USS ''Vesuvius'' was a
bomb ketch
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons (long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounted ...
, and the first ship of 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 ...
named for the
Italian volcano.
''Vesuvius'' was built by
Jacob Coffin at
Newburyport, Massachusetts. She was
launched on 31 May 1806 and
commissioned in or before September 1806, with Lieutenant
James T. Leonard in command.
Service history
''Vesuvius'' departed
Boston, Massachusetts, for the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
, but, while en route on 19 October, ran aground in the
Gulf of Abaco. The ship lost her rudder and floated free only after her crew had jettisoned all of her guns and their carriages; her shot and shell; and even part of the
kentledge. She finally reached
, Louisiana, on 27 November.
Repaired and rearmed with ten 6-pounders (2.7 kg), the ship subsequently sailed for
Natchez, Mississippi, and operated out of that port from February 1807 until returning to New Orleans on 30 May. ''Vesuvius'' was then ordered north for further repairs and arrived at
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
on 16 August.
The ship apparently remained in the New York area until the spring 1809, when she again sailed for New Orleans. Embarking upon duties to suppress slave traders and pirates operating out of the trackless bayous, ''Vesuvius'' cruised off the mouth of the muddy
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
and into the Gulf of Mexico, alert for any sign of illegal activity.
The crew's vigilance was rewarded in February 1810 when, under the command of Lieutenant Benjamin F. Read, ''Vesuvius'' gave chase to a pirate vessel off the mouth of the Mississippi and captured ''Duc de Montebello'', a schooner named by
Frenchmen
The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common Culture of France, French culture, History of France, history, and French language, language, identified with the cou ...
who had been expelled from
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
by the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
government. Dispatched to New Orleans, the
buccaneer
Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 168 ...
ship was condemned. In the same month, boats from ''Vesuvius'', under the command of Midshipman F.H. Gregory, captured pirate schooner ''Diomede'' and slaver ''Alexandria'', the latter with a full cargo of slaves on board and flying British colors.
Four months later, Commander
David Porter, commander of the New Orleans station, embarked in ''Vesuvius'' before the bomb ketch departed New Orleans on 10 June 1810, bound via
Havana, Cuba, for
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
. Also making the passage were Porter's wife and the Porters' ward, eight-year-old James Glasgow Farragut. The lad would later change his name to
David Glasgow Farragut
David Glasgow Farragut (; also spelled Glascoe; July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. Fa ...
and ultimately become the Navy's first
admiral.
After repairs at the
Washington Navy Yard
The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is the former shipyard and Weapon, ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy.
The Yard currently serv ...
, the ketch pressed on for New York and arrived on 6 September 1810. ''Vesuvius'' was placed in ordinary, and her crew was transferred to .
In 1816, ''Vesuvius'' served as a
receiving ship
A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Hulk may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or to refer to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipmen ...
at New York. A survey conducted in April 1818 revealed that the cost to repair and refit the ship would be, in the survey's words, "exorbitant." Still carried on the
Naval Vessel Registry as a receiving ship through 1821, ''Vesuvius'' was broken up in June 1829 after being damaged beyond repair on 4 June when the old steamship
''Fulton'' exploded alongside.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vesuvius
Ketches of the United States Navy
Bomb vessels
Ships built in Newburyport, Massachusetts
1806 ships