The USS ''Weasel'' was a three-gun

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 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 ...

. The ''Weasel'' was built at Baltimore and was initially intended to serve as a merchant vessel that would operate the area of

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

. However, the build of her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

favored the strategic approach of the West Indies Squadron, which became notorious for using smaller vessels to pursue escaping pirates into shallow waters, so it was acquired by the Navy in 1822 and outfitted for military use. The process took place at Norfolk, with the ship being commissioned in 1823.

Service history

Lieutenant

Beverley Kennon Beverley Kennon (April 7, 1793 – February 28, 1844) was a career officer in the United States Navy who attained the rank of captain as head of the Bureau of Construction and Repair. He died as a result of the explosion aboard USS ''Princeton''. ...

was placed in charge of the vessel, serving under squadron leader commodore David Porter. On February 15, 1823, she sailed off

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

along other members of the anti-piracy operations. By the following month, the Weasel was monitoring the waters in the eastern Caribbean. Porter to assigned it to the

Mona Passage The Mona Passage ( es, Canal de la Mona) is a strait that separates the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. The Mona Passage connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and is an important shipping route between the Atlantic and the Panama ...

along the brigantine following orders from

United States Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the United States Department of the Navy, Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States D ...

Samuel L. Southard Samuel Lewis Southard (June 9, 1787June 26, 1842) was a prominent American statesman of the early 19th century, serving as a U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, and the tenth governor of New Jersey. He also served as President pro tempore of the ...

as the area had become the operation center of

Roberto Cofresí Roberto Cofresí y Ramírez de Arellano (June 17, 1791 – March 29, 1825), better known as El Pirata Cofresí, was a pirate from Puerto Rico. He was born into a noble family, but the political and economic difficulties faced by the island as a c ...

and other pirates. By the year's end, an outbreak of yellow fever forced the ''Weasel'' to withdraw from the region in order to recruit a new crew. Returning to the West Indies in 1824, captain

Charles Boarman Charles Boarman (December 24, 1795 – September 13, 1879) was a career officer in the United States Navy. He entered the naval service shortly before the War of 1812 and served until 1876, subsequently retiring as a rear admi ...

was commanded to monitor the western waters of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

as part of an international force. There, the ''Weasel'' located a sloop commanded by Cofresí off Culebra, but it fled to Vieques and ran inland into dense vegetation; Boarman could only recover the abandoned vessel. A second outbreak forced another return to the United States, returning in fall. However, the capture of Cofresí in early 1825 resulted in a sharp decline of piracy in the Caribbean. Consequently, the United States Navy sold the schooners that belonged to the West Indies Squadron. The ''Weasel'' itself was sold to an unknown buyer within a year of Cofresí's capture.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weasel, USS Schooners of the United States Navy Ships built in Baltimore Individual sailing vessels 1820s ships