Isaac Hull - Command of Constitution

Command of Constitution

Isaac Hull assumed command of the USS Constitution in June of 1810 Captain Hull's time on the Constitution was eventful. He took the ship on a European cruise in 1811–1812, returning home before the War of 1812 broke out between the United States and Great Britain. An enemy squadron closely pursued his ship off the East Coast in July, but Hull skillfully evaded them. On August 19, 1812, Constitution encountered the British frigate HMS Guerriere at sea and pounded her to a wreck in an action that electrified the Nation and demonstrated that the small U.S. Navy was a worthy and dangerous opponent for Britain's otherwise overwhelming maritime might. During the climax of the war, Hull and the USS Constitution were sent to a string of islands. He there caught two British ships in a chase, and both those ships were taken to Boston and put into U.S. service.

Hull commanded the Portsmouth Navy Yard at Kittery, Maine, for the rest of the War of 1812, then briefly served on the Board of Navy Commissioners in Washington, D.C. before taking over leadership of the Boston Navy Yard. During 1823–1827, he commanded the Pacific Squadron operating out of South America. Commodore Hull's next assignment, as Commandant of the Washington Navy Yard, ran from 1829 until 1835. Between 1839 and 1841, he commanded the Mediterranean Squadron.

Rendered unfit for further service by age and ill health, he spent the next two years on leave. Commodore Isaac Hull died at the age of 69 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is buried there in Laurel Hill Cemetery.