news release

USS Constellation, the last all sail powered vessel built by the US Navy, celebrated its 150th anniversary with the launch of its new Acoustiguide audio programs. Longtime partners, Acoustiguide and the USS Constellation collaborated in 1999 to develop the ship’s original audio tour. When it came time to re-vamp the ship’s audio interpretation, Chris Rowsom, Executive Director, and his crew worked with Acoustiguide’s creative team to develop a novel program that would transport visitors back in time and recreate life on the historic sloop during 1863. The tour was funded by a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, a National Park Service Program, and features a general audience and family tour. Both tours are based on scripted dramas that capture life onboard.

General Audience Tour

It is early 1863 and USS Constellation is docked in Naples, Italy. Visitors are greeted by US Naval Academy midshipman Charles Blake, an officer in training, whose position on board allowed for fraternizing with both officers and enlisted men. Blake shows visitors around the sloop and introduces them to the ship’s many colorful characters. Visitors listening to the Acoustiguide tour will hear from characters based on actual sailors who once served on the USS Constellation. The sailors discuss life on board, revealing tidbits about service under a strict military regimen, diet, medical care, personal hygiene and the hierarchical system of governing and operating a naval ship. Acoustiguide assembled a dramatic troupe to take on these roles and conducted authentic onsite recordings, including live canon fire, to produce a rich cinematic soundscape. The tour makes use of the radio play format and never deviates from the dramatic conceit.

Kids Tour

Designed to be a shared experience between kids and their caretakers, the highly imaginative family tour follows a young girl named Becky who is touring USS Constellation with her mother, a lieutenant commander in the US Navy. Bored by the ship’s tour guide, Becky finds herself distracted by the ghost of her great-great grandfather, Cornelius Meter, ship’s boy second class, who served onboard Constellation during the Civil War. The two become fast friends and Cornelius guides Becky around the ship while Becky teaches Cornelius 21st century slang. Like the adult tour, Becky learns what it takes to keep operations ship shape, at times much to her astonishment. Highly informative, the family tour also has a modern sense of humor, addressing questions like “where did the sailors go to the bathroom?” head on.

Chris Rowsom, Executive Director, believes that “the museum was able to create an audio program of world class stature that will educate and entertain our visitors for many years.”