USS Constituion vs HMS Guerriere

Today is the 203rd anniversary of USS Constitution's legendary battle and victory against the Royal Navy frigate HMS Guerriere in the War of 1812.  The story of the battle, which occurred soon after the start of hostilities, is a great example of the sort of friction and chance that impacted maritime operations during the period.  In fact, it reads like a wargamer's AAR.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution_vs_HMS_Guerriere

The history and mythology of this conflict are really interesting to me as an outsider.  I have now seen accounts, relics and stories in British, American and Canadian war museums and the different biases and interpretations are fascinating.

Cover of Osprey's No 19 in the Duel series

USS Constitution

Launched in 1797, the 30 gun frigate USS Constitution is the world's oldest commissioned warship afloat (a distinction which is made very clearly to visitors, as Admiral Nelson's 104 gun flagship HMS Victory  is older but no longer afloat).  She is based at the Charlestown Naval Yard in Boston and I have had the privilege of being onboard her twice in the last year.  She is a beautiful ship, very different in style and design to the first rate ship of the line Victory (who I toured about a decade ago) and kept in very fine shape.

Last week I was honoured to be invited to the Change of Command ceremony as a War College classmate of mine became Constitution's 74th Commanding Officer.  His predecessors include such famous names as Decatur and Bainbridge.  Of particular interest is that the crew continue to utilise period costumes for ceremonial purposes, as you can see here.

Fair winds and following seas to the USS Constitution and her new Captain!

Geeky Artefacts at the EMP

This guy needs no introduction!

During my Summer adventures I took my family to the EMC Museum in Seattle, and what a treasure trove of geeky goodness it is!  Among its other exhibits it has original props and costumes from a large range of classic SciFi and Horror movies.  Here are some of the highlights:

The original light sabres

War of the Worlds, 1953 style

Aliens fans will recognise these immediately

Deckard's Police Cruiser from Blade Runner

Deckard's "PKD Service Revolver"

Zhora's costume

Pris's costume

5th Element props

The original Klingon D7 Battlecruiser model

BSG fans will be most familiar with this dress

Ovian from the original BSG

Viper Pilot costume

The Spice must flow...

I shall not fear, fear is the mind killer...

Discovery 1 from 2001: A Space Odyssey

Space weapons and zap guns - how many do you recognise?

The Creature from the Black lagoon

Zombie Werewolf - I knew they were real!

Conan's Atlantean Sword

Weapons from Lord of the Rings

...and your father smelled of elderberries!

Fans of the Princess Bride know who has 6 fingers on his right hand

One of Tyrion Lannister's outfits

We all really loved seeing these goodies fro our favourite shows.  And then the Museum had a temporary exhibit of Star Wars costumes...more to follow on that!

http://www.empmuseum.org