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General discussion
200 years of a noisy neighbor?
BOSTON (AP) ― The USS Constitution will continue firing its cannons twice a day across Boston Harbor as it has done for more than 200 years despite the objections of well-heeled neighbors.
Timothy Cooper, the commanding officer of the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, tells the Boston Herald that he has decided to carry on the tradition even after getting a letter from some neighbors asking for a sit-down meeting to discuss the noise.
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If you're gonna move in near a 17th Century warship you should do some research about it first and see what you're in for. The cannons go off at 8AM and sunset. If Old Ironsides was MY neighbor, I'd consider the "noise" to be a privilege.
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21 Posts
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Those cannons represent the very process of asking, "for a sit down discussion" as in the rights of its citizens to do so. Its a link to our past and if anything, one should understand that's the way it was when they moved there and/or were born there. Let me see, if this was steel mill with trains going back and forth, would they suggest they muffle the tracks(sorta speak)? No, that's the way it is, the very nature of having that steel mill there. What if a citizen that lives in a urban setting, will they expect the noise to cease because they want it to, No, its the way it is.
Gawd, some people can complain about anything, so let them eat cake!
"Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes". -----Willy 
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We don't need no stinkin windmills (historic warships?) which mar my view of the horizon.
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"commissioned?".....tied to the dock and hasn't been out on the high seas for 200 years?
"commissioned?"....commissioned to shoot a cannon at 0800 and sunset each day?
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Commissioned as in not being non-commissioned as part of the USN naval inventory. Its job is to be an active part of American history and museum. It's the real deal, it not fake or replica or static show piece, its does have a job and that job is to tie the now and present with what was in the past of a USN ship as the path to maintain that link. In other words, it a public display of that and that's it mission as no other ship can do. -----Willy
http://www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org/
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the USS Constitution. It is best known for sending British ships to the bottom of the ocean. I think you have to be an American to understand what the Constitution represents. Go USA!
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a Monument or maybe a Museum, rather than "the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world".
Warship? it was 200 years ago...but not now.
I find nothing wrong having tours of the ship and remembering your past and shooting the cannon, that's what it is commissioned to do...not be a warship.
Go truth in advertising!
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....... the War of 1812, and its value and importance to the USA,
Here is a list of her battles.
http://www.history.navy.mil/docs/war1812/const1.htm
I forget the name, but there is a WWII submarine open to tours in San Francis. The surprise of the snail interior room was overcome by realizing brave men lived and fought there.
I can accept "monument " to disrobe such vessels. "The Arizona" is a monument to those who lie belw her. Near her is a "museum" which speaks of her history.
However. all of these vessels were war ships.
Angeline
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USS Constitution Classic frigate Boston, MA
Definition of frigate from Merriam Webster:
Main Entry: frig
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but having ships like this still under commission, ie, still under active service, is not all that unusual.
We have our own, HMS Victory, and I bet other nations have theirs.
They are part of a nation's history, and while commissioned may be more of a ceremonial state, they still perform useful duties, and they haven't been de-commissioned.
Mark
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That's my point.
Once, HAIDA was a mighty fighting ship. Today, she is an irreplaceable historic artifact and her significance has been formally recognized by the Canadian Historic Sites and Monuments Board.
Once it was a fighting ship, Now it's a historic artifact.
HMCS Sackville operated as a Naval Museum
take Sackville from active service and use her as a training ship and later a Canadian Naval Auxiliary Vessel (CNAV) research vessel. This action prolonged the life of the ship, making her available as The Canadian Naval Memorial.
Up here, to be "commissioned" they would probably have to post Regular Forces onboard, and that would cost extra money, so that ain't gonna' happen.
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but it's in drydock. The USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat.
Whether it's ceremonial or not makes no difference whatsoever.
Old Ironsides returned to the sea on her 200th anniversary July 22, 1997 for a 17 mile unassisted sail from Boston to Marblehead.
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=41501
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Whether it's ceremonial or not makes no difference whatsoever
commissioned
after it has been constructed, tested, and placed in operation, is declared suitable for use (since they refer to it as a warship)
warship
Home > Library > History, Politics & Society > US Military Dictionary
n. a ship equipped with weapons and designed to take part in warfare at sea.
Designed to...but not ready to/capable of?
LET GO ALL LINES FOR'D!!!LET GO ALL LINES AFT!!!!
PREPARE TO COME ABOUT!!!!FIRE ALL CANNONS ON STARBOARD SIDE!!!!!
PREPARE FOR BOARDING!!!!!
AARRGGHH!!!!Miss Purity!!!
I wouldn't want to go after Somali pirates in the USS Constitution.
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The US Congress as recently as last year has determined it's commissioned (Public Law 111-84). So for all legal purposes it is commissioned.
Moreover, it's the offical America's Ship of State, I read in http://www.history.navy.mil/ussconstitution/shipofstate.html?story_id=49131 (section 24 says it's commissioned).
I assume Canada hasn't a Ship of State. Are you jealous?
Kees
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You are a funny man.
But not as funny as I TRY to be. 
I'm lots of things...jealous isn't one of them.
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I would love to see the old ships like the Constitution and Victory and take the tour round them. The history behind ships like these must be amazing.
Mark
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and let's not forget the Mary Rose.
Albeit not commissioned, it surely was a warship and, dating from 1509-1511, must be one of the oldest warships on display, anywhere.
Constitution is the oldest, commissioned and afloat and she is still a warship.
and like Forest, that's all I have to say about that.
P
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They move into a neighborhood under an airport flightpath or where cannons shoot off twice a day and then complain about the noise. The ship was there first.
Diana
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aim at the complainers houses.
BTW, Mons Meg, an enormous cannon is fired every day at noon from Edinburgh Castle. It's not noise, it's a tradition, celebrate it.
Rob
USS Constitution actually pre-dates HMS Victory in continuous service. The Victory was decomissioned for a period of time before Nelson chose it from the hulks drawn up on a sand bar and had it put back into service around 1800 as his flagship. The Victory, in Portsmouth, England, is as good a visit as the Constitution, truly fascinating. The fact that they painted the interior of the gun decks a queasy shade of blood red so that the real blood wouldn't show as much during battle is just an extra.
Rob
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Edinburgh Castle is still a military installation so the gun being fired is a modern one (blank rounds of course). Mons Meg is an early Renaissance bombard of 20 inch calibre. It's quite the sight, it's such a huge thing, and the huge stone cannonballs are stunning in themselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mons_Meg
Rob
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