USS ConstellationWas launched in Baltimore on Sept. 7 1797 and was the first US Navy ship to be baptized “Constellation” a reverence to the "newconstellation of stars" on the flag of the new nation. Nicknamed the “Yankee Racehorse” the 1278 ton ship cruised at 14 knots andcombined enormous firepower with speed.In 1853 construction began on a new “Constellation” later launched on August 26 1854 at the Gosport Navy Yard in Virginia. It wascommissioned by the US Navy on July 281855 and was the last sail ship designed by the Navy before steam propulsion became thestandard power for all new battleships. Designed by John Lenthall the Navy’s Chief Constructor it carried a heavier battery of gunsthan conventional sloops and served as a squadron flagship to a training vessel for an entire century before it was restored andinstalled in Baltimore as a monument to Americas greatnaval heritage.