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 Niagara-- Part 3: Sunk, Raised and Sunk Again

The USS Niagara was built by Daniel Dobbins, who also built the USS Porcupine.  In September 1812, he traveled to Washington, D.C. to warn the government about the vulnerability of the Great Lakes.  On 15 September he was authorized to build 4 gunboats for the protection of Lake Erie

The construction of these four ships was largely overseen by Noah Brown, a noted naval architect.

After the war, the Queen Charlotte, Detroit and Lawrence were sunk for their preservation in Misery Bay by Presque Isle.  The Niagara was kept afloat to be used as a receiving ship.  It was sunk in 1820 when the naval station at Presque Isle closed.

Benjamin H. Brown of Rochester, New York, bought all four ships in 1825 and then he sold them to George Miles of Erie, Pennsylvania who raised them to use as merchant ships, but he found the Niagara and Lawrence had holds that were too small and they were in such bad shape that he allowed them to sink again..

--Brock-Perry

HMS Shannon-- Part 2: Information

From Wikipedia.

A 38-gun Leda-class frigate.

Ordered--   24 October 1803

Laid Down--  August 1804

Launched--  5 May 1806

Completed--  3 August 1806

Receiving ship--  1831

Renamed HMS St. Lawrence in 1844

Broken up in 1859

--Brock-Perry

US Ships-of-the-Line-- Part 7: USS Vermont and New Hampshire

The USS VERMONT was ordered 29 April 1816 and launched in 1848 but not commissioned until 1862. It was not struck from Navy lists until 1901. After launching in 1848, it remained in ordinary in Boston Navy Yard until the Civil War when it was needed as a storage and receiving ship for the South Atlantic Blockading Fleet (SABS) based in Port Royal, S.C..

It was later also used as an ordnance and hospital ship.

In 1864, the Vermont was replaced by her sister ship, the USS New Hampshire. After that, it remained in the Brooklyn Navy Yard for 37 years.

USS NEW HAMPSHIRE-- Originally to be named the Alabama, it was launched in 1819 but not commissioned until 1864. In 1864, it replaced the USS Vermont at Port Royal, SC, and became a receiving ship for the SABS.

During the 1880s, it was used as training ship at the USNA and later became the receiving ship at New London, Connecticut 1891-1892.

After that, it became the training ship of the New York Naval Militia where an estimated 1,000 officers and men learned seamanship who fought in the Spanish-American War.

It was renamed the Granite State in 1904, to free up the name for the battleship New Hampshire (BB-25). After that, it was stationed in the Hudson River and provided training for naval personnel who fought in World War I. In 1921, it caught fire and sank.

--Brock-Perry