What is USS Constitution?
{{DISPLAYTITLE:USS ''Constitution''}} {{distinguish|United States Constitution}} [[File:USS Constitution underway, August 19, 2012 by Castle Island cropped.jpg|thumb|right|220px|USS Constitution, August 2012]] '''USS ''Constitution''''' is a wooden, three-[[Mast|masted]] heavy [[frigate]] of the [[United States Navy]]. Named by President [[George Washington]] after the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution of the United States of America]], she is the world's oldest commissioned [[Naval ship|naval vessel]] afloat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hms-victory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=153&Itemid=572|title=HMS Victory Service Life|publisher=HMS Victory website|archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/6AGTZMPHG?url=http://www.hms-victory.com/index.php?option=com_content|archivedate=28 August 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=15 December 2012}}</ref> == Construction == ''Constitution'' was one of six original frigates authorized for construction by the [[Naval Act of 1794]] and the third constructed. She was built in 1794 and launched in 1797. [[Joshua Humphreys]] designed the six frigates to be the young Navy's capital ships. For this reason, ''Constitution'' and the other ships were larger, more heavily armed, and more solidly built than standard frigates of the period. She was 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]] [[Piracy|pirates]] in the [[First Barbary War]]. == War of 1812 == ''See the main article: [[War of 1812]]'' ''Constitution'' is most famous for her actions during the [[War of 1812]] against Great Britain. She captured numerous [[merchant]] ships and defeated five British warships: HMS ''Guerriere'', ''Java'', ''Pictou'', ''Cyane'' and ''Levant''. === Battle with HMS ''Guerriere'' === On August 19, 1812, the ''Constitution'' and [[HMS Guerriere|HMS ''Guerriere''