USS St. Louis (1828)

	St. Louis serving as a receiving ship at Philadelphia, 1874. She has been housed over to provide accommodations, but she still retains her masts and the stump of her bowsprit
History
United States
Name	USS St. Louis
Namesake	St. Louis, Missouri
Laid down	12 February 1827
Launched	18 August 1828
Commissioned	20 December 1828
Decommissioned	12 May 1865
Stricken	9 August 1906
Fate	Sold for scrapping, 5 June 1907
General characteristics
Type	Sloop-of-war
Displacement	700 long tons (711 t)
Length	127 ft (39 m)
Beam	33 ft 9 in (10.29 m)
Draft	15 ft 6 in (4.72 m)
Propulsion	Sail
Complement	125 officers and enlisted
Armament	20 × 24-pounder smoothbore guns

USS St. Louis was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy through most of the 19th century.

St. Louis was laid down on 12 February 1827 at the

Master Commandant John D. Sloat

in command.

On the day of her commissioning, St. Louis got underway and proceeded to

Sandy Hook, New Jersey, on 9 December. She was laid up in ordinary at New York City

on the 25th.

Recommissioned on 19 September 1832, St. Louis departed New York on 12 October to base at Pensacola, Florida, as a unit of the West Indies Squadron. She spent the following six years, largely as flagship for the squadron, cruising the Caribbean. On 28 May 1838, she sailed from Havana for New York where she again was placed in ordinary on 1 July and laid up until 5 April 1839.

St. Louis sailed on 30 June to join the Pacific Squadron at

San Francisco, California where her commanding officer interceded with the government of California for imprisoned foreign residents. She had the distinction of being the first American man-of-war to carry the flag into that port. Following operations off the coast of Peru

, she returned to Norfolk on 15 September 1842 and was laid up in ordinary there the following day.

St. Louis was recommissioned on 27 February 1843 and soon joined the

Battle of Kororareka, New Zealand in March. At Norfolk the ship underwent conversion to lengthen her hull by 13 feet. Departing from Norfolk on 11 August 1848, she sailed to Rio de Janeiro, where she served on the South America Station

until returning in July 1851.

St. Louis next departed from Norfolk on 24 August 1852 to cruise the

Martin Koszta

. The revolutionary leader had emigrated to the United States and announced his intentions of becoming an American citizen. Subsequently, while in Smyrna on business, he had been arrested by Austrian officials. Mediation by the French Consul effected Koszta's release.

St. Louis returned to New York on 8 May 1855 and sailed again in November to help suppress the slave trade along the western coast of Africa, returning to New York on 9 February 1858. In September of that year, she joined the Home Squadron based at Pensacola, Florida.

In January 1861, while serving with the Home Squadron off

Vera Cruz, Mexico, St. Louis was ordered to return to Pensacola to stand guard during the turmoil which preceded the outbreak of the American Civil War. In April, she aided in the reinforcement of Fort Pickens; then joined in the massive blockade of southern ports. On 5 September, she assisted Brooklyn in the capture of blockade-running Confederate brig, Macao, at the mouth of the Mississippi River

.

After being rearmed during a brief period in the

South Atlantic Blockading Squadron

.

Three days later, sailors and marines from St. Louis went ashore at

Philadelphia Navy Yard

where she was decommissioned on 12 May 1865.

St. Louis spent the remainder of her career at Philadelphia. After being laid up in 1866 and declared unserviceable, she became a

Naval Militia of the State of Pennsylvania

.

On 30 November 1904, while she was engaged in this service, her name was changed to Keystone State. She was finally struck from the

Joseph G. Hitner