USS John Hancock (1850)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS John Hancock |
| Namesake | John Hancock (1737–1793), early American patriot |
| Builder | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Launched | 26 October 1850 |
| Commissioned | 6 September 1851 |
| Decommissioned | Late 1851 |
| Recommissioned | 19 March 1853 |
| Decommissioned | 23 August 1856 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics as U.S. Navy tug (before 1853 rebuild) | |
| Type | Steam tug |
| Displacement | 230 long tons (234 t) |
| Length | 113 ft (34 m) |
| Beam | 22 ft (6.7 m) |
| Draft | 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) |
| Propulsion | Steam engine, screw-propelled |
| Speed | 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) |
| Complement | 20 officers and enlisted |
| Armament | 1 × 6-pounder gun |
| General characteristics as commercial fishing vessel | |
| Type | Topsail schooner |
| Tonnage | 167.62 tons |
| Length | 143.7 ft (43.8 m) |
| Beam | 23.5 ft (7.2 m) |
| Depth | 8.5 ft (2.6 m) |
USS John Hancock was an armed steam tug in the United States Navy during the 1850s. She was named for Founding Father John Hancock and saw action against rioters in Massachusetts, filbusters in Cuba, rebels in China, and Native Americans in the Washington Territory. She took part in a hydrographic surveying expedition to East Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
After her U.S. Navy service ended, John Hancock operated under the
before she was wrecked in 1893.Service history
1850–1853
John Hancock was
On 9 September 1851, John Hancock departed New York for
She was placed
Survey ship, 1853–1856
John Hancock stood out of
The expedition devoted the next five months to conducting
fired on two of her armed boats from John Hancock, which promptly returned fire and silenced the Chinese guns.Serious illness compelled Commander Ringgold to relinquish command of the expedition on 11 August 1854, leaving Lieutenant Rodgers in charge. Lieutenant Henry K. Stevens then took command of John Hancock. She departed Hong Kong on 9 September 1854 and sailed north along the coast of China, surveying as she went. She arrived at Shanghai, China, on 27 November 1854 and remained there under repair until 28 January 1855, when she resumed surveying operations which took her north along the eastern coast of Asia to the Sea of Okhotsk before she turned south along the western coast of North America. Besides greatly increasing knowledge of the western and northern Pacific Ocean, stimulating commerce, and easing navigation in previously unknown seas, the operations helped to establish friendly relations between the United States and several countries in East Asia.
John Hancock arrived at
John Hancock
Later career
John Hancock later operated under the control of the
Under her final owners, Lynde and Hough,[1] John Hancock departed San Francisco on 8 February 1893 bound for Sand Point[1] on the northwestern coast of Popof Island in the Shumagin Islands off the south coast of the Alaska Peninsula in the Territory of Alaska. While moored at the wharf at Sand Point on 7 March 1893 with a crew of eight and a cargo of 80 tons of salt and provisions aboard, she broke loose from her moorings during a storm and was stranded.[1] Her crew survived, but she and her cargo both were a total loss.[1]
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.