![]() ![]() The Constitution’s broadside in weight of metal was a potent 762 pounds, while the Guerriere’s was a bit more than 550. On her main deck thirty eighteen-pound long guns were mounted, and on her spar deck she had sixteen thirty-two-pound carronades, two long twelves, and a twelve-pound howitzer. She was rated at thirty-eight guns and carried forty-nine. (Carronades were small, lightweight cannon with wide, short barrels that had a limited effective range of less than five hundred yards but fired large-caliber projectiles.) The Guerriere – undermanned as most British warships – had a crew of only 272, not counting the Americans aboard. The Constitution had a complement of 456 men and was rated at forty-four guns but mounted fifty-six, including thirty twenty-four-pound long guns on the main deck, twenty-four thirty-two-pound carronades on the spar deck, and two long eighteen-pounders at the bow. ![]() ![]() The quality of the officers and crews of both ships, which in the end would make the difference, could not be so easily measured. ![]() Despite the title the book doesn’t limit its scope to the naval action of the war, but broadens to include the politics and land war, which makes it a must read for anyone trying to understand that period in American history.įor a sense of author George Daughan’s scholarly yet readable style as well as the story of how the USS Constitution earned her nickname “Old Ironsides,” enjoy the following excerpt. 1812: The Navy’s War, by George Daughan, gives the War of 1812 the treatment it so richly deserves. I don’t pretend to know the merits of these future publications, but I can recommend one that is already available at a bookstore near you. With the bicentennial commemorations of the War of 1812 ongoing there is sure to be a wave of books covering the conflict on the way. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |