Buried deep below Constitution’s waterline was a strange, cramped, dark, place: the magazine. Copper lined the walls. The only light came through a window from a lantern in the next room. Sailors working here were forbidden to carry iron objects, and they wore felt slippers. These precautions were needed because the magazine was a store-room for gunpowder. If it got damp, Constitution’s guns would not fire. And if just one spark entered the room, the ship might instantly explode.
