Old Ironsides: Americans Build a Fighting Ship
Author:
David L. Weitzman
Illustrator:
David L. Weitzman
Publication:
1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company
Genre:
Fiction, History, Non-fiction, Picture Books
Series:
How They Were Built by David Weitzman
Pages:
32
Current state:
This book has been evaluated and information added. It has been read but content considerations may not be complete.
Book Guide
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She weighs in at 1,576 tons, carries 44 guns, and is made from the wood of more than 1,000 trees. She's the largest, fastest fighting ship of her class—the Constitution. The beginnings of a fledgling country's navy took shape in the graceul lines of the frigate whose strength under fire earned her the nickname "Old Ironsides."
Follow young John Aylwin as he watches and helps in the construction of one of the most remarkable sailing ships ever built, from the selection of oaks fro the masts to te casting of her three-ton cannon to the sewing of more than two acres of sail. The story of the birth of the Constitution is accompanied by drawings that are stunning in their elegance and detail, a fitting tribute to a majestic vessel.
From the dust jacket
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David L. Weitzman
1936 -American
David Weitzman grew up in Chicago, where he spent countless hours enthralled by the Egyptian artifacts at the Oriental Institute and the Field Museu... See more
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Reviews
Old Ironsides: Americans Build a Fighting Ship
Reviewed by Diane Pendergraft
“The story is told that one British sailor cried out in desperation, ‘Look, her sides are made of iron.’”
Her sides were not made of iron. However, “Once planked inside and out, Constitution’s hull would be a solid wall of wood almost 2 feet thick,” covered with copper sheeting. “She is a frigate and the largest ship ever built on these shores–1,576 tons . . . almost 200 feet (actually 175 feet) and its beam nearly 50 (45 feet, 2 inches).”
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