USS Merrimack (1798)

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History
US flag 15 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Merrimack
BuilderAssociation of Newburyport Shipwrights, Newburyport, Massachusetts
Launched12 October 1798
CommissionedDecember 1798
DecommissionedApril 1801
FateSold 1801
NotesSubsequently lost as merchant ship Monticello
General characteristics
Tonnage460
PropulsionSails
Complement220 officers and enlisted
Armament
  • 20 × 9-pounder guns
  • 8 × 6-pounder guns

USS Merrimack, was a ship launched by an Association of Newburyport Shipwrights and presented to the Navy in 1798. She was the first ship of the Navy to be named for the Merrimack River. She saw action in the Quasi-War.

Contents

Service history

Captain Moses Brown commanded Merrimack when she was placed in service in December 1798. She departed Boston on 3 January 1799 for the Windward Islands to protect American merchantmen in the Caribbean during the naval war with France. She arrived Prince Rupert Bay on the 20th, and, for the next two years, cruised in the West Indies and escorted convoys to the United States.

On 26 March, 1799 she recaptured American brig "Harmony" that had been captured by French privateer schooner "La Resolue" and escorted her to Martinico. [1] On 28 June 1799, she took her first prize L'Magicienne ( 62°29′N16°51′W / 62.483°N 16.850°W / 62.483; -16.850 ), [2] the former American navy schooner USS Retaliation, captured on 20 November 1798 and taken into the French Navy. She took French letter-of-marque schooner Bounaparte [3] 7 August and, with Ganges and Pickering, recaptured American schooner John on the 15th, after that ship had struck her colors to French privateer Revelleiu the day before. On 25 September, 1799 she recaptured British schooner "Charming Nancy" that had been captured by a French privateer, later in the day she recaptured American sloop "Elizabeth" that the French had taken. [4] On 8 December, 1799 arrived at Cape Ann, Massachusetts, and then on into Boston. [5]

Merrimack freed American brig Ceres, 6 June 1800, after it had been taken by L'Hazard on 18 May 1800. On arriving off Curaçao, 22 September, she found that a French force of 16 ships from Guadeloupe was besieging the city with 1,400 men. That evening, with Patapsco, Merrimack stood into the harbor through heavy fire from French cannon and muskets. The American gunners replied with great spirit driving the enemy troops from their guns, but from time to time, during the night, the French soldiers renewed the cannonade. The next morning, the French troops reembarked in confusion and fled.

Merrimack captured French privateer sloop Phoenix on 20 October 1800, and later in the year took French brig Brilliant. A list of American prizes credits Merrimack with recapturing British schooner Godfrey, but gives no details about the action.

She was stripped of naval equipment and sold in 1801. Subsequently, while operating in merchant service under the name Monticello, the ship was lost off Cape Cod, Massachusetts the same year. [6]

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References

  1. ↑ "Naval Documents related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France Volume 2 Part 3 of 3 Naval Operations November 1798 to March 1799" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  2. ↑ "Naval Documents related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France Volume 2 Part 4 of 3 Naval Operations April 1799 to July 1799 June Pg. 424" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  3. ↑ "Naval Documents related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France Volume Part 3 of 3 Naval Operations August 1799 to December 1799, December Pg. 575" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  4. ↑ "Naval Documents related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France Volume Part 1 of 3 Naval Operations August 1799 to December 1799 August to September Pg. 229" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  5. ↑ "Naval Documents related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France Volume Part 3 of 3 Naval Operations August 1799 to December 1799, December Pg. 503" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  6. ↑ "Monticello (+1801)". wrecksite. Retrieved 28 March 2024.

42°07′34″N69°44′56″W / 42.126°N 69.749°W / 42.126; -69.749

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