Raise a glass to

Cast you mind back to the year 1812. A year of turmoil, of strife, and war throughout Europe. Also the last time that the United States fought a war against Great Britain. The last time that a US Navy ship, USS Constitution, engaged an enemy of the hated Royal Navy of King George III (HMS Guerriere, among others). King George (German George, as he was known to many of his subjects) was a mad king who hardly spoke a word of English. A king whose English subjects fought against English-speaking citizens of New England and the seven other states of the then still-young American republic.

Shortly after the 1812 war, an ale house was established in a disreputable district of London and given the name of the enemy ship: The Constitution. Why? For several years since first seeing this London pub, on a lunchtime walk, I have pondered the question.

This evening (October 22, 2024), I stopped for the first time to take a pint in The Constitution pub and to drink a toast to The USS Constitution. I also further pondered the question of why the pub was given this name, so soon after the war.

Was it a salute to a gallant enemy? Was it a political statement by those Londoners who saw the building of a new republic as a noble endeavour in the face of foreign kings and drunken lords? Was it a British celebration of republicanism itself, a reference to the founding legal instrument of the USA, but in a way that tried to avoid arrest and prosecution for sedition? Was it named by a former prisoner of war, once held captive in the USS Constitution following the surrender of the defeated HMS Guerriere? Or perhaps a displaced American sailor, homesick for his native soil, named it in honour of his late ship and erstwhile comrades? I will probably never know the answer to this question and historical information is fragmented.

The main reason for my interest in this London pub, with its unique and intriguing name, is that I have stood on the decks of the USS Constitution, the oldest still-serving ship of the US Navy (or any other navy). When I visited the ship in Boston Harbor, 30 years ago, I was greeted by a serving Naval rating and was one of only a few visitors on a cold and snowy winter’s day. I took a walk around the decks and learned something of the vessel’s history, more so when I visited the adjacent museum.

The thing I found most interesting in the ship was the guns. These great hulks of cast metal bear the royal cipher of their enemy: "GR". Georgius Rex, or King George. Which means that (or so I thought) in the heat of battle in 1812, the guns of King George blazed away at each from either side in the battle.

When I asked one of the museum guides about this he said he thought the guns may have been captured during a previous naval encounter. I didn't think this was likely and thought they may have been cast in Boston before independence in 1776 and fitted to the ship on completion. He and I were both wrong. According to the USS Constitution Museum website, the current armament of USS Constitution consists of guns cast in Charlestown Navy Yard (Boston, MA) in 1930 and retrofitted. They were cast as British guns, with the King George cipher, because of a Navy decision based on inaccurate research that suggested the Constitution was fitted with British guns in 1812. So much for historical theories.

When it comes to the reason for the name of this pub, in what is now a very upmarket part of central London, I have my own theory (which has no basis in research.) My theory is that early 19th century London was, like many other European cities, a place where radical and republican sentiments were current and popular among all classes of people. I suspect the naming of a London pub "The Constitution" reflects strong support for democratic, republican government, and against class, privilege, and monarchy. It may also reflect a desire to honour a gallant enemy and some long-forgotten personal connection to the 1812 war and to the ship.

Bless the USS Constitution and all who sail in her.

Thanks for reading. The naval battles between the USS Constitution and various ships of the Royal Navy are well documented, including considerable information available online. For this reason I have not provided any account of the Constitution's naval battles.