| Submit your comments on this article |
| Science & Technology |
| The Indiana forest that keeps the USS Constitution afloat |
| 2026-07-14 |
| [MSN] The world's oldest commissioned warship is still afloat - thanks to a forest in Indiana. The USS Constitution, named by George Washington and built with copper bolts forged by Paul Revere, was launched in 1797. The three-masted heavy frigate earned is famous nickname - "Old Ironsides" - during the War of 1812 after an astonished American sailor reportedly watched British cannonballs bounce harmlessly off the ship's exceptionally thick oak hull and shouted, "Huzzah, her sides are made of iron!" according to the National Park Service. While the wooden ship remains a symbol of durability and strength, its longevity would not be possible without a special 40 acres of land set aside for the care and maintenance of the ship from Naval Support Activity Crane. According to National Geographic, NSA Crane dates back to the Franklin D. Roosevelt New Deal-era, when the U.S. government, in the depths of the Great Depression, purchased unfarmable land across the U.S. and reforested them for the purpose of creating jobs. NSA Crane was among the plots of land purchased by the FDR administration, and its 40,000 acres of hills was soon swarming with workers planting a wide variety of oak, hickory, poplar, maple and ash trees across the acres of Crane. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |