This watercolour depicts USS Constitution, which was named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America. She is most famous for her actions during the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom, when she captured numerous merchant ships and defeated five British warships: 'Guerriere', 'Java', 'Pictou', 'Cyane', and 'Levant'. The battle with 'Guerriere' earned her the nickname of "Old Ironsides" (when a sailor saw a cannon ball bounce off her hull) and public adoration that has repeatedly saved her from scrapping. She continued to serve as flagship in the Mediterranean and African squadrons, and circled the world in the 1840s. During the American Civil War, she served as a training ship for the United States Naval Academy. She carried US artwork and industrial displays to the Paris Exposition of 1878.

Signed by artist.; heightened with white.