'Hog' shows Constellation far from shipshape Restoration: The public can see the progress on the Constellation's two-year, $9 million restoration today at Fort McHenry Shipyard.

The hog is gone. Only a pig remains.

The 38-inch, frown-shaped bend, or "hog," in the keel of the 1854 warship Constellation has been almost erased by gravity as the ship rests in dry dock near Fort McHenry.

Beside the spot where the last half-inch of bend waits to be straightened by the removal of shims, a toy pink pig stands guard.

The worsening hog was an alarming sign of how badly the ship's rotting timbers had weakened its frame.

Left alone, the bending would have continued until planks and fasteners began to separate, allowing harbor water to rush in and sink the ship.

Other signs of progress in the Constellation's two-year, $9 million restoration will be on view to the public today at Fort McHenry Shipyard, off Fort Avenue on Locust Point.

But those who remember the ship from its best days at the Inner Harbor will hardly recognize it.

Workers have stripped most of the hull planks above the waterline, leaving many gnarled and nail-riddled ribs exposed.

The ship's spar, or upper, deck has been removed, leaving the gun deck -- what used to be the first level below decks -- on top.

Both water-damaged decks were 20th-century replacements. The gun deck also will be rebuilt.

But for now, "the gun deck is all that's keeping the topside from collapsing," said Paul G. Powichroski, assistant project manager for the Constellation Foundation.

The public tours will begin at noon and continue until 4 p.m. Artifacts and wooden sections removed from the ship will be on display, and volunteers will explain the restoration process.

Other tours are planned for May 18, June 8 and other dates through August.

Constellation, a veteran of the Civil War, has been in Baltimore since 1954. It became the centerpiece for the Inner Harbor renaissance, but has suffered from historically inaccurate restoration and neglected maintenance. A Navy inspection in 1993 found its keel bent and its timbers dangerously weakened by rot.

The Constellation Foundation is guiding the restoration and raising the money for the repairs and an endowment for its upkeep. The ship was nudged down the harbor to Fort McHenry on Nov. 17.

Carpenters wielding chain saws and chisels have removed most of the hull planking, revealing the ship's "ancient fabric."

"She was clearly replanked three or four times above the waterline," Powichroski said. "And we're pretty confident that below the waterline, except for a few repairs, most of the planking is original."

The 143-year-old frames, or ribs, still show the marks of the hand adzes used to fashion them from live oak timbers. The wood was cut from trees that were a century or two old.

Newer frames show the marks of straight-edged saws, while the most recent ones show the curved marks of circular saws.

Powichroski pointed out carpenter's marks and numbering cut into timbers by the builders.

The work also has exposed some of the 24 portholes that once lined each side of the berth deck -- a feature covered by earlier repairs and forgotten.

The foundation hopes to save 70 percent of the ship's remaining original wood. The most seriously rotted frames will be replaced by white oak. The planking will be replaced by a latticelike system of laminated wood strips.

To reach the shipyard, turn left off Fort Avenue before entering Fort McHenry. Admission is $3 for adults; $1 for children 4 to 16; $2 for seniors and military personnel.

Pub Date: 5/04/97