Two Frigates

Nail to the mast her holy flag,

Set every threadbare sail,

And give her to the god of storms,

The lightning and the gale!

Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote "Old Ironsides" in 1830, to remind patriots that the U. S. Frigate Constitution had served well against the Barbary pirates, the French, the British (in her most famous battle in the War of 1812 she reduced the lighter Guerriere to smoking smithereens). The poem saved the Constitution from the junk pile. From grog tub to untattered sails, she was still shipshape last week, afloat at the Boston Navy Yard and useful mainly for show to visitors. Similarly listed "in service, out of commission" until last fortnight was Constitution's contemporary, Constellation, stationed at Newport, R. I. and used to school embryo officers.

Last month Ship Lover Franklin Roosevelt visited Boston and Newport, tingled inwardly at the sight of the ancient wooden ships. Constellation's commander, Lieut. John Davis, who returned from retirement last year to take charge of his revered relic, remarked to the President that he would like to see Constellation back on the active list before he had to retire again. Salty Mr. Roosevelt understood, had Secretary Frank Knox restore both Constellation and Constitution to "in commission" status.

Last week red, white & blue commission pennants floated over both ships, along with the U. S. flag and the Navy's union jack (48 white stars on a blue field). Previously, Lieut. Davis kept a "diary" of each day's doings. Afterward, again in command of an "active" ship, he kept a log.

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