206 years ago today

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At 2:00 p.m. on 19 August, Constitutionsighted a large ship to leeward, and bore down to investigate. The weather was cloudy, and the wind was brisk. The strange ship proved to be Guerriere, whose crew recognised Constitution at about the same moment. Both ships prepared for action, and shortened sail to "fighting sail", i.e. topsails and jibs only. As Constitution closed, Dacres first hove to to fire a broadside, which fell short, and then ran before the wind for three quarters of an hour with the Constitution on Guerriere's quarter. Dacres yawed several times to fire broadsides at Constitution, but Guerriere's broadsides were generally inaccurate, while the few shots fired from Constitution's foremost guns had little effect.[10] After one cannonball bounced "harmlessly" off the side of Constitution, a crew member is said to have yelled "Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!"[8]


Once the range had closed to within a few hundred yards, Captain Hull ordered extra sail (the foresail and main topgallant sail) to be set, to close the distance quickly. Dacres did not match this maneuver, and the two ships began exchanging broadsides at "half pistol-shot",[11] with Constitution to starboard and Guerriere to port. After fifteen minutes of this exchange, during which Guerriere suffered far more damage than Constitution due to the latter's larger guns and thicker hull, Guerriere'smizzenmast fell overboard to starboard, acting like a rudder and dragging her around. This allowed Constitution to cross ahead of Guerriere, firing a raking broadside which brought down the main yard. Hull then wore ship to cross Guerriere's bow again, firing another raking broadside, but the maneuver was cut too close and Guerriere's bowspritbecame entangled in the rigging of Constitution's mizzenmast.

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On both ships, boarding parties were summoned and musket fire broke out. Aboard Constitution, Lieutenant William S. Bush was killed and Lieutenant Charles Morris wounded by musket shots, as was Captain Dacres. Only Guerriere's narrow bowsprit provided a way between the ships, and in the heavy sea, neither side could venture across it. Some of the gunners aboard Guerriere fired at point-blank range into Hull's stern cabin, setting the American ship on fire briefly. The two locked ships slowly rotated clockwise until they broke free. Guerriere's foremast and mainmast both then fell "by the board" i.e. snapped off at deck level, leaving her helpless and rolling heavily.[12] Dacres attempted to set sail on the bowsprit to bring his ship before the wind, but it too had been damaged and broke.[13] The Constitution meanwhile ran downwind for several minutes, repairing damage to the rigging, before once again wearing and beating upwind to return to battle.

As Constitution prepared to renew the action, Guerriere fired a shot in the opposite direction to Constitution.[14] Sensing that this was an attempt to signal surrender, Hull ordered a boat to take a Lieutenant over to the British ship. When the Lieutenant boarded Guerriereand asked if Guerriere was prepared to surrender, Captain Dacres responded "Well, Sir, I don't know. Our mizzen mast is gone, our fore and main masts are gone - I think on the whole you might say we have struck our flag."[2]

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