Constellation was a sloop-of-war, of 22 guns, designed by John Lenthal, and built in 1854 by Gosport Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Virginia; the last US warship designed and built to operate under sail alone. For a long time she was believed by many to be the old frigate of 1797, rebuilt and moderized, and that debate has raged in the maritime history community for decades. However misguided, the belief that the sloop was once the historic frigate of 1797, is probably the only reason Constellation still exists today as a museum in Baltimore Maryland, while many vessels that may have been considered of "more historical value," such as the Hartford have dissapeared.

The debate of whether she's the frigate or the sloop has gone on for decades, but it's certain, and scientifically proven that she is not the frigate, but an entirely new vessel, built from scratch to an all new design. Still, there are many that refuse to yield to facts and continue to persue their personal agendas.

This site is not intended to argue the ship's origins, but to cronicle the building of a working, sailing model of the 1st Class Sloop-of-War Constellation as she appeared in the painting above by Tamoso de Simone, during her first cruise in 1856.