The keel is fucked though. The Navy apparently has their answer to the problem of the ship of Thesius.
The keel is so soft by now they’ll never take her out of the Bay. Which is fine. It’s a great museum. I was there when they were re-cladding her and you could engrave your name on copper plates that they told me were going on the ship.
It’s amazing the ship is still around and that they’re staffing it with a full crew, craftsmen for re-fit and maintenance and also training sailors on it. One place I’m happy my tax dollars are going.
https://www.navy.mil/USS-CONSTITUTION/Old-Ironsides-Crew/
Holy shit what do you mean they get the classic uniforms to go with it too
Fun (?) fact: The Navy maintains a grove of white oak trees as replacement timber for the Constitution near Bloomington, Indiana to guarantee there will always be timber available