Penelope's conversion into a paddle steamer involved lengthening the sailing frigate by 65 feet. The book calls this a reconstruction, but the accompanying criticism treats such extensive dismantling and rebuilding as a new ship made partly from reused timber. A Dutch navy project had been abandoned as impractical years earlier. Penelope temporarily encouraged similar proposals elsewhere, including an 1845 plan to convert USS Constitution. That American conversion was not carried out.
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Penelope's paddle conversion and the proposal for Constitution
Penelope's 65-foot lengthening prompts a challenge to the word reconstruction, followed by the abandoned possibility of converting Constitution to paddle propulsion.