The USS Constellation
The old sailing ship floating
quietly in
Baltimore's Inner Harbor has a
long and bloody history. Not surprisingly, the USS
Constellation
also has a
reputation of being one of the most haunted sites in America.
It
has been
rebuilt and refitted many times, but the ghosts still linger.
The
original
vessel, built as a 36 gun frigate, was first launched from
Harris
Creek,
Maryland on September 7, 1797. She was among a group of ships
commissioned
for the US Navy that included Boston's Constitution.
Commodore Thomas Truxton was the
first captain
of the Constellation,
and he got her off to a bloody start. One day in 1799 the
ship's
crew scored
a major sea victory when they captured the French Frigate
L'Insurgent
while
in the West Indies. During the battle, seaman Neil Harvey fell
asleep
while
on watch. When Truxton learned of Harvey's lapse in duty
he
ordered a
lieutenant to run a sword through the man's gut. Later, after
the
battle was
over, Truxton had Harvey's body tied to a cannon and blown to
pieces
to
serve as a warning to other sailors. Neil Harvey has become
one
of the most
frequently seen ghosts aboard the Constellation. He has even
been
mistaken
for a costumed tour guide.
The ship in her many incarnations
went on
many missions, including
slave interdiction and providing support for land troops
fighting
against
the Seminole Indians. The Constellation distinguished herself
in
the War of
1812 and against the Barbary Pirates. She has sailed to such
exotic
places
as China, West Africa, and Hawaii.
In 1822 a boy was serving aboard
as a surgeon's
assistant. He was
stabbed to death by two other sailors, though it is not known
why.
Psychic
Sybil Leek once confirmed that the boy's spirit is still
aboard
the ship.
The USS Constellation entered the
Norfolk,
Virginia Navy yard in 1845.
The restructuring that she underwent there is still a source
of
argument
amoung historians. Some believe that the entire 1797 vessel
was
scrapped and
a completely new ship was erected. Other analysis has proved
that
timbers,
materials, and equipment were used from the original ship. It
is
very
unlikely that one hundred percent of the 1797 ship was intact,
even
in 1845.
She had received a new stern (back end) in 1829-30. Not to
mention,
the hull
of a wooden ship had to be rebuilt on an average of every 16
years.
Whatever was left of the original vessel, it's use in the new
ship
was
enough to keep the ghosts around.
In 1855 the Navy's modifications
were completed.
The Constellation had
been downgraded from a 36 gun frigate to a 22 gun sloop of
war.
She was
launched on July 28 of that year and is now considered the
last
all sail
powered vessel built for the US Navy. (Ship builders had begun
to
prefer
steam power.)
Late in the 19th century the
Constellation
outlived her uses and in
1893 was moved to the Naval station at Newport, Rhode Island.
She
served as
a stationary training ship until 1914 and for the first half
of
the
twentieth century she sat rotting. In 1940 Franklin Delano
Roosevelt
recommissioned her as the Flagship of the US Atlantic Fleet.
When
the money
for that project ran out she was towed to Boston.
In 1953 a committee of Maryland
citizens
collected the money needed to
get the ship home to Baltimore. The Constellation arrived in
that
it in
September of 1955 and was docked at a local ship yard to await
repairs.
This
is when stories of ghosts began to surface. Sailors standing
night
watch on
nearby ships reported odd noises and unidentifiable shapes.
The
submarine
Pike was moored closest to the Constellation and the
submariners
frequently
saw ghosts walking on the old war ship.
By December 1955 Lieutenant
Commander Allen
R. Brougham had heard lots
of these stories. He set out to investigate them. He called a
photographer
friend and asked him to come aboard one night with his
camera.
They set up
on a spot overlooking the ship's wheel. Very close to midnight
the
figure of
a nineteenth century US Navy Captain appeared and was captured
on
film. "It
was all over within the time he took to make a single stride."
Brougham
told
a reporter. The stunning photograph appeared in a local paper
a
few days
later. It shows a man in gold epaulets bending over slightly,
reaching
across his waist with his right hand as if to draw his sword.
Some believe this figure was
Captain Thomas
Truxton, who is known to
haunt the ship. There are other spirits aboard as well. A
seaman
has been
seen running across the gun deck. Cries and moans have been
heard
in the
hold, and witnesses have heard the sound and felt the motion
of
unseen
people running about. An anonymous seaman has been spotted
sadly
wandering
around the gun deck. He is believed to be a sailor who became
overwhelmed
by
the harsh life at sea and hung himself. People have reported
smelling
gun
smoke before the appearance of some apparitions, especially of
Captain
Truxton.
Carl Hansen, a mid-twentieth
century night
watchman, is believed to be
the only spirit that is actually happy aboard the ship.
He
cared for the
Constellation until an alarm system was installed in 1963.
Hansen's
spirit
has been seen playing cards on the lower decks. One day a
priest
came aboard
the ship and was given a tour by an enthusiastic and
knowledgeable
guide.
Before he left he praised the man's services to the staff. The
guide
didn't
fit the description of anyone working there-but it did fit
Carl
Hansen.
The Constellation has been
restored several
times since she returned to
Baltimore in 1955. She most recently came back from dry dock
on
July 2,
1999. The spirits are still there. Late one evening a night
watchman
was
inspecting the ship's orlop (storage) deck. It was late and he
had
only a
flashlight to lead him through this narrow area at the bottom
of
the ship. A
misty white light appeared out of nowhere and became a sailor
in
an outdated
uniform. He walked towards the watchman. The man stood still
as
the ghost
passed through him.
The USS Constellation is docked at
Pier
1 in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
She is open to the public and for a fee you can visit her from
10AM
to 4PM
in winter, or 10AM to 6PM in summer.
by catmz@theshadowlands.net
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