WASHINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — The trees were here long before the base was. 

When the U.S. Navy acquired the land for what is now Naval Support Activity Crane in December of 1941, the land included forests of white oaks already a century old or more. Beginning in the 1990s, those trees were put to use as a source of wood for the USS Constitution. 

Commissioned in 1797, the Constitution is the oldest warship still afloat anywhere in the world. Her exploits included combat operations in the First Barbary War of 1801-1805 and during the War of 1812. According to the U.S. Navy, it was during her now-legendary battle with the HMS Guerriere she earned the nickname “Old Ironsides.”

When it’s time to replace the oak that gave the ship her nickname, it’s up to foresters like Rhett Steele to find the right trees. Steele showed News 8 Constitution Grove, a cluster of white oak trees on the installation he said will serve as a source of wood for the Constitution once they are large enough. 

Steele said for a tree to become part of the ship, it must be straight and not have any knots that could allow water to seep in. It also needs to be tall and wide enough. He said the average Constitution plank measures 14 inches tall by 6 inches thick and is up to 45 feet long. 

“It takes a rather large tree to get that size of a plank sawed out with the tree’s taper and everything to allow that plank to not have any of the sap wood or any of the heartwood,” said Steele. 

Steele said he and his team maintain a database of every suitable tree on the base, including its exact location and measurements. He said this allows them to quickly identify trees to harvest based on the Navy’s needs. On Wednesday, loggers cut down four trees to use on the ship. Steele said at one time, NSA Crane shared the job of keeping Constitution afloat with an outside contractor. He said that contractor has gone out of business, meaning NSA Crane is now the only source of wood for the ship. 

“To know that our trees from here are going and keeping it afloat, and we can say that we are keeping, almost like one of our country’s founders still alive,” Steele said. “It’s just kind of neat to have our hands in that.” 

Since NSA Crane now supplies all of Constitution’s wood needs, Steele said the Navy is considering harvesting a small number of trees for that purpose each year. Previous tree harvests happened on an as-needed basis.