Aug. 26, 1854: Launched at Gosport Navy Yard, Norfolk
1855-58: Deployed to the Mediterranean Sea
1859-61: Assigned to interdict the slave trade off west coast of Africa
1862-64: Protected U.S. merchant shipping from Confederate raiders during the Civil War
1865-66: Receiving ship, Norfolk Navy Yard
1866-68: Receiving ship, Philadelphia Navy Yard
1869-93: Training vessel for Naval Academy midshipmen; occasionally used on missions including transporting works of American art to the Paris Exposition of 1878 and food to Ireland during the 1880 famine
1894-1933: Training and receiving ship, Newport Naval Training Center
1933: Decommissioned
1941-45: Returned to active duty during World War II as relief flagship for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet
1946-55: "Mothballed" at Boston Navy Yard
1955-96: Taken to Baltimore upon decommissioning and donated by the Navy to a nonprofit foundation; opened to the public in the mid-1960s
1996-99: In dry dock for extensive restoration
1999: Reopened to visitors in Baltimore
2004: 150th anniversary of launch
SOURCE: USS Constellation Web site
