On 19 August 1812 the Constitution was involved in a battle with the British HMS Guerriere. The Constitution was victorious and the Guerriere was so badly damaged that is was set a fire and abandoned at sea. From then on the Constitution became know as "Old Ironsides" because it was said that many of the shots fired on the Constitution could not penetrate her hull, as if they were made of iron.
The Constitution was retired from active service in 1881 and designated as a museum ship in 1907. Recently she was taken out to sea to sail under her own power to mark the 200th anniversary of her battle against the Guerriere.
I'm really happy with the way this maximum card turned out. It's a fairly old card and quite a bit smaller than modern postcards so I was rather limited when it came to placing the stamp and postmark. The postmark was placed exactly where I wanted it and it's quite clear, even with all the 'noise' in the image caused by the mast rigging. This was my first time requesting first day postmarks from the USPS and I'm very pleased with the results.