• ZapBeebz_@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      No, they sail her around all the time. The USS Constitution is a commissioned vessel in the United States Navy, crewed by active duty sailors. They use the term “afloat” because HMS Victory is the oldest commissioned naval vessel, but she is kept as a museum ship in drydock.

      • schmidtster@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That makes sense, appreciate the answer. I’ve just always heard it as “sea-worthy” before, afloat in that sense is a little weird.

        • ZapBeebz_@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Well, knowing the USN, the reason is either a) some extremely long, convoluted line of reasoning formulated through several Senate subcommittee hearings to avoid pissing anyone off or b) someone wrote it that way once 75 years ago, and no one knows enough about why to want to change it.

        • Radicalized@lemmy.one
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          1 year ago

          I’m in the navy. “Afloat” means “goes to sea”, generally. A museum ship might literally be floating in water, but it can’t go to sea.

      • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Fun fact: HMS Victory was actually bombed by the Nazis during WWII, which means she technically saw combat over a span of 144 164 years (1778-1941).

        Edit: math are hard.

    • Che Banana@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Oldest “active” ship in the US (or any) navy, IIRC, they take it out once a year to get rated seaworthy & remain active. Amazing ship. want to feel like a puny, pampered modern person? Read Patrick Obriens 20 volume Master and Commander series…so many unwashed asses on these for so many months in some of the most inhospitable regions of this planet.

        • IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          They also sailed her under her own power back in the late 1990’s. I was a USCG Auxiliarist back then and was on one of the escort boats that kept the public from getting too close.

          They also occasionally do invite-only turnaround cruises. I was lucky enough to be invited on one of those during my USCG days as well.

    • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Nope. Old Ironsides is seaworthy and makes regular trips out to open ocean, usually under tow but she has an incomplete set of sails and can sail under her own power.

      The US Navy owns a plot of southern live oak trees in Georgia set aside specifically for maintaining USS Constitution.