The United States Congress authorized the original six frigates of the United States Navy with the Naval Act of 1794 on March 27, 1794, at a total cost of $688,888.82. These ships were built during th
USS Constitution, the last of the original six frigates of the United States Navy still in commission
Carronade on the spar deck of Constitution
Painting of the October 30, 1812 Engagement between the United States and the Macedonian –Oil on canvas by Thomas Birch, 1813
Detail of USS Constellation (from Capture of the French Frigate, L'Insurgente –Watercolor by Admiral John W. Schmidt, 1981)
USS United States (1797)
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USS United States was a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy and the first of the six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794. The name "U
Original six frigates of the United States Navy
…when Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Stoddert, designated her a namesake of the Chesapeake Bay, ignoring the previous Constitutional naming protocol. United States was built in Philadelphia, launched on May 10, 1797, and commissioned on July 11, 1797. On October 25, 1812, United States fought and captured the…
USS United States by 1852
Portrait of John Barry c. 1801
Melville c. 1860