Baltimore’s Maritime Heritage

Baltimore’s shipbuilding heritage reaches back nearly 300 years. By the 1790s, Maryland led the nation in shipbuilding, and Baltimore was the industry leader on the Chesapeake Bay. Launched in 1854, U.S.S. Constellation is the only remaining Civil War-era sloop of war afloat today. The original Constellation, for which this ship was named, was built in 1797 at Stoddard Shipyard in Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood. As flagship of the U.S. Africa Squadron, Constellation patrolled the West African coast and intercepted slave ships, rescuing men, women, and children from slavery. The last all-sail ship built by the U.S. Navy before its conversion to steam power, she later served as a training ship for midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. Her last active duty was as the relief flagship of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet during World War Two. Lightship 116 Chesapeake, launched in 1930, helped guide ships to safe harbor with its light, foghorn, and bell. Lightships like the Chesapeake were once common along the bay in the first half of the 20th century, marking channel entrances, warning of navigation hazards for commercial shipping, providing weather information, and assisting in rescue operations under the U.S. Coast Guard. Built with diesel main engines, an all-steel body, and powerful signaling equipment, the Chesapeake served even in rough weather. Retired in 1970, it is now a National Historic Landmark in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

Baltimore, Maryland · United States