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 six months of sustained operations at sea. She carried no evaporators.

Blockaded in Boston for eight months, from April to December 1814, Constitution takes advantage of bad weather and poor visibility to slip past the enemy and out to sea under the command of Captain Charles Stewart.

Her mission: "To destroy and harass English shipping."

Let it be noted that according to her log, "On December 19, 1814, the USS Constitution sailed from Boston with a full complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 7,400 cannonshot, 11,600 pounds of black power and 79,400 gallons of rum"

Making Jamaica on 6 January, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Then she headed for the Azores, arriving there 12 February. She provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. On 18 February, she set sail for England. In the ensuing days she defeated and captured two British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchantmen, salvaging only the rum aboard each.

By 26 April, her powder and shot were exhausted. Nevertheless, although unarmed she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Her landing party captured a whisky distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons of single malt Scotch aboard by dawn. Losing one of her prizes to a British squadron, Constitution headed home.

The USS Constitution arrived in Boston on 15 May 1815, with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no wine, no whisky, the 34 gun prize HMS Cyane, and 28,000 gallons of stagnant water. The War of 1812 was ended by the treaty of Ghent on 24 December, 1814.

Go Navy!

Which reminds me of the poem written when the Constitution was destined for the breakers yard....

OLD IRONSIDES
By Oliver Wendell Holmes
September 16, 1830

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon's roar;
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood,
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor's tread,
Or know the conquered knee;
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

Oh, better that her shattered bulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!