USS Vincennes (1826)

19th-century painting (based on a sketch by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, USN), depicting USS Vincennes in Disappointment Bay, Antarctica, circa January–February 1840.
History
United States
Name	USS Vincennes
Namesake	Vincennes, Indiana
Builder	Brooklyn Navy Yard
Laid down	1825
Launched	27 April 1826
Commissioned	27 August 1826
Decommissioned	28 August 1865
Stricken	1867 (est.)
Fate	Sold, 5 October 1867
General characteristics
Class and type	Boston-class sloop-of-war
Displacement	700 long tons (711 t)
Length	127 ft (39 m) p/p
Beam	33 ft 9 in (10.29 m)
Draft	16 ft 6 in (5.03 m)
Propulsion	Sail
Speed	18.5 knots (rated)[1]
Complement	80
Armament	18 guns

USS Vincennes was a 703-ton Boston-class

the globe.

Service history

Vincennes—the first American ship to be so named—was one of ten sloops of war whose construction was authorized by

in command.

The ship set sail for the first time on 3 September 1826, from New York bound for the

. Two days later the ship was decommissioned.

Following repairs and recommissioned, Vincennes then operated in the

U.S. East Coast

in June 1836.

Supporting the Wilkes Expedition

Decommissioned once again in 1836, while she underwent remodeling, she was refitted with a light spar deck and declared the flagship of the South Sea Surveying and Exploring Expedition to the Antarctic region. Commanded by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, the expedition sailed from Hampton Roads in August 1838, and made surveys along the South American coast before making a brief survey of Antarctica in early 1839. Entering into the South Pacific in August and September 1839, her cartographers drafted charts of that area that are still used today.

Following survey operations and other scientific work along the west coast of

, a name given on maps as early as 1841.

The remainder of her deployment included visits to the islands of the South Pacific,

This third voyage around the world ended at New York in June 1842.

1842–1847 operations

Vincennes was next assigned to the Home Squadron and placed under the command of Commander Franklin Buchanan, a distinguished officer destined to become the first Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy. She sailed to the West Indies and cruised off the Mexican coast until the summer of 1844. Though this duty proved relatively uneventful, Vincennes did rescue two grounded English brigs off the coast of Texas and received the thanks of the British government for this service. Buchanan was also ordered to prevent any attempted invasion by Mexico of the new Republic of Texas. This eventuality never materialized; and Vincennes returned to Hampton Roads on 15 August to enter dry dock.

On 4 June 1845, Vincennes sailed for the

Government.

The squadron sailed for

, was too ill to make the trip. Therefore, Biddle determined to conduct the negotiations himself.

Accordingly, Vincennes and Columbus sailed for

for another year before returning to New York on 1 April 1847. Here, she was decommissioned on the 9th, dry-docked, and laid up.

1849–1860 operations

Vincennes remained in ordinary until 1849. Recommissioned on 12 November 1849, she sailed from New York exactly one month later, bound for

at the time. Turning south, Vincennes cruised off South America until late 1851, closely monitoring the activities of revolutionaries ashore.

She made a courtesy call to the Hawaiian Islands at the end of the year and proceeded thence to Puget Sound where she arrived on 2 February 1852. She anchored briefly there and returned via San Francisco and the Horn to New York where she arrived on 21 September and was decommissioned on the 24th.

Following repairs and a period in ordinary, Vincennes was recommissioned on 21 March 1853 and sailed into

.

Vincennes sailed on to survey the

. Ice barriers prevented the vessel from reaching this destination, but she came closer than any other previous ship. Vincennes returned to San Francisco in early October and later sailed for the Horn and New York, where she arrived on 13 July 1856 to complete yet another circumnavigation of the globe.

Vincennes operated with the

African Squadron

in 1857–1860.

American Civil War service

After the outbreak of the

while her men took refuge on other ships. However, her engineer cut the burning fuse and threw it overboard before the magazine could explode and, after the Confederate vessels withdrew early in the afternoon, Vincennes was refloated.

After the Confederate attack, the Union sloop-of-war continued on blockade duty off the Passes of the Mississippi, capturing the blockade-running British

, on 18 July 1863. Vincennes also reported the capture of two boats laden with food on 24 December.

End-of-war service and decommissioning

Vincennes remained off

at Boston on 5 October 1867 for approximately $5,000.00.

See also

• Mexican–American War
• European and American voyages of scientific exploration
• Union Navy

Notes

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Hennessy, M. Shawn (2009). Freedom's Fortress: Vincennes' History of Service to the United States. Seattle: MS Hennessy Publishing.
  ISBN 978-0-615-29191-8
  .

External links

• USS Vincennes (1826–1867) at ibiblio
• Vincennes
• "Transactions Growing out of the Visit of the U.S. ship Vincennes to the Principal Islands in the Pacific Ocean, 1829-1830: Finding Aid". United States Naval Academy. Special Collections & Archives. May 2020.