Charlestown is a
neighborhood of
Boston,
Massachusetts,
United States.
[1] It is located on a peninsula to the north of the
Charles River, across from downtown Boston. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony; it became a city in 1848 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874. While it has had a substantial
Irish Americanpopulation since the migration of
Irish people during the
Great Irish Famine of the 1840s, since the late 1980s the neighborhood has changed dramatically because of its proximity to downtown and its colonial architecture. However, it still maintains a strong
Irish American population and identity.
The
USS Constitution is a wooden-
hulled, three-
masted heavy
frigate of the
United States Navy. Named by President
George Washington after the
Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat. Launched in 1797,
Constitution was one of
six original frigates authorized for construction by the
Naval Act of 1794 and the third constructed.
Joshua Humphreys designed the frigates to be the young Navy's
capital ships, and so
it was larger and more heavily armed and built than standard frigates of the period. Built in
Boston, Massachusetts, at
Edmund Hartt's shipyard, her first duties with the newly formed United States Navy were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the
Quasi-War with France and to defeat the
Barbary pirates in the
First Barbary War. The Constitution is most famous for her actions during the
War of 1812 against Great Britain, when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships:
HMS Guerriere,
Java,
Pictou,
Cyane and
Levant. The battle with
Guerriere earned her the nickname of "
Old Ironsides" and public adoration that has repeatedly saved her from scrapping. She continued to actively serve the nation as
flagship in the
Mediterranean and
African squadrons, and circled the world in the 1840s.
USS Cassin Young (DD-793), a
Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the
United States Navy named for
Captain Cassin Young (1894–1942), who was awarded the
Medal of Honor for his heroism at
Pearl Harbor and killed in the
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The
Cassin Young was
launched 12 September 1943 by
Bethlehem Steel Corp.,
San Pedro, California; sponsored by Mrs. C. Young; and
commissioned 31 December 1943,
Commander E. T. Schrieber in command. After serving in
World War II, including the
Battle of Leyte and the
Battle of Okinawa,
Cassin Young continued in active service until 1960. She is preserved today as a
memorial ship, berthed at
Boston Navy Yard across from the
USS Constitution.
(Wikipedia)