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'Constellation' 1794 American frigate (With Plans)


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if the Constellation with only 38 guns take 380 men to battle.. does it mean that ships in game take dmg too fast and crew damage too little? I dunno makes me think.

 

 

Our in game 44 gun Suprise has only 240 men but always has atleast 200 left over before it would sink in battle if it lost.

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if the Constellation with only 38 guns take 380 men to battle.. does it mean that ships in game take dmg too fast and crew damage too little? I dunno makes me think.

Our in game 44 gun Suprise has only 240 men but always has atleast 200 left over before it would sink in battle if it lost.

Surprise is a 28-gun ship, and much smaller and weaker than Constellation.

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The Constellation at Baltimore Maryland is an 1854 Corvette that shares the name and tradition of the original 1797 Frigate. The disparity in crew may come from the fact that the 1854 Constellation fielded 16 8" Main "Shell" guns as well as several Rifled Parrot Guns in the 20-32 pound variety. That's a lot IRON with big gun crews to man it. There have been many claims that it is in part or whole the 1797 Frigate but when you walk her its clear she is from a later era.

 

I was in "Balmer" for business in December and being freshly addicted to the era of sail again through NA I went to see her only to find out she had been towed across the river to the Coast Guard drydock for hull repairs.

 

So disappointed was I at missing her that I shed at least one tear in each of the many beers I consumed at "The Wharf Rat" in Fells Point trying to console myself.

 

I believe she is back in her slip at the Inner Harbor.

Edited by Paraclete
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The crew listed (380) seems to be correct for the 1797 Constellation.  Thing is, she was rated for 38 guns but carried 48 and was very big for her rating (over 1200 tons), so that might explain her large crew.

 

As noted, Surprise was built to carry 32 long guns, and was initially rated in British service as a 28-gun frigate, but she eventually switched long guns for carronades and added additional carronades, as these didn't require as much crew.  (She also has too many guns in game.)  Surprise was 578 tons, which shows how comparing based on number of guns alone is misleading.

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if the Surprise was meant to carry 28 long guns how come in game it carries about 40?

She's not meant to carry 28 long guns.

 

28-guns was one of her ratings in British service, and gun ratings are a rather arbitrary assessment of a ship's size and power. Not to different from saying "his power level is over 9,000!"

 

Surprise's gundeck is only big enough to carry 24 guns, for instance. The British then gave her 12 more guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle, but these guns are of lesser caliber so only a few of them actually count towards the rating. In this case, the upper deck 12 count as 4, and she's a 28-gun ship.

 

For the British, carronades are usually left out from SoL gun-ratings, and no one ever pays any attention to chase guns. The French were slightly more inclusive and would build 40-gun ships that were 38's in British service.

 

It can all get rather silly with 32-gun frigates that are larger than 36-gun ships.

 

Ever notice that Constitution is always called a 44 but carried over 50 guns?

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I'd love the see the Constellation in-game one day. It's different enough from the Constitution to warrent it being in-game, and it would give another nice American frigate alongside the Essex and Constittion.

Edited by Legioneod
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