Footner demonstrates that considerable changes were made to the ship during her four rebuilds between her launch in 1797 and the relaunch as a sloop of war in 1854. The most important service Footner provides in this book is that the ship now afloat in the Baltimore Inner Harbor is the rightful heir to the name, traditions, and history of the ship launched there in 1797.
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