Ironsides: A Naval History of a wooden ship and Iron Men....
On 23 August 1779, the USS Constitution
(Old Ironsides) set sail from Boston loaded with 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of water, 74,000 cannon shot, 11,500
pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum. Her mission: to destroy and harass the English shipping.
On 6 October, she made Jamaica, took on
826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum. Three weeks later the USS Constitution made a port call in the Azores. Here
she took on the following provisions; 550 pounds of beef and 6,300 gallons of Portuguese wine.
On 18 November, the ship set sail for
England where her crew captured and scuttled 12 English merchant vessels and liberated their rum.
After this engagement the USS Constitution
found itself without cannon shot. Nevertheless, she made her way unarmed up the Firth of Clyde for a night raid. Here her
landing party captured a whiskey distillery, transferred 40,000 gallons aboard and sailed for home.
On 20 February 1780, the USS Constitution
arrived in Boston with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, and no whiskey. But the ship still had 48,600 gallons of
water.
After Action Report:
Length of cruise - 181 days
Booze Consumption - 2.26 gallons per man
per day.(plus whatever amount was rescued from the 12 English Merchant Ships)
Reenlistment rate - 100%
Probable EPA Award of a Gold Certificate
for water conservation.
Courtesy of: U.S. Atlantic Command Joint
Training Analysis and Simulation Center.