Constellation was placed back in commission on February 26, 1862. Because her deep draft, and lack of steam power, she did not to perform blockade duty at the war's start.
"[B]efore this war is over I may see as much fighting as any
of them. Within a week we may go down at our guns like the men in the Cumberland..."
Yeoman Moses Safford - July 4, 1863 (Spezia, Italy).
Better suited for service protecting U.S. merchant shipping where her economy and endurance would enable her to outperform less reliable steam ships, Constellation served as a deterrent to Confederate cruisers and commerce raiders in the Mediterranean Sea.
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On March 11, 1862 Constellation left Portsmouth under the command of Commodore Henry K. Thatcher. Arriving on April 19, Constellation patrolled constantly, never engaging in combat, but assisted in blockading the CSS Sumter at Gibraltar. "The Sumter has been laid up at Gibraltar and abandoned
by her captain and officers, except for a small party left in charge of her,
the crew having been discharged..." |
 Commodore Henry K. Thatcher |
"The Spanish regard the Sunpter [sic] as a pirate, and
would seize her as such in their own ports, but the British are more partial
in their attitude toward her."
Yeoman Safford - April 30, 1862 (Gibraltar).
Constellation participated in the attempt to prevent the Confederate Navy from taking possession of the steamer Southerner in Italy for use as a raider.
 A Report from Commodore Thatcher to the Secretary of the Navy |
"I have learned... that a very fast steamer, said to
be called the Southerner, has been built in England, destined
for a Confederate cruiser against United States commerce in the Mediterranean,
and... a rebel commander, T. Jefferson Page, late of the U.S. Navy,
is now at Florence... awaiting the steamer with the intention of assuming
command." "Captain Page of the Rebel Service is said to be here waiting
for a vessel to come here from England for her armament." |
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