The first USS ''Patapsco'' was a

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. ''Patapsco'' was launched as ''Chesapeake'' 20 June 1799 by Captain De Rochbruns, and renamed ''Patapsco'' between 10 October and 14 November apparently to free the name for the frigate , commissioned in 1800. Commanded by Captain Henry Geddes, she escorted the brig ''Acteon'' to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, carrying General

James Wilkinson James Wilkinson (March 24, 1757 – December 28, 1825) was an American soldier, politician, and double agent who was associated with several scandals and controversies. He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, b ...

and his staff to that port. She then cruised in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, protecting American shipping from French cruisers and

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s during the

Quasi-War The Quasi-War (french: Quasi-guerre) was an undeclared naval war fought from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States. The ability of Congres ...

with France. Operating in Commodore

Silas Talbot Captain Silas Talbot (January 11, 1751June 30, 1813) was an American military officer and slave trader. He served in the Continental Army and Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War, and is most famous for commanding from 1799 to ...

's squadron, she captured schooner ''Cecilia'' after a five-hour chase 28 May 1800. On 7 August she captured French letter of marque ''Dorade''. In the autumn she also engaged ''Louisa Bridge'' but the schooner escaped. She aided and a British frigate in defeating a French invasion of Curaçao, in the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

, before returning to Philadelphia in December. She was sold there in June 1801.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Patapsco (1799) Sloops of the United States Navy 1799 ships