Pacific Squadron

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the historic U.S. Navy squadron. For the British Royal Navy, see Pacific Station. For the Royal Canadian Navy, see Maritime Forces Pacific. For other uses, see Pacific Fleet (disambiguation).
Pacific Squadron
Active1820-1910
Country United States of America
Branch United States Navy
TypeNaval squadron

The Pacific Squadron was part of the

Pacific Coast. Throughout the history of the Pacific Squadron, American ships fought against several enemies. Over one-half of the United States Navy would be sent to join the Pacific Squadron during the Mexican–American War. During the American Civil War
, the squadron was reduced in size when its vessels were reassigned to Atlantic duty. When the Civil War was over, the squadron was reinforced again until being disbanded just after the turn of the 20th century.

History

Formation

Further information: Charles G. Ridgely § Pacific Squadron and the Peruvian War of Independence

The "United States Naval Forces on Pacific Station" was established in 1818, with the USS Macedonian under John Downes setting sail to protect American interests in the Pacific Ocean.[1] The Macedonian served in Chile until March 1821, when it was relieved by the USS Constellation under Charles G. Ridgely.[2] These two single-frigate instances of the Pacific Station supported the Liberating Expedition of Peru in the Peruvian War of Independence.[2][3]

Most historians consider the Pacific Squadron to have been officially established in 1821 with the first multiple-ship force in the Pacific Station.[1] Charles Stewart set sail with the USS Franklin and USS Dolphin in September 1821 and arrived in April 1822 to relieve Ridgely.[1][3]

This small force confined its activities initially to the Pacific waters off South America, North America and Hawaii protecting United States commercial shipping interests. It expanded its scope of operations to include the Western Pacific in 1835, when the East India Squadron joined the force. The squadron was reinforced when war with Mexico began to seem a possibility. Sailing from the east coast to the west coast around Cape Horn was a 13,000 miles (21,000 km) to 15,000 miles (24,000 km) journey that typically took from 130 to 210 days.

Sumatran Expeditions

Main articles:
Second Sumatran Expedition

The Pacific Squadron's

President Andrew Jackson received word of the 'massacre' and ordered Commodore John Downes in USS Potomac to punish the natives for their acts of piracy
.

marines aboard the frigate, attacked Quallah Battoo, the main village of the hostile Malays. The men went ashore in launches during which a small naval engagement was fought. A few of the boats were armed with a light cannon and were ordered to sink three small pirate craft in the port. The launches achieved their goal and then proceeded in assisting USS Potomac in shelling five enemy citadels. The five forts were attacked by land as well and all were eventually suppressed. Hundreds of matchlock
armed natives were killed with a loss of only two Americans. After the battle, Downes warned that if any more American merchant ships were attacked, another expedition would be launched in reprisal.

The mission was technically a success for six years until 1838 when the Malays attacked and plundered a second American merchantman. In response, the

Second Sumatran Expedition was launched by ships of the East India Squadron, which had just joined the United States Exploring Expedition for circumnavigation
of the globe, but were able to bombard Quallah Battoo and engage in the battle of Muckie without making a detour.

Capture of Monterey

Main article: Capture of Monterey

In 1842 the Pacific Squadron commander Commodore

Monterey. They arrived on 19 October 1842 and took control of the city without bloodshed before returning it to the Mexicans on 21 October when Jones discovered that war had not actually been declared.[6]

Mexican–American War

California Campaign

Main article: Mexican–American War
USS Savannah

The Pacific Squadron was instrumental in the capture of

boarding or landing parties; they could also be detached for extended service on land. In actual practice, some sailors on each ship were detached from each vessel to supplement the marine force, although rarely more than would compromise a ship's ability to remain functional. The Pacific Squadron had orders, in the event of war with Mexico, to seize the ports in Mexican California and elsewhere along the Pacific Coast
.

The only other United States force in California was a sixty-two man "mapping" expedition which had entered California in late 1845 under the command of U.S. Army Brevet Captain

Bear Flag Revolt on June 10, 1846 by stealing government horses they feared would be used against them.[7] On 5 July Frémont proposed to the American insurgents that they unite with his party and become a single military group under his command. A compact was drawn up which all volunteers of the California Battalion signed or made their mark.[8]

Under John D. Sloat, Commodore of the Pacific Squadron, USS Savannah with Cyane and USS Levant captured the Alta California capital city of Monterey, California on 7 July 1846. Two days later on 9 July, USS Portsmouth, under Captain John S. Montgomery, landed seventy marines and bluejacket sailors at Clark's Point in San Francisco Bay and captured Yerba Buena, which is today's San Francisco, without firing a shot. On 11 July the British Royal Navy sloop HMS Juno entered San Francisco Bay, causing Montgomery to alert his defenses. The large British ship, the 2,600-ton man-of-war HMS Collingwood, flagship of Pacific Station Commander-in-Chief Sir George S. Seymour, also showed up about this time outside Monterey Harbor. Both British ships observed, but did not enter the conflict.[9]

Commodore

San Diego
which was captured on 29 July 1846 without a shot being fired.

Leaving about forty men to garrison San Diego, Fremont continued on to the

Mazatlan, Mexico on 11 November 1847.[11]

The revolt of about 100 Californios in Los Angeles forced Gillespie and his troops departure on about 24 September 1847. Commodore Stockton used about 360 marines and bluejacket sailors with four field pieces from Congress in a joint operation with the approximate seventy cavalry troops supplied by United States Army

Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny, who had arrived from New Mexico, and part of Fremont's California Battalion of about 450 men to retake Los Angeles on 10 January 1847.[12] The result of this Battle of Providencia was the Californios signing the Treaty of Cahuenga
on 13 January 1847 – terminating the warfare and disbanding the Californio troops in Alta California. On January 16, 1847, Commodore Stockton appointed Frémont military governor of U.S. territorial California – a move later contested by General Kearny.

The retired ship of the line USS Independence was brought back into service, cut down and recommissioned as a razee frigate in 1846. The newly reconfigured ship removed the old top deck and reduced the gun count from ninety to fifty-four making her less well gunned but much easier to sail. The rebuilt Independence, now classified as a heavy frigate, launched on 4 August 1846 when the nation was already at war with Mexico and departed Boston 29 August 1846 for California. She entered Monterey Bay on 22 January 1847 after a fast 146-day trip around Cape Horn and became the flagship of Commodore William Shubrick, now commanding the Pacific Squadron.

USS Congress

In July 1846,

Valparaiso, Chile
by 20 January 1847 and after getting fresh supplies, water and wood were on their way again by 23 January. Thomas H Perkins did not stop until San Francisco, reaching port on 6 March 1847. Susan Drew arrived on 20 March 1847 and Loo Choo arrived on 26 March 1847, 183 days after leaving New York. Brutus finally arrived on 17 April 1847.

After desertions and deaths in transit the four ships brought 648 men to California. The companies were then deployed throughout Upper-Alta and Lower-Baja California from San Francisco to La Paz, Mexico. The ship Isabella sailed from Philadelphia on 16 August 1847, with a detachment of one hundred soldiers, and arrived in California on 18 February 1847, the following year, at about the same time that the ship Sweden arrived with another detachment of soldiers. These soldiers were added to the existing companies of Jonathan D. Stevenson's 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers.[13] These troops essentially took over all of the Pacific Squadron's on-shore military and garrison duties and the California Battalion and Mormon Battalion's garrison duties as well as some Baja California duties.

Pacific Coast Campaign

USS Independence
Main article:
Pacific Coast Campaign

After Alta California was secured most of the squadron proceeded down the Pacific coast capturing all major

Baja California Peninsula cities and capturing or destroying nearly all Mexican vessels in the Gulf of California. Other mainland ports, not on the peninsula, were taken as well. The objective of the campaign was to take Mazatlan, a major supply base for Mexican forces. Cyane was given credit for eighteen captures and numerous destroyed ships.[14] Entering the Gulf of California, Independence, Congress and Cyane seized La Paz on the Baja California Peninsula, and captured and or burned the small Mexican fleet at Guaymas across the Gulf on the mainland. Within a month, they cleared the Gulf of hostile ships, destroying or capturing thirty vessels. Later on their sailors and marines captured the town of Mazatlan, Mexico, on 11 November 1847. A Mexican campaign to retake the various captured ports resulted in several small battles and at least two sieges occurred in which the Pacific Squadron ships provided support. Cyane returned to Norfolk on 9 October 1848 to receive the congratulations of the Secretary of the Navy for her significant contributions to American victories in Mexico. Other ships headed home too. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
, signed in February 1848 and its subsequent ratification by the United States and Mexican legislatures, marked the end of the Mexican–American War.

American Civil War

Main article:
Pacific Coast Theater of the American Civil War

The extent of the Pacific Squadron's responsibility was further enlarged in the 1850s when California and Oregon were admitted as U.S. states and Navy bases on the west coast were established. The U.S. Sailing Navy's use of sailing ships declined as armored steamships were introduced before the American Civil War. The Pacific Squadron was far removed from the fighting during the conflict though some vessels of the squadron were reassigned to duty in the Atlantic and fought in engagements such as the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip.

Anti-Piracy operations

Main article: Battle of Boca Teacapan

In July 1870 the

pirate ship Forward attacked and captured the Mexican port city of Guaymas, Sonora in the Gulf of California. There the pirates robbed the foreign residents and persuaded by force the United States Consulate to supply Forward with coal, then the pirates sailed south for Boca Teacapan, Sinaloa. The Pacific Squadron, with Rear Admiral Shubrick, was informed of the incident so USS Mohican was sent to destroy the pirate threat. After arriving in the area in early August, Mohican's men discovered that Forward was at Boca Teacapan's harbor in the Teacapan River. A boat expedition was launched and attacked
the pirate ship on 17 August 1870. The battle ended with an American victory and the burning and sinking of the pirate steamer.

Oahu Expedition

Main article:
Honolulu Courthouse Riot

An American expedition to

Kalakaua and when he won she was very upset and decided to lead an armed mob in an attack on the representatives in Honolulu courthouse. As result 150 sailors and marines were landed from the American ships plus another seventy to eighty from the British sloop HMS Tenedos. The riot was mostly quelled by nightfall but an occupation lasted until February 20 by which time negotiations regarding sugar were concluded, the king also allowed the Americans to build their first repair and coaling station in Pearl Harbor.[15][16]

Second Samoan Civil War

Main article: Second Samoan Civil War
USS Philadelphia

In 1899 another civil war broke out in Samoa between rebels loyal to the Mata'afa Iosefo and federal forces of Malietoa Tanumafili I. Pacific Squadron Rear Admiral Albert Kautz in USS Philadelphia launched an expedition to the island and occupied the capital of Apia on March 14, 1899 after a battle and bombardment at the port city. From there American, British and Samoan forces engaged in several actions against the rebels over the course of a few months. When the conflict ended the United States gained control of eastern Samoa which is today's American Samoa and the western half of the archipelago was taken by Germany, creating the short lived German Samoa that was conquered during World War I.

Disbandment

USS Ranger

In 1903, the Pacific Squadron consisted of the armored cruiser USS New York, the protected cruiser USS Boston, the unprotected cruiser USS Marblehead, and the gunboat Ranger.

In early 1907, the U.S. Navy abolished both the Pacific Squadron and the United States Asiatic Fleet and established the new United States Pacific Fleet. The ships and personnel of the Asiatic Fleet became the First Squadron of the Pacific Fleet, while the ships and personnel of the Pacific Squadron became the Pacific Fleet's Second Squadron.

Commanders-in-Chief

Pacific Squadron[17]

North Pacific Squadron 1866–1869

  • Rear Admiral
    Henry K. Thatcher
    1866–1868
  • Rear Admiral Thomas T. Craven 1868–1869

South Pacific Squadron 1866–1869

Pacific Station 1872–1878

Pacific Squadron 1878–1907

[18]

Ships

1845–1849[19]

1851[20]

1861–1865[21]

1861

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Johnson, Robert Erwin (1963). "Chapter 1: Distant Stations". Thence round Cape Horn. United States Naval Institute.
  2. ^ a b Johnson, Robert Erwin (1963). "Chapter 2: The Cruise of the Macedonian". Thence round Cape Horn. United States Naval Institute.
  3. ^ a b Johnson, Robert Erwin (1963). "Chapter 3: From Ship to Squadron". Thence round Cape Horn. United States Naval Institute.
  4. OCLC 4669778
    , ...the brig Governor Endicott, of Salem, H. H. Jenks, master, and the ship James Monroe, of New York, J. Porter, master, ...at once sailed to Quallah-Battoo, to rescue Captain Endicott's ship from its captors.
  5. ^ Patrick H. Roth (September 20, 2012). "Sailors as Infantry in the U.S. Navy". Appendix A: Thirty-six Illustrative Examples of the Use of Sailors as Infantry. The Navy Department Library. Archived from the original on 2006-03-05. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  6. ^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe; History of California, Volume IV; San Francisco; c. 1886; pp. 298–320
  7. ISBN 9780312866853
  8. ^ Walker; op. cit.; p. 139
  9. ^ Marley, David; Wars of the Americas: a chronology of armed conflict in the New World, 1492 to Present (1998); p. 504 9780874368376
  10. ^ Bancroft, op. cit.; V:253–254
  11. ISBN 978-0-415-97872-9
    ; p 38
  12. ^ Marley, David; "Wars of the Americas: a chronology of armed conflict in the New World, 1492 to present"; p. 505
  13. ^ Seventy-five Years in San Francisco; Appendix L [1] Archived 2017-03-18 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 18 Mar 2009
  14. ^ Silversteen, p. 42
  15. ^ Hawaii – February 1874
  16. ^ From Hawaiian Historical Records: The Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii Began in 1874 Archived 2008-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ Robert Erwin Johnson, Thence round Cape Horn, Ayer Publishing, 1980, Appendix II, pg 209.
  18. ^ Robert Erwin Johnson, Thence round Cape Horn, pp. 209–210.
  19. ^ Silversteen, pp. 38–42
  20. ^ Silversteen, p. 22
  21. ^ The California Military Museum, The Pacific Squadron of 1861–1866, The following article is taken from Aurora Hunt's book, The Army of the Pacific; Its operations in California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, plains region, Mexico, etc. 1860–1866, under the chapter "The Pacific Squadron of 1861–1866".
  22. ^ Ships of the California Naval Militia, USS Camanche

External links


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