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CLARK, REAR ADMIRAL CHARLES E. "MY 50 YEARS IN THE NAVY." 1917. Page
15: "The historic frigate
CONSTITUTION...had just been fitted out as the schoolship,
and also with
quarters for the fourth class[ writing of September 1860].. Her commander was Lieutenant George W. Rodgers... Next in rank was Lieutenant John H.
Upshur..." Pages
18‑19: "...Under the poop deck, and in a small deckhouse amidships,
were four recitation rooms. The three study rooms were on the gun deck,
bulkheads having been run along parallel
with the sides, and the gun ports serving as windows. Our lockers, one for each
midshipman, were fitted against the sides of the berth deck. Forward was the washroom,
the numbers of basins averaging about one to five of the washers... In the interval
between supper and evening study hours, one of the six gun crews would be marched over
to the bathhouse on shore... "The
only guns remaining on board the CONSTITUTION were
eight or ten 32‑pounders of the quarterdeck battery..." Page
21: "...I have seen Rear Admiral
Harry Taylor, who was one of the little fellows in my class,
sitting on the main truck of 'Old ironsides' amusing himself by rolling up the
pennant and letting it flow again. His only rival was 'Brick Top' English, who
once got on his feet
on the truck, aided a little by the lightning conductor, which projected about a foot
above it."...the steward...came sliding down the ladder at dinner
hour..." Pages
27‑28: "Old Fort Severn['s]...guns...were
hastily dismounted [Mar‑Apr '61], taken aboard, and added to
our battery... There were.not
more than 25 seamen on board the CONSTITUTION..." Page
31: "...the average age of the
midshipmen in the 4 classes was 18 years ‑ the age of admission
being then 14 to 17 inclusive..." Page
35: "We found changes on board
the CONSTITUTION. The study rooms had gone, and the guns had been
shifted from the spar deck..." Page
41: "[CONSTITUTION] had to
accommodate nearly 200 [4th class midshipmen in September 1861 at
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