Connect to share and comment Opinion: Piracy and the need for
the US Navy to defend corporate interests against it has a long
history. BOSTON — Almost within shouting distance of
GlobalPost’s offices rests the oldest commissioned warship in
the American navy, the USS Constitution. She is the last
remaining relic of the heroic days of sail. Except for an annual
turnaround, “Old Ironsides,” as she is affectionately called,
never goes to sea anymore. But that was not always so. Now that
Somali pirates have attacked an American flagged ship in the
Indian Ocean, capturing its captain (read Tristan McConnell's
update here), one may recall that the American navy was
reconstituted in the late 18th century as a response to pirates
then operating off the north coast of Africa. The Continental
Navy that helped win independence from Britain went out of
business when the last warship, the 32 gun frigate “Alliance,”
was sold off as a cost-cutting measure in 1785. As it was after
every war, Congress wanted a peace dividend.