U.S. Navy "Subscription" Ships-- Part 3: USS John Adams

Yet another "Subscription" ship that saw service in the War of 1812 (and even the Mexican and Civil War), was the 30-gun frigate USS John Adams, built by the people of Charleston, South Carolina, and commissioned in 1799. Before the War of 1812, it served in the Quasi War and First Barbary War.

It was converted to a corvette or sloop of war before the War of 1812. At the outbreak of the war, the ship was in Boston undergoing repairs and moved to New York for completion which didn't happen until 1814.

It carried U.S. peace commissioners Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell to Europe under a flag of truce where it arrived in Norway. Returning, it carried dispatches concerning the Treaty of Ghent which ended the war.

After the War of 1812, the John Adams participated in the Second Barbary War, Mexican War and even the Civil War. (I'll write about its service in the last war in my Civil War Navy Blog.)

 Wikipedia says not to get the USS John Adams confused with the USS Adams.

--Brock-Perry