Step 1 : Introduction to the question "Which ship was nicknamed "Old Ironsides"?"
USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy named by President George Washington. She is the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat. She was first launched on this day in 1797, one of six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794. During the War of 1812, the Constitution won its enduring nickname “Old Ironsides” after defeating numerous British warships. Witnesses claimed that the British shots merely bounced off the Constitution's sides, as if the ship were made of iron rather than wood.
