West Indies Squadron (United States)
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West Indies Squadron | |
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Active | 1822–1842 |
Country | United States of America |
Branch | United States Navy |
Type | Naval squadron |
Garrison/HQ | Saint Thomas Island Pensacola Naval Yard, Florida |
The West Indies Squadron, or the West Indies Station, was a United States Navy squadron that operated in the West Indies in the early nineteenth century. It was formed due to the need to suppress piracy in the Caribbean Sea, the Antilles and the Gulf of Mexico region of the Atlantic Ocean. This unit later engaged in the Second Seminole War until being combined with the Home Squadron in 1842. From 1822 to 1826 the squadron was based out of Saint Thomas Island until the Pensacola Naval Yard was constructed.
Formation
United States Navy ships had for years operated against piracy and the
Anti-piracy operations
Legal and political background
Caribbean pirates of the era were
In 1819
, the corvette USS John Adams, and USS Nonsuch. The commodore's orders were to demand restitution for attacks on United States' merchant ships by Venezuelan privateers, and to receive an assurance that the privateers would be restrained from capturing American vessels. Perry was initially successful in completing his mission, and a treaty was signed on 11 August 1819. However, on his cruise back to the United States he died of yellow fever at Trinidad, which led to failure of the agreement.The informal squadron 1817–1822
The first American vessels to serve against West Indies piracy were part of an unofficial squadron which became the founding warships of the prolonged operation. The schooners USS Enterprise,
On 22 December 1817, USS John Adams forced the pirate Luis Aury to evacuate his base at Amelia Island, Florida. Later, John Adams was flagship of Commodore Biddle's squadron. By 1820, conflict with the pirates and privateers started to increase: United States warships engaged in several naval actions that year, and a total of 27 American merchant ships were captured. Between 1818 and 1821 the USS Enterprise captured 13 pirate and slave ships while serving with the New Orleans Squadron – later in the West Indies. On 24 October 1819, while under command of Lieutenant J.R. Madison, USS Lynx captured two pirate schooners and two boats in the Gulf of Mexico, and on 9 November she captured another pirate boat in Galveston Bay. Lynx disappeared in January 1820 while sailing to Jamaica, she likely sank due to a storm; none of her crew were ever seen or heard from again.
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The schooner USS Grampus defeated 2 pirate ships during her service with the West Indies Squadron
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USS Alligator, a schooner and veteran pirate fighter
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USS Peacock 1813
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USS Hornet foundering off Tampico, Mexico, 29 September 1829
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USS Vincennes
In October 1821, while sailing off
USS Hornet captured a privateer schooner named Moscow on 29 October 1821 and on 21 December she captured a pirate ship apparently without a fight; the pirates escaped to shore. On 16 December 1821, the USS Porpoise, Lieutenant James Ramage commanding, was sailing off Cape San Antonio and found five enemy vessels, including the merchant brig Bolina. Forty sailors were lowered into five boats and Ramage's command. Though some of the pirates fled to shore, many resisted, and the five American boats destroyed the five pirate ships by burning them, and freed Bolina. Three pirates were captured and several killed according to reports.
Early West Indies Squadron 1821–1822
In autumn of 1821, USS Spark, under Lieutenant John Elton, departed Boston and joined the list of vessels assigned to counter piracy. In January 1822, Elton captured a Dutch-flagged pirate sloop. Seven prisoners were taken to Charleston for trial. Spark then returned to the Caribbean and remained on station for the next three years, by which time the official West Indies Squadron was formed. When the United States Navy began campaigning against the pirates, the Royal Navy was quick to follow suit and created their own West Indies Squadron.
In March 1822, boat crews from the USS Enterprise captured two launches and four boats in a creek near Cape San Antonio, and on 6 March she seized eight more craft and over 150 pirates.
USS Grampus encountered the brig Palyrma [
Commodore Porter then attacked and destroyed a pirate force at Funda Bay, Cuba, between 28 and 30 September 1822. Also on 28 September Peacock captured a boat filled with pirates about 60 miles from Havana. Later that afternoon Peacock met the merchant vessel Speedwell which was attacked by pirates two hours before. In response, Captain Stephen Cassin launched a boat expedition that captured four schooners, though again most of the pirates escaped.
On 2 November 1822, USRC Louisiana, along with USS Peacock and the Royal Navy schooner HMS Speedwell, captured five pirate vessels off Havana. On 8 November 1822, Lieutenant Allen of USS Alligator was killed in battle, while leading an attack against three enemy schooners that were holding five merchantmen hostage. In the action, two of the schooners were captured and at least 14 pirates were killed.
British engagements 1822–1823
Three significant engagements occurred between the British and the pirates in 1822 and 1823.
A British merchant ship under Captain William Smith was taken over by Spanish pirates of the schooner Emanuel in July 1822. The pirates made the British commander
On 30 September 1822, a 5-gun pirate felucca named Firme Union and 5-gun schooner named El Diabelito attacked the 1-gun sloop Eliza, a tender to HMS Tyne. During the engagement that ensued, the British boarded and captured Firme Union. Ten pirates were killed and the rest abandoned ship and escaped; British casualties were two men killed and seven wounded, including the midshipman commanding Eliza.
HMS Grecian, with six guns, captured the 8-gun schooner La Cata on 1 March 1823, south of Cuba. Thirty brigands were killed in the action and only three were taken prisoner, out of a force of over 100 men.
HMS Tyne, with 26 guns, and HMS Thracian, with 18 guns, defeated the pirate Captain Cayatano Aragonez's 5-gun ship Zaragozana on 31 March 1823 in a running battle. The two British ships chased Captain Aragonez into Mata Harbor, Cuba, where boats were lowered and captured the vessel. Ten pirates were killed and 28 were captured while the Royal Navy sustained only slight casualties. The Royal Navy took Zaragozana into service as HMS Renegade; Aragonez and most of his men were hanged at Port Royal.
Newly re-enforced squadron 1822–1825
Due to fall-out over
The new squadron left the United States for Cuba on 15 February 1823. Commodore Biddle also received new orders of conduct: he was now permitted to land shore parties in populated areas, as long as he informed the locals first. Biddle was also ordered to cooperate with any other sovereign naval forces operating against pirates.
USS Fox was sent to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in March 1823 to obtain a list of all legally commissioned privateers and a details of their instructions. When the American schooner entered San Juan Harbor on 3 March an artillery battery fired on the ship. A few shots hit the Fox which mortally wounded Lieutenant W.H. Cocke, her commander. Commodore Porter later accepted an apology for the incident from Puerto Rico's governor.
Two barges,
Grampus rescued the crew of the American schooner Shiboleth after it had been taken by pirates in June 1823. The brigands boarded the merchantman silently, killed the guards, and then cornered the remainder of the crew within the ship. The pirates robbed the ship and set her on fire. Grampus arrived when the Shiboleth was still burning and took off her surviving crew. The same pirates attacked another merchant ship a few days later before being detected by the Spanish Army and jailed.
In June 1823, the USS Ferret's crew skirmished with the brigands. During one incident, Ferret found a few pirate craft in shallow water off
On 5 July 1823, USS Sea Gull, under the command of Lieutenant Watson, with the barges Gallinipper and Mosquito, fought pirates off Matanzas, near where Lieutenant Allen was killed in 1822. The three American vessels encountered a heavily armed schooner with a crew of about 75 near a Cuban village. The United States Navy attacked with their cannon and the schooner was hit, so her captain began a retreat. When further hits struck the schooner, the pirates panicked and began to abandon ship by jumping into the water. The barges maneuvered in close to the schooner and the sailors and marines on board fired volleys into their fleeing enemy, shouting "Allen, Allen" in the process. An American landing party attacked the 15 pirates who made it ashore; 11 more were killed and the last four were captured by the Cuban villagers. In total about 70 pirates were killed; only five survived.
On 21 July 1823, the commanders of Beagle and Greyhound were investigating
Throughout the history of the West Indies Squadron, tropical disease was common among the American warships which had to sail back to the United States when outbreaks occurred. By January 1824, most of the West Indies Squadron ships had been recalled, mainly because of illness, though in February the squadron under Commodore Porter returned to operate for a few months before sailing north again in July. During this time, piracy in Puerto Rican waters began to briefly rise until mid-1825, between July and August, ten attacks on American merchant vessels were reported and only a few warships remained on station, by October the majority were back in American ports.
In October 1824, pirates raided Saint Thomas in the Danish Virgin Islands and returned to
The United States government was not pleased by Commodore Porter's actions; he was court martialed before resigning his commission. Commodore Porter was relieved of duty in February 1825, and joined and became head of the Mexican Navy from 1827 to 1829.
The American operation against pirates in the West Indies was declared a victory in 1825.
Joint British and U.S. operations 1825–1842
In March 1825, the Gallinipper was accompanied by the frigate HMS Dartmouth and the schooners HMS Lion and HMS Union in an operation against Cuban pirates. U.S. Navy Lieutenant Isaac McKeever, in command, led an attack against a pirate schooner at the mouth of the Sagua la Grande River. American and British forces took the ship, killed eight outlaws and captured 19 others with only one man wounded. On the following day, another schooner was captured but the pirates escaped and the vessel was taken without bloodshed. This mission was one of the first joint operations conducted by British and American forces.
Famed pirate Roberto Cofresí was defeated on 5 March by the USS Grampus and two Spanish sloops off Boca del Infierno. Cofresi was considered the last successful Caribbean pirate and was executed on 29 March 1825. From 1827 to 1830, the West Indies Squadron was commanded by Charles G. Ridgely and engaged in anti-piracy activities.[1][2][3] Piracy declined in the region, though isolated incidents involving the squadron and pirates continued into the 1830s.
Whenever the squadron was not searching for criminals on the sea, it operated by convoying merchant ships. United States naval operations in the West Indies were eventually turned over to the Home Squadron and the Brazil Squadron by 1842.
Second Seminole War
Before it disbanded, the West Indies Squadron engaged in one last Caribbean conflict with the native Americans of Florida. When the conflict with the
In November 1836, marines and sailors in boats from the squadron engaged Seminole warriors in Wahoo Swamp. During the action, Army Major David Moniac was killed while the expedition attempted to cross a stream of unknown depth. Under heavy fire, the American marines and soldiers were forced to retreat.
Men of the West Indies Squadron engaged in another
Other operations were undertaken by the squadron until it was disbanded and its ships became part of the Home Squadron.
References
- ^ Johnson, Rossiter; Brown, John Howard, eds. (1906). The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. IX. Boston: The Biographical Society. p. 112.
- ISBN 9780598618450.
In 1828 the United States West India squadron was commanded by Flag Officer Charles G. Ridgeley (for his gallant services during the war with the Barbary corsairs this officer had received the congressional gold medal of honor)
- ^ "Ridgely, Charles Goodwin, 1784–1848". Redwood Library and Athenaeum. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
Sources
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
- Wombwell, James A., The Long War Against Piracy: Historical Trends (2009) pp. 40–55.[ISBN missing]