USS Congress (1799)
Congress by Charles Ware, 1816
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Congress |
Namesake | Congress[1] |
Ordered | 27 March 1794[1] |
Builder | James Hackett |
Cost | $197,246[3] |
Laid down | 1795[2] |
Launched | 15 August 1799 |
Maiden voyage | 6 January 1800 |
Fate | Broken up, 1834 |
General characteristics | |
Type | 38-gun frigate[4][5][Note 1] |
Displacement | 1,265 tons[1] |
Length | 164 ft (50 m) lpp[4] |
Beam | 41 ft (12 m)[4] |
Depth of hold | 13.0 ft (4.0 m)[4] |
Decks | |
Propulsion | Sail |
Complement | 340 officers and enlisted[1] |
Armament |
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USS Congress was a nominally rated 38-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted
Her first duties with the newly formed United States Navy were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the
Construction
In 1785
Joshua Humphreys' design was unusual for the time, being deep,[11] long on keel and narrow of beam (width) and mounting very heavy guns. The design called for a diagonal scantling (rib) scheme intended to restrict hogging while giving the ships extremely heavy planking. This design gave the hull a greater strength than a more lightly built frigate. Humphreys' design was based on his realization that the fledgling United States of the period could not match the European states in the size of their navies. This being so, the frigates were designed to overpower other frigates with the ability to escape from a ship of the line.[12][13][14]
Congress was given her name by President George Washington after a principle of the United States Constitution.[10][15] Her keel was reportedly laid down late in 1795[2] at a shipyard in Kittery, Maine (then a district of Massachusetts). James Hackett was charged with her construction and Captain James Sever served as a superintendent. Her construction proceeded slowly and was completely suspended when in March 1796, a peace treaty was signed with Algiers.[16][17] Congress remained at the shipyard, incomplete, until relations with France deteriorated in 1798 with the start of the Quasi-War. At the request of then President John Adams, funds were approved on 16 July to complete her construction.[18]
Armament
The Naval Act of 1794 had specified 36-gun frigates. However, Congress and her sister-ship Constellation were re-rated to 38s because of their large dimensions, being 164 ft (50 m) in length and 41 ft (12 m) in width.[4][5][Note 1]
The "ratings" by number of guns were meant only as an approximation, and Congress often carried up to 48 guns.[20] Ships of this era had no permanent battery of guns such as modern Navy ships carry. The guns and cannons were designed to be completely portable and often were exchanged between ships as situations warranted. Each commanding officer outfitted armaments to their liking, taking into consideration factors such as the overall tonnage of cargo, complement of personnel aboard, and planned routes to be sailed. Consequently, the armaments on ships would change often during their careers, and records of the changes were not generally kept.[21]
During her first cruise in the Quasi-War against France, Congress was noted to be armed with a battery of forty guns consisting of twenty-eight 18 pounders (8 kg) and twelve 9 pounders (4 kg).[19] For her patrols during the War of 1812, she was armed with a battery of forty-four guns consisting of twenty-four 18 pounders and twenty 32 pounders (15 kg).[19]
Quasi-War
Congress launched on 15 August 1799 under the command of Captain Sever. After
The crew rigged an emergency sail and limped back to the
Remaining in port for six months while her masts and rigging were repaired, she finally sailed again on 26 July for the West Indies.[29] Congress made routine patrols escorting American merchant ships and seeking out French ships to capture. On two occasions she almost ran aground; first while pursuing a French privateer, she ran into shallow water where large rocks were seen near the surface.[26] Although their exact depth was not determined, Sever immediately abandoned pursuit of the privateer and changed course towards deeper waters.[30] Her second close call occurred off the coast of the Caicos Islands, when during the night she drifted close to the reefs. At daybreak her predicament was discovered by the lookouts.[31][Note 2]
A peace treaty with France was ratified on 3 February 1801 and Congress returned to Boston in April.[33] In accordance with an act of Congress passed on 3 March and signed by President John Adams, thirteen frigates then currently in service were to be retained. Seven of those frigates, including Congress, were to be placed in ordinary.[34] En route to the Washington Navy Yard, she passed Mount Vernon on her way up the Potomac and Captain Sever ordered her sails lowered, flag at half mast, and a 13-gun salute fired to honor the recently deceased George Washington.[35] Congress decommissioned at Washington along with United States and New York.[35][36][37]
First Barbary War
During the United States' preoccupation with France during the Quasi-War, troubles with the Barbary States were suppressed by the payment of tribute to ensure that American merchant ships were not harassed and seized.[38] In 1801 Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli, dissatisfied with the amount of tribute he was receiving in comparison to Algiers, demanded an immediate payment of $250,000.[39] In response, Thomas Jefferson sent a squadron of frigates to protect American merchant ships in the Mediterranean and pursue peace with the Barbary States.[40][41]
The first squadron, under the command of Richard Dale in President, was instructed to escort merchant ships through the Mediterranean and negotiate with leaders of the Barbary States.[40] A second squadron was assembled under the command of Richard Valentine Morris in Chesapeake however, the performance of Morris's squadron was so poor that he was recalled and subsequently dismissed from the Navy in 1803.[42] A third squadron was assembled under the command of Edward Preble in Constitution and by mid-1804 they had successfully fought the Battle of Tripoli Harbor.[43]
President Jefferson reinforced Preble's squadron in April and ordered four frigates to sail as soon as possible. President, Congress, Constellation and Essex were placed under the direction of Commodore
Congress, accompanied by Constellation, assumed blockade duties of Tripoli and captured one xebec before sailing for Malta on 25 October for repairs.[46] On 6 November Rodgers assumed command of Constitution and in his place, Stephen Decatur assumed command of Congress.[47] The next recorded activity of Congress is in early July 1805 when she was sent in company with Vixen to blockade Tunisia. They were joined on the 23rd by additional U.S. Navy vessels.[48][Note 3] In early September, Congress carried the Tunisian ambassador back to Washington DC.[49][50] Afterward, placed in ordinary at the Washington Navy Yard, she served as a classroom for midshipmen training through 1807.[51]
War of 1812
In 1811 Congress required extensive repairs before recommissioning with Captain John Rogers in command. She performed routine patrols early in 1812 before war was declared on 18 June.
Almost immediately Rogers was informed by a passing American merchant ship of a fleet of British merchantmen en route to Britain from Jamaica. Congress sailed along in pursuit, but was interrupted when President began pursuing HMS Belvidera on 23 June.[55][56] Congress trailed behind President during the chase and fired her bowchasers at the escaping Belvidera.[57] Unable to capture Belvidera, the squadron returned to the pursuit of the Jamaican fleet. On 1 July they began to follow a trail of coconut shells and orange peels the Jamaican fleet had left behind them.[58][59] Sailing to within one day's journey of the English Channel, the squadron never sighted the convoy and Rodgers called off the pursuit on the 13th. During their return trip to Boston, Congress assisted in the capture of seven merchant ships, including the recapture of an American vessel.[59][60][61]
Making her second cruise against the British with President, Congress sailed from Boston on 8 October. On the 31st of that month, both ships began to pursue
Congress and President were
Louis F. Middlebrook in Vol. LXIII, October 1927 of Essex Institute Historical Collections listing following prizes taken by her under the command of Captain John Smith:[52]
November 1, 1812, off Western Islands, the British whaler Argo, 10 guns and 26 men, with a cargo of oil and whalebone, bound for London, and ordered to the United States.
May 19, 1813, in Lat. 28 N., Long. 42 W., the British brig Jean, 10 guns and 17 men, with a cargo of copper, hides, etc., bound to Greenock. After taking out the copper, the brig was burned.
May 22, 1813, in Lat. 24 N., Long. 40 W., the British brig Diana, 10 guns and 14 men, with a cargo of copper and hides bound to London, and sent into Barbadoes with the prisoners, after throwing overboard her cargo.
October 25, 1813, in Lat. 19 N., Long. 40 W., the British ship Rose, of 182 tons, crew of 12 men, with a cargo of wine and potatoes. Burned. All of her crew voluntarily enlisted in the service of the United States.
December 5, 1813, in the North Atlantic, the British brig Atlantic, crew of 12 men and a cargo of sugar and cotton from the West Indies to Cork. This brig was sent into Boston.
Second Barbary War
Soon after the United States declared war against Britain in 1812, Algiers took advantage of the United States' preoccupation with Britain and began intercepting American merchant ships in the Mediterranean.[66] On 2 March 1815, at the request of President James Madison, Congress declared war on Algiers. Work preparing two American squadrons promptly began—one at Boston under Commodore William Bainbridge, and one at New York under Commodore Steven Decatur.[67][68]
Captain Charles Morris assumed command of Congress and assigned to the squadron under Bainbridge. After repairs and refitting, she transported the Minister to Holland William Eustis to his new post. Congress departed in June and after a few weeks at Holland, sailed for the Mediterranean and arrived at Cartagena, Spain in early August joining Bainbridge's squadron.[69][70] By the time of Congress's arrival, however, Commodore Decatur had already secured a peace treaty with Algiers.[71][72]
Congress, Erie, Chippewa and Spark sailed in company with Bainbridge's flagship Independence—the first commissioned ship of the line of the U.S. Navy—as a show of force off Algiers.[72][73] The squadron subsequently made appearances off Tripoli and Tunis and arrived at Gibraltar in early October.[71][74] From there, Congress and many other ships were ordered back to the United States. She arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, remained there shortly, and proceeded to Boston where she decommissioned in December and assigned to ordinary.[75][76]
Later career
In June 1816 Charles Morris again commanded Congress and began preparations for a cruise to the Pacific Coast of the United States. His objective was taking possession of Fort Astoria from the British and conducting inquiries at various ports along the coast to further improve commercial trade.[77][78][79] These plans were canceled, however, when a U.S. Navy ship collided with a Spanish Navy vessel in the Gulf of Mexico. Consequently, Morris commanded a squadron of ships in the Gulf to ensure that American merchant commerce in the area would continue unmolested.[77][80][Note 4]
Congress arrived in the Gulf of Mexico in December 1816 and made patrols through July 1817 performing duties that Morris described as "tedious and uninteresting".
Upon return to the Norfolk Navy Yard later the same year, Morris requested relief as commander due to failing health and
Early in 1819 Congress made a voyage under the command of Captain
Extensive modifications were required to the berth deck of Congress in order to accommodate Rodney's wife and eleven children.[94] Additionally, Rodney's household goods and furniture, described by Biddle as "enough to fill a large merchant ship," were loaded into her hold that required much of the ships stores to be relocated.[95] She departed from Wilmington, Delaware on 8 June and arrived at Gibraltar where Hugh Nelson disembarked for Spain.[93] On 18 September Congress arrived at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Rodney hired his own merchant ship to carry his family the rest of the distance to Buenos Aires.[93][96] Congress subsequently returned to Norfolk on 17 December.[97]
After her return, Congress served as a
Notes
- ^ a b Chapelle states Congress and Constellation were re-rated to 38s during construction by Humphreys because of their large dimensions.[4] Canney references Chapelle when rating Congress a 38-gun frigate, but also questions "... exactly what Humphreys had in mind with rating these ships as 44- or 36-gun frigates when the number of ports certainly did not correspond to the rating and, in fact, the ships rarely carried their rated batteries, reflecting contemporary European practice."[19] Beach states that Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert re-rated Congress and Constellation to 38s once he compared the dimensions of the two ships with the recently completed Chesapeake, which had been reduced in size from a 44 to the extent that she was smaller.[5]
- ^ The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships article states that on 29 August 1800, Congress recaptured, from a French privateer, the American merchant ship Experiment.[1] However, no other source used for this article contains any mention of the incident; most notably the autobiography of Charles Morris who was a midshipman in Congress during the war.[32]
- ^ Sources do not specifically record Congress's activities between 25 October 1804 and early July 1805. They do however, imply that a number of ships spent the winter months of 1804–1805 undergoing repairs and resupply at Malta.
- ^ Morris did not record the date of Congress's return from Venezuela nor the date of his request to be relieved of command.[84]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Congress". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ a b Allen (1909), p. 47.
- ^ Roosevelt (1883), p. 48.
- ^ a b c d e f Chapelle (1949), p. 128.
- ^ a b c Beach (1986), p. 32.
- ^ Pickering, Timothy (14 March 1795). Letter to George Washington. Founders Online, National Archives. Retrieved 25 September 2019
- ISBN 9781934757147.
- ^ Allen (1909), pp. 41–42.
- ^ Beach (1986), pp. 26–27.
- ^ a b Beach (1986), p. 29.
- OCLC 43456786.
- ^ Toll (2006), pp. 49–53.
- ^ Beach (1986), pp. 29–30, 33.
- ^ Allen (1909), pp. 42–45.
- ^ Toll (2006), p. 61.
- ^ "The Reestablishment of the Navy, 1787–1801: Historical Overview of the Federalist Navy". Naval History & Heritage Command. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ An Act to provide a Naval Armament. 1 Stat. 351 (1794). Library of Congress. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
- ^ Allen (1909), p. 56.
- ^ a b c Canney (2001), p. 45.
- ^ Roosevelt (1883), p. 53.
- ^ Jennings (1966), pp. 17–19.
- ^ "Essex". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Toll (2006), p. 136.
- ^ Cooper (1856), p. 133.
- ^ Allen (1909), pp. 151–152.
- ^ a b Maclay and Smith (1898) Volume 1, p. 191.
- ^ a b Allen (1909), p. 153.
- ^ Toll (2006), p. 139.
- ^ Morris (1880), p. 120.
- ^ Morris (1880), p. 121.
- ^ Morris (1880), pp. 121–122.
- ^ Morris (1880), pp. 120–124.
- ^ Allen (1909), p. 221.
- ^ Allen (1909), p. 255.
- ^ a b Allen (1909), p. 258.
- ^ "United States". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ "New York". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Maclay and Smith (1898), Volume 1, pp. 215–216.
- ^ Allen (1905), pp. 88–90.
- ^ a b Maclay and Smith (1898), Volume 1, p. 228.
- ^ Allen (1905), p. 92.
- ^ Toll (2006), p. 173.
- ^ a b Allen (1905), p. 199.
- ^ Toll (2006), pp. 224–227.
- ^ Toll (2006), p. 252.
- ^ a b Allen (1905), pp. 219–220.
- ^ Allen (1905), p. 220.
- ^ Allen (1905), p. 268.
- ^ Cooper (1856), pp. 221–222.
- ^ Allen (1905), p. 269.
- ^ Toll (2006), p. 282.
- ^ OCLC 6140167.
- ^ Roosevelt (1883), pp. 72–73.
- ^ Maclay and Smith (1898), Volume 1, p. 322.
- ^ Cooper (1856), pp. 244–245.
- ^ Roosevelt (1883), pp. 73–74.
- ^ Roosevelt (1883), pp. 74, 76.
- ^ Roosevelt (1883), p. 77.
- ^ a b Maclay and Smith (1898), Volume 1, p. 325.
- ^ Roosevelt (1883), p. 78.
- ^ Cooper (1856), p. 247.
- ^ Roosevelt (1883), pp. 106–107.
- ^ Toll (2006), pp. 419–420.
- ^ Roosevelt (1883), pp. 174–175.
- ^ Maclay and Smith (1898), Volume 1, p. 521.
- ^ Maclay and Smith (1898), Volume 2, pp. 4–5.
- ^ Maclay and Smith (1898), Volume 2, p. 6.
- ^ Allen (1905), p. 281.
- ^ Morris (1880), p. 181.
- ^ Allen (1905), pp. 292–293.
- ^ a b Allen (1905), p. 293.
- ^ a b Morris (1880), p. 182.
- ^ "Independence". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Maclay and Smith (1898), Volume 2, p. 20.
- ^ Allen (1905), p. 294.
- ^ Morris (1880), pp. 182–183.
- ^ a b c Cooper (1856), p. 446.
- ^ Morris (1880), pp. 183–184.
- ^ a b Scholefield and Howay (1914), p. 432.
- ^ a b Morris (1880), p. 184.
- ^ Morris (1880), pp. 185–190.
- ^ Morris (1880), pp. 190–191.
- ^ "Sinclair". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
- ^ Morris (1880), p. 191.
- ^ Brackenridge (1820), pp. 77–78.
- ^ Brackenridge (1820), p. 78.
- ^ Brackenridge (1820), p. 79.
- ^ Read (1870), pp. 238, 241.
- ^ Raymond (1851), p. 47.
- ^ Cooper (1856), p. 448.
- ^ Maclay and Smith (1898), Volume 2, p. 28.
- ^ Wainwright (1951), p. 171.
- ^ a b c Read (1870), p. 241.
- ^ Wainwright (1951), p. 180.
- ^ Wainwright (1951), pp. 179–180.
- ^ Wainwright (1951), p. 182.
- ^ Wainwright (1951), p. 183.
- ^ Toll (2006), p. 474.
Bibliography
- Allen, Gardner Weld (1905). Our Navy and the Barbary Corsairs. Boston, New York and Chicago: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 2618279.
- —— (1909). Our Naval War With France. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 1202325.
- OCLC 12104038.
- OCLC 1995192.
- Canney, Donald L. (2001). Sailing warships of the US Navy. Annapolis, Maryland: OCLC 49323919.
- OCLC 1471717.
- OCLC 197401914.
- Jennings, John (1966). Tattered Ensign The Story of America's Most Famous Fighting Frigate, U.S.S. Constitution. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. OCLC 1291484.
- Maclay, Edgar Stanton; Smith, Roy Campbell (1898) [1893]. A History of the United States Navy, from 1775 to 1898. Vol. 1 (New ed.). New York: D. Appleton. OCLC 609036.
- —— (1898) [1893]. A History of the United States Navy, from 1775 to 1898. Vol. 2 (New ed.). New York: D. Appleton. OCLC 609036.
- OCLC 2496995.
- Raymond, William (1851). Biographical Sketches of the Distinguished Men of Columbia County. Albany: Weed, Parsons. OCLC 3720201.
- Read, William T. (1870). Life and Correspondence of George Read. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott. OCLC 2095027.
- OCLC 133902576.
- Scholefield, E.O.S.; Howay, Frederic William (1914). British Columbia: From the Earliest Times to the Present. Vol. I. Vancouver: S.J. Clarke. OCLC 5756128. Archived from the originalon 27 May 2011.
- Toll, Ian W. (2006). Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the US Navy. New York: W.W. Norton. OCLC 70291925.
- Wainwright, Nicholas B. (April 1951). "Voyage of the Frigate Congress, 1823". Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. 75, no. 2. Historical Society of Pennsylvania. pp. 170–188.
External links
- Guide to the Journal of the USS Congress, 1816–1817 MS 22 held by Special Collection & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy
- Guide to the Remarks Made on Board the United States Frigate Congress, 1817 MS 23 held by Special Collection & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy
- Guide to the Journal of the USS Congress, the Citizen, and the Canton, 1816–1820 MS 24 held by Special Collection & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy