The 44-gun frigate USS Constitution was built in Boston, and launched on October 21, 1797. During the War of 1812, the USS Constitution earned her now famous title, “Old Ironsides,” and sealed her place in the history of American naval power. In an intense 35-minute engagement with the HMS Guerriere on August 19, 1812, off the coast of Nova Scotia, an astonished American sailor saw the British 18-pound iron cannonballs bouncing harmlessly off the USS Constitution’s 25-inch oak hull. He shouted out, “Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!” She was taken out of active service in 1855. Today, the USS Constitution is the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat.