Constellation Frigate and oldest ship in the U.S. Navy. The U.S.S. Constellation resides as a historical attraction in the harbor at Baltimore, Maryland. It is said to be haunted by 18th- and 19th-century Ghosts, despite the fact that the ship has been entirely rebuilt.

History

The 176-foot Constellation had a distinguished service record. The ship saw plenty of bloodshed, pain, agony, 98 Colombo, John Robert and terror in the nearly two centuries it plied the waters. Life aboard it was rough and cramped, and disease took nearly as many lives as battles.

It was launched on March 27, 1794, with 36 guns. The first captain of the Constellation, Thomas Truxton, ruled with a brutal fist. In 1799, he Demonstrated his power when a seaman, Neil Harvey, fell asleep on watch during a successful battle against a French frigate, L’Insurgent, in the West Indies. With the battle still raging, Truxton ordered a lieutenant to execute Harvey by running a sword through his gut. When the battle was over, Truxton had Harvey’s body strapped to the end of a cannon and blown to bits over the sea. The violence would literally come to haunt the ship for more than 200 years.

The crew of the Constellation never lost a battle. The ship was engaged against the French, Barbary corsairs, West Indian and East Indian pirates, and African and Caribbean slave traders. It fought in the Quasi-War with France, the Barbary Wars, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Civil War. From 1845–55, the ship underwent reconstruction and was downgraded to a 22-gun sloop of war. During World War II, it served as a relief flagship of the Atlantic Fleet. The ship was decommissioned in 1955 and retired to Baltimore, where it rests in the Inner Harbor as a tourist attraction. The Constellation is considered to be the last of the sail-powered ships built for the U.S. Navy.

Haunting Activity

The ghosts of both Harvey and Truxton are the most common ghosts reported by visitors to the Constellation. One of them has appeared to be so lifelike that he has been mistaken for a costumed tour guide.

The ghost of Truxton may have even been captured on film. In 1955, shortly after the ship’s retirement, the Baltimore Sun newspaper reported that strange lights, shapes, and noises were observed by people aboard the nearby submarine Pike. Lieutenant Commander Allen Ross Brougham mentioned the phenomena to a friend who was interested in Psychical Research. The friend advised that the best time to observe Apparitions was at midnight on nights between Christmas and New Year’s.

On one of those nights, Brougham and others set up a watch with a camera. At midnight, Brougham detected a faint whiff in the air, like the smell of gun smoke, accompanied by a muffled scurrying sound. A photograph was taken. When developed, it showed, according to Brougham’s description, “a bluish-white radiancy, partly translucent, wearing a definitely dated uniform, gold-striped trousers, cocked hat, heavy gold epaulets and a sword. It—or he—was, or seemed, to be a captain.” The figure appeared to be crossing the quarterdeck.

Other haunting phenomena include the apparition of a young boy, a surgeon’s assistant who is said to have been stabbed to death by two sailors in 1822. The ghost of an unidentified sailor wanders mournfully about the gun deck. A happy ghost is aboard the ship: Carl Hansen, a night watchman who worked there until he was replaced in 1963 by an automated alarm system. Hansen’s ghost plays cards on the lower deck and also has been known to give spontaneous tours to visitors.

There are phantom Smells of gun smoke and the sounds of shouting and battle.

FURTHER READING:

• Okonowics, Ed. Baltimore Ghosts: History, Mystery, Legends and More. Elkton, Md.: Myst and Lace Publishing, 2004.

The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits– Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley – September 1, 2007