Things You Didn't Know About Oliver Hazard Perry-- Part 1: Family Ties

Perry is part of my signoff for this blog:  Brock-Perry (the Brock part is named for British/Canadian hero Isaac Brock).

From the Feb. 27, 2024, Military History Now Oliver Hazard Perry--  10 Things You Didn't Know About America's Iconic Naval Commander."

1.  He came from a family with strong ties to the U.S. Navy.  His father, Christopher Raymond Perry was a privateer in the American Revolution and captain in the U.S. Navy during the Quasi-War with France.  His brother, Matthew Perry, also in the U.S. Navy played a major role in the opening of Japan to the United States.

2.  Perry became a midshipman at the age of 13.  He spent his youth sailing with his father.  He became a midshipman in 1799 and spent the next six years in the Quasi-War and the Tripolitan War against the Barbary Pirates.

--Brock-Perry

Jacob Jones and the Destroyer Named After Him

Today, I posted about the discovery of the shipwreck of the destroyer USS Jacob Jones this past August in my Cooter's History Thing blog.  It was discovered off the coast of England's southwest side.  It was the first U.S. Navy destroyer sunk in enemy action.

It was torpedoed by a German U-boat, the U-53, on 6 December 1917, after the United States had entered World War I.

It was named after Jacob Nicholas Jones who had quite a career in the American Navy that spanned the Quasi-War with France, The First Barbary War, the War of 1812 and the Second Barbary War.

I have written a whole lot about him.  Just click on his name in the labels below.

--Brock-Perry

Francis B. Gamble: How He Ended Up on the Captured HMS Alert and was Captured

I was more than a little bit confused in the last post when the source said that Francis B. Gamble was captured on the British ship Alert, a prize of the USS Essex and that he was made prisoner and eventually exchanged.  

So, I looked up further information on it.

From Wikipedia.

USS Essex

The ship was a 32 or 36 gun U.S. frigate that was in the Quasi-War with France, the First Barbary War and the War of 1812.  The British captured her in  1814 and she then became the HMS Essex and served the British Navy until sold at public auction in 1837.

When  the War of 1812 broke out, the Essex was commanded by Captain David Porter (the father of later Civil War Admirals David Dixon Porter, and adoptive son David G. Farragut) made a successful cruise southward.  On 11 July, she attacked a British convoy and captured one of them.  On 13 August she engaged and captured the HMS Alert.  

(This would be when Francis Gamble ended up on the Alert which evidently was recaptured by the British when he was aboard it.)

By the time the Essex returned to Boston, it had taken, she had captured ten prizes.

--Brock-Perry

Decatur (Illinois) Named After War of 1812 Hero-- Part 1

From the May 10, 2021, Decatur (Illinois) Herald and Review "City bears name of a hero, Decatur" by John Reidy.

When Stephen Decatur lead a successful raiding party into Tripoli Harbor to burn the captured U.S. frigate Philadelphia, it was called "the most daring act of the age" by none other than Britain's Admiral Horatio Nelson.

On that night in February 1804, the United States had a new hero as well, 21-year-old Lieutenant Stephen Decatur.

In 1829, nine years after his death in a duel at the hands of another rival in the Navy, a new city was founded in Central Illinois which bore his name.

Decatur was our country's first post-Revolutionary War  national hero, leading by example in the Quasi-War vs. France, the Barbary  Wars of North Africa before reaching legendary status when his frigate USS United States defeated the British frigate HMS Macedonian in the War of 1812.

He was swiftly promoted to captain then commodore.

--Brock-Perry

Newly Acquired Documents Shed History of USS Constitution-- Part 2

The USS Constitution is the world's oldest commissioned warship afloat.  It was undefeated in battle and, in the War of 1812,  earned its nickname, Old Ironsides,  when British cannonballs bounced off its wooden hull.

The acquired papers cover several topics, including the construction of the nation's first six frigates, which included the Constitution.  Also, the strategic plans of the  undeclared Quasi-War against France from 1798 to 1800.

The collection belonged to James Sever, the first commander of the USS Congress, another frigate constructed at the same time.  These papers had been in his family ever since.  James Sever was the naval officer officiating at the launch of the Constitution as I have written about before.

Sever supervised the construction of the Congress  and was deployed withy the ship to the Caribbean Sea to protect U.S. merchant ships from French privateers.  The Constitution served alongside the Congress.

The collection also includes  correspondence from the Constitutions commander, Captain Silas Talbot, Henry Knox, Secretary of War under Washington, who oversaw appropriations for the construction of the Constitution and her sister ships; and Toussaint Louverture, the formerly enslaved leader of the Haitian Revolution, who corresponded with U.S. naval commanders about support for his government.

The documents will be  archived at the museum and shared publicly  via email newsletters and social media posts at first.  They also will be digitalized  and made available at the museum's website.

The More We Know.  --Brock-Perry

Captain James Sever-- Part 6: His Background in the Continental Army and U.S. Navy

James Sever was born in Kingston, Massachusetts, in 1781.  He graduated from Harvardin 1781 and immediately received an ensign's commission in the 7th Massachusetts Regiment.  he later transferred to the 4th Massachusetts Regiment and continued service until 1784.

After making several cruises to Europe, he was appointed one of the six captains approved by the Naval Act of 1794.

He was appointed superintendent of the frigate building at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the USS Congress in 1795, but the government suspended construction of it the following year in March when a treaty was signed with Algiers.

Construction resumed on July 16, 1798, as relations with France worsened.  The Congress was launched on August 15, 1799.  James Sever served as her captain through the Quasi War.  After a less-than-spectacular cruise, she returned to the United States and was placed in ordinary in 1801.

--Brock-Perry

Captain James Sever-- Part 3: Some More on the Captain

The Naval History and Heritage Command  Navy Officers 1798-1900  has James Sever, Captain, 11 May 1798.  Discharged 18 June 1801 under Peace Establishment Act.

Also, under this under Christening, Launching and Commissioning of U.S. Navy Ships. I found this:

The first mention of the christening of a Navy warship we have  is that of the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides," at Boston 21 October 1797.  Her sponsor, Captain James Sever, USN, stood on the weather deck at the bow.

"At fifteen minutes after twelve she commenced a movement into the water with such steadiness, majesty and exactness  as to fill every heart with  sensations of joy and delight."

As the Constitution ran out, Captain broke a bottle of fine old Madeira over the heel of the bowsprit.

The National Museum of the U.S. Navy has then sword and leather sea chest of James Sever, commander of the USS Congress during the Quasi War with France.

--Brock-Perry

USS Congress (1799)-- Part 5: Finished For the Quasi War with France

The Congress was given her name by George Washington  after a principle of the U.S. Constitution.  According to reports, her keel was laid down in 1795 at a shipyard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (or close to it, Badger Island).

James Hackett was charged with her construction and Captain James Sever served as superintendent.  Construction proceeded slowly  and was completely suspended in 1796 when a peace treaty was signed with Algiers.  The Congress remained in shipyard, incomplete, until relations with France deteriorated in 1798 and the start of the Quasi War.

At the request of then-President John Adams, funds were approved 16 July to finish her construction.

******************************

ARMAMENT

The Naval Act of 1794 had rated the Congress as 36-gun frigates, but, because of their larger size, upped to 38-guns.  However, ships of this era  had no permanent batteries as do more recent warships.  The cannons were completely portable and often exchanged between ships and stations as needed.

--Brock-Perry

USS Congress (1799)-- Part 2: Action in First and Second Barbary Wars, War of 1812 and Against West Indies Pirates

Her first duties with the U.S. Navy were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi War with France and to defeat Barbary pirates during the First Barbary War.

During the War of 1812, she made several extended cruises in company with her sister ship, the USS President.  During those, the Congress captured or assisted in the capture of twenty British merchant ships.

At then end of 1813, because of lack of materials for repairs, the Congress was placed in ordinary for the remainder of the war.

In 1815, she returned to duty for service in the second Barbary War and made patrols through 1816.  In the 1820s, she helped suppress piracy in the West Indies and made several voyages to South America.

The Congress was also the first American ship to visit China.

The last ten years of her service were as a receiving ship until ordered broken up in 1834.

The next USS Congress, (1841) was a 52-gun frigate destroyed by the CSS Virginia in 1862.

--Brock-Perry

USS Portsmouth (1798)

From Wikipedia.

The USS Portsmouth was the first ship (of four) in the U.S. Navy with that name.  It was constructed in 1798 by master shipbuilder James Hackett to the design of Josiah Fox at what is now Badger's Island, in Kittery, Maine,  directly across the Piscataqua River from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

She was built by funds contributed by the citizens of Portsmouth.  Quite a few ships built around that time were funded by private citizens.  It carried 24 guns.

Commanded by Captain Daniel McNeil, the Portsmouth operated in the West Indies during the Quasi War with France in the squadron commanded by Commodore John Barry.  In 1800, she sailed to France  to bring back the U.S. envoys who had concluded peace negotiations with France.

After a second cruise in the Caribbean, the Portsmouth was sold  less than three years later in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1801 because of the military cutbacks by the new Thomas Jefferson administration after the peace treaty with France was signed, ending the Quasi War.

So, the ship did not participate in the War of 1812.   But, many U.S. Navy officers did who went on to fame in the War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine

I have been writing about this shipyard in Maine in my Tattooed On Your Soul: World War II blog.  During the 1900s, this place was very involved in the construction of submarines, but I also saw there were some ships with War of 1812 connections.

There were three American Revolution ships as well.

The USS Portsmouth, a 24-gun sloop of war was constructed with funds from the citizens of Portsmouth for use during the Quasi War with France in 1799 and sold in 1801.

The USS Congress was a 38-gun frigate was launched in 1799 and saw service in the Quasi War with France, First Barbary War, War of 1812, and Second Barbary War.  It was broken up in 1834.

The USS Washington was a 74-gun ship of the line launched in 1814.  Served until 1820 and broken up in 1843.

--Brock-Perry

U.S. Navy in the War of 1812-- Part 2: Impressment and the Chesapeake-Leopard Incident

After the Quasi War with France was settled in 1800 and the situation with the Barbary States was normalized in 1805, the major remaining threat to the U.S. Navy was clearly the British Navy.  The biggest thing the weak U.S. Navy had going for it was the almost uninterrupted war between Britain and France ever since the French Revolution.

This conflict intensified after Napoleon took over France in 1803.  To keep their ships manned, the British relied on impressment.  American sailors became a prime source for this.

In 1807, the British government increased their blockade on France, resulting in the stopping of American ships and the impressment of American sailors.  Then, on June 22, 1807, the British frigate HMS Leopard stopped the American frigate USS Chesapeake and opened fire when the American commander, James Barron, refused to let them come on board.  The British forced their way on board after a very one-sided fight with three American  dead and eighteen wounded and four sailors taken off for impressment.

Thomas Jefferson always believed that war between the two countries might have been declared right then had Congress been in session.

--Brock-Perry

John Rodgers, U.S. Navy-- Part 2: Quasi-War, Barbary War and War of 1812

United States Navy officer.

He married Minerva Denison in 1806 and they had eight children.  Many of the children served in the military.

He became a hero in the pre-War of 1812 naval squabbles with France and Great Britain.  Served with distinction in the Quasi-War with France.  Helped defeat the Tripolitan naval forces in the Barbary War and defeated  a British sloop-of-war  in 1811, which brought back a measure of respect  for the U.S. Navy in the wake of the USS Chesapeake-HMS Shannon affair.

He commanded several squadrons in the War of 1812 and helped defend to successfully defend Baltimore against the British  in 1814.

After the war, he was named President of the U.S.  Navy Board of Commissioners (which included fellow  commodores Isaac Hull and David D. Porter).

--Brock-Perry

Christopher R. Perry-- Part 3: Becomes a Rich Man and Commands USS General Greene in Quasi War

After the American Revolution, he served on a merchant ship and sailed to Ireland where he was able to bring his beloved Sarah to the United States where they were married in Philadelphia in 1784.  (That must have been an interesting story of his meeting his future wife while a prisoner.

They moved to South Kingston, Rhode Island where his parents had a 200 acre estate.  Their first child, Oliver Hazard Perry was born there in August 1785.)

Christopher Perry then  pursued his career as a merchant ship captain, making voyages all over the world and making a small fortune in the process.  He was able to move his family to the fast-growing Newport, Rhode Island and by 1797, he was rich enough to retire.

On January 7, 1798, he was commissioned as a captain in the U.S. Navy during the Quasi War with France.  Given command of the frigate USS General Greene, he brought along his son, 13-year-old midshipman Oliver Hazard Perry.

You can read the rest of the story about his time on the USS General Greene on my May 4 and May 6 blogs.

--Brock-Perry

USS General Greene-- Part 2: Quasi War, Haitian Revolution, Burned At Washington Navy Yard

While in San Domingo (today's Dominican Republic), the General Greene was with the USS Boston (later burned with the Greene at Washington navy Yard in 1814).  On December 1, 1799,  the Greene assisted in the capture of the schooner Flying Fish and then retook the American schooner Weymouth, which had been captured by the French privateer  Hope.

After that, much of her time was spent keeping an eye on the Haitian Revolution and gave artillery support to General Toussaint.  In April 1800, she carried two representatives of Toussaint to an audience with President John Adams and later convoyed 12 merchant ships to Havana

Afterwards, the Greene went to Newport, Rhode Island, where its crew was discharged.  Captain Christopher R. Perry was retired under the Peace Establishment Act of 3 April 1801.  After that, the general Greene was laid up in ordinary at Washington Navy Yard where she served as a floating sick bay for the frigate USS Constellation in 1801.

In 1805, the ship was reduced to a sheer hulk.  It was burned to prevent capture by the British August 24, 1814.

That Covers All the Ships That I Found Were Burned At the Washington Navy Yard When the British Captured Washington, D.C..

Brock-Perry

The USS Boston Also Burned At Washington Navy Yard

From Wikipedia.

The USS Boston was a 32-gun, wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate built by public subscription in Boston which took part in the Quasi War with France and the First Barbary War.  It was launched in 1700 and commissioned the same year.

The Boston protected American commerce ships from French privateers in the Quasi War, capturing eight prizes (two with the USS General Greene).  In the Barbary War the ship  battled Barbary ships.

Laid up in 1802 at Washington Navy Yard, it was deemed in such bad shape that it was not worth repairing.  She was burned August 24, 1814, to prevent capture by the British.

--Brock-Perry

USS New York-- Part 1: Quasi War and First Barbary War

From Wikipedia.

A three-masted, wooden sailing frigate that saw service during the Quasi War with France and the First Barbary War.  It was built by public subscription by citizens of New York, one of five frigates built by states to supplement the original six provided for by the Naval Act of 1794.

Length 145 feet, beam 28 feet,  340 officers and men,  Armament:   twenty-six  18-pdr. guns and twenty 32-pdr carronades.

It was built in New York City and commissioned in October 1800 with Captain Richard Valentine Morris in command.  The Quasi War took place in the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas where French warships preyed on American shipping interests.  In 1800, the New York patrolled Caribbean waters.

In 1802, it went to the Mediterranean Sea.  Became flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron in 1803.

--Brock-Perry

George Armistead-- Part 2: Entered Army During Quasi-War with France

From Wikipedia.

April 10, 1780- April 25, 1818

American military officer.  Commander of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore.

Born at Newmarket Plantation in Caroline County, Virginia (now the town of Milford )  Newmarket Plantation apparently still stands and is in use.

His military career began during the Quasi War with France when he was commissioned an ensign in the 7th U.S. Infantry Regiment on January 14, 1799.  He became a second lieutenant on March 3, 1799 and 1st lieutenant May 14, 1800.

After the Quasi War, the Army was reduced in strength and Armistead was discharged June 15, 1800.

--Brock-Perry

The USS Constellation Setting Sail for Reconstruction-- Part 1

From the October 26, 2017, WMAR ABC 2, Baltimore, Md.

The USS Constellation is a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Civil War and can usually be found in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, but on Thursday, October 26, is set sail.  It sailed to Fort McHenry and fired a salute and turned around.

The reconstruction is part of the Living Classroom Foundation's effort.

The Constellation first sailed in 1797 and participated in the Quasi War with France where it captured a French frigate and two French privateers.

--Brock-Perry

The Quasi War's USS Merrimack-- Part 3: Cooperating With the USS Patapsco

The USS Merrimack, along with the USS Ganges and USS Pickering recaptured the American schooner John on the 15th of August after it had been captured the day before.

On June 6, 1800, it freed the American brig which had been captured a few days earlier.

In 22 September 1800, the ship arrived at Curacao, in the Netherlands Antilles and found sixteen French ships and 1400 men besieging it.  The Merrimack and USS Patapsco forced them to leave.

20 October 1800, it captured the French privateer Phoenix.

The Merrimack was stripped of its naval equipment and sold in 1801, later in the merchant service as  the Monticello and sank off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

--Brock-Perry