A Tall Order

When “Old Ironsides” took to the seas to celebrate her 200th birthday last July, some 3,000 boats dotted the waters off the Massachusetts coast to see the tallest of the tall ships under sail.

But the USS Constitution, as the ship is formally known, actually plunged into the waters off Boston on Oct. 21, 1797. So it seems fitting that the Ventura County Maritime Museum chose this month to open its new exhibit, a tribute to the venerable warship.

Among the memorabilia, paintings and photos on display, the most striking is a 19-foot panoramic photo of the bicentennial sail last summer, Constitution’s first dip into the Atlantic in 116 years.

After the birthday hoopla, Constitution returned to dockside duty as a floating museum in Boston. Ventura County’s Maritime Museum has the next best thing for visitors to see: a 6-foot-long, 4 1/2-foot-tall model, meticulously handcrafted by Jim Berger.

This is no kit that Berger picked up at a craft store and slapped together on weekends. This beauty took him three years to build, working six full days a week in his Oxnard shop.

“I built every piece on that thing,” said Berger, a crusty 73-year-old retired civil engineer. “Never again!”

In the 37 years he has been crafting model ships, Berger has completed 35 or 37--he’s lost count--but none as large as Constitution. To start with, he obtained copies of the ship’s plans from the Smithsonian Institution and decided on a scale of 1/4-inch to the foot.

Wearing magnifying eyeglasses, he made each of the ship’s 50 guns out of brass. Milling his own lumber, he cut every sliver of wood on the ship, using alder, spruce, ebony and holly. And the inside is reproduced as faithfully as the exterior.

After Berger finished the job two years ago, the model was purchased for an undisclosed amount by Maurice Friedman who has loaned it to the museum indefinitely.

The exhibit, on display until Nov. 21, has other historical nuggets about “Old Ironsides,” which got its nickname during the War of 1812 when British cannonballs seemed to bounce off the ship’s copper-covered hull.

She has remained a part of the U.S. Navy since her launch in 1787, making her the oldest commissioned warship worldwide.

Paul Revere, of American Revolutionary War fame, had a hand in the building of Constitution. He provided the copper plating for the ship’s hull. The battle-weary ship--never defeated in 42 battles--was about to be broken up in 1830 when Oliver Wendell Holmes saved her with his famous poem, “Old Ironsides.”

BE THERE

Ventura County Maritime Museum at Channel Islands Harbor, 2731 S. Victoria Ave., Oxnard. Thursday-Monday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. through the winter. Free. Donations accepted. (805) 984-6260.