The first USS ''Greyhound'' was a
U.S. Navy, two-masted
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
in commission from 1822 to 1824.
''Greyhound'' was one of several ships the U.S. Navy purchased in 1822 to augment
Commodore David Porters "
Mosquito Fleet" combating
piracy in the
West Indies. With
Master Commandant John Porter in command, she joined the
West Indies Squadron in early 1823 and almost immediately was dispatched to
Puerto Rico to seek Puerto Rican aid in suppressing the pirates. Returning from this mission, ''Greyhound'' was placed under the command of
Lieutenant Lawrence Kearny
Commodore Lawrence Kearny (30 November 1789 – 29 November 1868) was an officer in the United States Navy during the early nineteenth century. In the early 1840s he began negotiations with China which opened that country to U.S. trade and poin ...
and sent to patrol the coast of
Cuba.
While patrolling with the schooner on 21 July 1823, ''Greyhound'' gave chase to an unidentified ship off the Cuban coast near Vera Cruz; the ship turned out to be a legitimate
Colombian privateer, a rare thing in those waters. Lieutenant Kearny then decided to go ashore in search of game to supplant his ship's food supply. His boat, when it neared the shore, was attacked from ambush and forced to return to ''Greyhound''.
When another attempt to land on 22 July 1823 met the same reception, Lieutenant Kearny sent ashore a party of
United States Marines and U.S. Navy
sailors under the command of Lieutenant
David Farragut, to attack the pirate camp. Meanwhile ''Greyhound'' and ''Beagle'' closed the shore and began to
bombard __NOTOC__
Bombard may refer to the act of carrying out a bombardment. It may also refer to:
Individuals
*Alain Bombard (1924–2005), French biologist, physician and politician; known for crossing the Atlantic on a small boat with no water or food
...
the camp, effectively trapping the pirates between the landing party and the sea. After a brief but fierce struggle, the pirates, including some women and children, fled inland. Exploring the village, Farragut and his men discovered several large caves filled with rich plunder of all sorts. They burned the village and the eight small boats they found in the harbor, then returned to ''Greyhound'' and ''Beagle''.
''Greyhound'' continued her coastal patrol duties until, with the onset of the
yellow fever season later in 1823, the "Mosquito Fleet" sailed north for healthier weather.
''Greyhound'' did not return to the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
with Porter in the spring of 1824. After a survey found her unfit for further service, the Navy sold her at
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
, in 1824.
See also
*
List of historical schooners
Bibliography
*
Url
*
E'Book
*
E'Book(Primary source)
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E'Book
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Greyhound (1822)
1822 ships
Schooners of the United States Navy