Armament
See also: Naval artillery in the Age of Sail
A diagram with thin lines showing the outline and cross section of a ship's hull, along with straight lines with various numeric measurements.
Building plan of Congress and Constellation
The Naval Act of 1794 had specified 36-gun frigates. However, the Congress and her sister-ship, the Constellation, were re-rated to 38s because of their large dimensions, being 164 ft (50 m) in length and 41 ft (12 m) in width.[4][5][Note 1]
The "ratings" by number of guns were meant only as an approximation, and the Congress often carried up to 48 guns.[20] Ships of this era had no permanent battery of guns such as modern Navy ships carry. The guns and cannons were designed to be completely portable and were often exchanged between ships as situations warranted. Each commanding officer outfitted armaments to their liking, taking into consideration factors such as the overall tonnage of cargo, complement of personnel aboard, and planned routes to be sailed. Consequently, the armaments on ships would change often during their careers, and records of the changes were not generally kept.[21]
During her first cruise in the Quasi-War against France, the Congress was noted to be armed with a battery of forty guns consisting of twenty-eight 18 pounders (8 kg) and twelve 9 pounders (4 kg).[19] For her patrols during the War of 1812, she was armed with a battery of forty-four guns consisting of twenty-four 18 pounders and twenty 32 pounders (15 kg).[19]