ABOARD THE USS CONSTELLATION -- Partway down the Patapsco River, as this stately wooden sailing ship cleared Curtis Bay and neared the open water beyond the Key Bridge for the first time in half a century, Paul Powichroski could not contain himself.
He grabbed local port captain Jim Demske, who was directing the departure, in a semi-bear hug. "This is as far out as we have ever been, buddy," Demske said. Powichroski, the ship's manager, said, "It feels fantastic."
Official boats accompany the USS Constellation as it leaves Baltimore's Inner Harbor for its 29 1/2-mile trip to Annapolis.
(Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)
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He just wished there was some sail aloft.
The Constellation, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of its launch this year, was venturing out of Baltimore's harbor for the first time since her arrival there in 1955. Yet the old sloop of war was a fettered beauty. The gorgeous double-wheeled, teak-and-mahogany helm was lashed with the crown spoke pointing straight up, and the rudder amidships. The capstan bars were stowed. And the mizzenmast, mainmast and foremast were missing the canvas the ship was built to carry.
Instead, the capstan, which sailors of old would turn to haul in the anchor, bore three laptop computers hooked to navigational aids. The wet air of the Chesapeake Bay bore the odor of engine exhaust. And two powerful tugboats conveyed the 1,400-ton warrior on its southbound journey.
The Constellation was permitted to leave the confines of the Inner Harbor for a 29 1/2-mile trip to Annapolis yesterday, to mark its birthday and the Naval Academy's homecoming weekend. But it was not the way the ship was designed to travel, and it would be for less than a week.
Still, there was a majesty to the 6 1/2-hour trip, as the Constellation was escorted at 6 1/2 knots, or about 7 1/2 mph, by boats from the U.S. Coast Guard, the Baltimore police and fire departments and the FBI, as well as a flotilla of private vessels.
As members of the vessel's volunteer crew scoured the dark recesses of the hold for trouble, they noted that the ship barely leaked and that, as in days past, the water pulsing past the hull outside could be heard.
The Constellation was the last all-sail ship built for the U.S. Navy. It was constructed in Norfolk and launched in 1854, and it saw quick duty attempting to interdict the slave trade. In 1858, the vessel -- as flagship of the U.S. Africa Squadron -- captured a slave brig, the Cora, rescuing 705 slaves.
The ship later was part of the Union blockade of the Confederacy during the Civil War, and afterward was used as a Navy training ship. In the 20th century, the Constellation became confused with the frigate USS Constellation, which had been launched in Baltimore in 1797. But in 1991, a scientific study confirmed that the Constellation, which had been brought to Baltimore in 1955, had been constructed from a few remnants of the 1797 ship.
The ship was extensively overhauled between 1996 and 1999.
Yesterday's journey started about 9 a.m. when Demske, the port captain for Vane Brothers, the Baltimore tugboat company that offered its boats free of charge, began pulling the Constellation away from its berth at the Inner Harbor.
While there were plenty of volunteers in gaudy Civil War-era uniforms and scores of VIPs on board, it was Demske, 52, clad in a black fleece jacket and khaki pants and toting a walkie-talkie, who choreographed the trip.
Demske, a native of South Bend, Ind., first got one of his boats, the Capt. Russi, lashed to the Constellation's port quarter. Once the lines were cast off and the gangway pulled in, the tug backed the Constellation into the harbor amid the sound of creaking ropes. It pivoted to starboard and headed out the shipping channel.
