“ A forty-four-gun frigate, the most famous vessel in the history of the United Stales Navy, sometimes called ‘Old Ironsides,’ from the hardness of her planking and timbers. She was launched on October 21, 1797, but was not completed and equipped until the following year, when she put to sea under Captain Nicholson for service against the French. ”

“ On February 14, 1814, under Captain Stewart, she captured the Picton, 16 guns, and a convoy, in the West Indies; and on February 20, 1815, she took the Cyane, 34 guns, and the Levant, 18 guns, after a fierce engagement—remarkable for the seamanship of the Americans and the gallantry of the English—between the Madeira Islands and Gibraltar. The English lost 19 killed and 42 wounded out of 320; the Americans, 6 killed and 9 wounded out of 451. ”