From Staff & Wire Reports Once upon a time, the Navy offered the USS Constitution to Portland as our flagship… Legends 54 p o r t l a n d monthly magazine P ortland has deep-draft bragging rights for most sincerely loving the frigate USS Constitution, built in 1797. While Boston keeps her hostage to- day, did you know that in the Summer of 1931, Portland had a chance to have her as our city’s mascot ship? Think of the tourist dollars. How could something as iconic as the Constitution have eluded our grasp? Blithe Spirit In his Portland Monthly feature “When Did Portland Miss the Boat?” historian Herb Adams makes our city’s ties vivid. To begin with, “Her first famous commander, Com- modore Edward Preble, USN, was a proud and prickly native Portlander. And her last commander under the sail was Capt. Louis J. Gulliver, USN, Portland High School class of 1901, who brought her into Portland Har- bor in 1931 as part of her last cruise around the country she helped create.” On top of that, Old Ironsides was ‘lo- cally sourced.’ Her masts were pines “cut in the forests of Unity, Maine.” Captain of My Heart Local hero “Preble sailed Constitution to glory in the Barbary Wars against North Africa in 1801-1805, America’s longest for- eign conflict until Vietnam. He served with such distinction he was offered an ap- pointment but as Secretary of the Navy but turned it down, instead building a mansion so capacious that it was turned into a ho- tel after his death.” For over a century the What could have been: Portland Harbor imagined with the USS Constitution in its waters.The ship currently resides in Boston (inset).