The frigate departed New York in mid-September 1799 and headed for the West Indies to protect American shipping from attacks by French privateers, during the Quasi-War with France. She arrived at Saint Christopher on 10 October and soon began cruising nearby waters in search of French men of war and any prizes which had been captured by warships flying French colors.
Later that month, she recaptured the brig Zylpha and assisted USSInsurgent in taking an unidentified 4-gun French privateer and freeing an English brig and a schooner from Boston which that vessel had seized.
On 12 November, she again teamed with Insurgent in recapturing the 14-gun English brig Margaret. On the 20th, they cooperated in liberating the schoonerNancy off Guadeloupe which had struck her colors on the 18th. On 20 November off Guadeloupe they recaptured schooner "Nancy", captured on 18 November by a French privateer.[4] On 15 December, she took the French privateer Le Onze Vendémiaire.[5][6]
On 10 January 1800, Adams and USSEagle made the French schooner La Fougeuse their prize and, late in the month, Adams recaptured the schooner Alphia. Sometime in January she captured schooner "Le Gambeaux".[7] French schooner L'Heureuse Rencontre was captured, and privateer "General Massena" also, and "Isabella", a prize of Berceau was recaptured, in February.[8][9] The following month, she freed the sloop Nonpareil and she did the same for the schooner Priscilla in April.[10]
But Adams most successful month came in May when she recaptured an unidentified schooner and teamed up with Insurgent once more in freeing a British letter of marque. During the same month she also recaptured schooner Nancy, schooner Grinder(There is an unclear reference to HMS Unity in connection to this ship), and an unidentified brig, she captured the brig Dove and the schooner Renomie.[11]
In need of repairs, Adams returned to New York on 3 June 1800, after briefly running aground off Cape Hatteras,[12] On 18 August Capt. Thomas Robinson was made her new Captain replacing Capt. Morris.[13] Early in the fall she headed back to the Caribbean. However, on this cruise she did not have the success which she had enjoyed under Capt. Richard Morris but for the most part was limited to patrol and escort duty. She did manage to recapture the British schooner Grendin, but the date of the action is unknown. On 23 March 1801, the Secretary of the Navy ordered her home. She arrived prior to 7 June[14] and was laid up at New York.[3]
First Barbary War
However, trouble in the Mediterranean prevented her respite from being long. The Barbary states on the northern coast of Africa were capturing American merchantmen attempting to trade in that ancient sea and enslaving their crews. Capt. Edward Preble was ordered to New York to take command by the Navy Secretary on 12 January, 1802.[15] In a letter dated 13 April, 1802 Preble asked for a furlough due to a rapid decline in his health since arriving in New York in January.[16] His request was granted in a letter dated 16 April.[17] Capt. Hugh G. Campbell was ordered to take command in a letter dated 17 April.[18] On 10 June 1802, she departed New York and headed for the Strait of Gibraltar carrying orders for Commodore Richard V. Morris, her first commanding officer who was now in command of the American Mediterranean Squadron. She arrived there on 22 July and remained in that port blockading the Tripolitan cruiser Meshuda lest she escape and prey on American shipping. It was not until 8 April 1803 that she was freed of this duty. She then joined the rest of Morris' squadron in operations off Tripoli.
However, as a squadron commander, Morris seemed to have lost the dash and daring he had displayed in operations against the French in the West Indies while in command of a single ship. His indecisiveness in the Mediterranean prompted Washington to order his recall and he sailed for home in Adams on 25 September. The frigate carried Morris to Washington, arriving 15 November, 1803 and was placed in ordinary at the navy yard.[3][19]
1805–1811
Reactivated under command of Capt. Alexander Murray in July 1805, Adams cruised along the coast of the United States from New York to Florida protecting American commerce. In the autumn of the following year she was again laid up in Washington and – but for service enforcing the Embargo Act in 1809 – remained inactive at the nation's capital until the outbreak of the War of 1812. In August 1811 she became the receiving ship at the Washington Navy Yard.[3]
War of 1812
In June 1812, Adams was cut in half amidships and lengthened 15 feet in the course of being completely rebuilt as a sloop-of-war of 26 × 18-pounder guns. Commanded by Capt. Charles Morris, she was ready for action by the end of the year, but was bottled up in the Chesapeake Bay by blockading British warships until she finally managed to slip out to sea on 18 January 1814. She cruised in the eastern Atlantic and along the African coast and took five merchantmen prizes before putting in at Savannah, Georgia, in April.
Underway again in May, she headed for the Newfoundland Banks and ultimately sailed eastward to waters off the British Isles. During this cruise, she took five more merchant ships chased two more into the River Shannon, and barely managed to escape from a much larger British warship. She captured Woodbridge, which was sailing from India to Britain, but had to give her up when HMSDannemark and HMSAlbacore arrived on the scene while escorting a convoy to the Brazils.[20]
The Burning of the Adams, 3 September 1814, by Irwin John David Bevan
Near the end of her homeward passage, Adams ran aground on the Isle au Haut on 17 August 1814 and was damaged seriously. Skillful seamanship aided by a rising tide managed to refloat the ship and despite heavy leaking she made it into the Penobscot River and reached Hampden, Maine (then part of the District of Maine under Massachusetts). There on 3 September 1814, during the Battle of Hampden, she was scuttled and set ablaze to prevent capture by a British squadron under the command of Rear-Admiral Edward Griffiths supporting British offensive operations in Maine.[3] The crew largely escaped, walking overland to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Frost, John (1845). The pictorial book of the commodores: comprising lives of distinguished commanders in the navy of the United States. Nafis and Cornish, New York. p.432, ISBN1-55750-839-9, E'Book
The USS Enterprise was a schooner, built by Henry Spencer at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1799. Her first commander thought that she was too lightly built and that her quarters, in particular, should be bulletproofed. Enterprise was overhauled and rebuilt several times, effectively changing from a twelve-gun schooner to a fourteen-gun topsail schooner and eventually to a brig. Enterprise saw action in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean again, capturing numerous prizes. She wrecked in July 1823.
USS Baltimore was a ship of the United States Navy.
The third USS Boston was a 32-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate of the United States Navy. Boston was built by public subscription in Boston under the Act of 30 June 1798. Boston was active during the Quasi-War with France and the First Barbary War. On 12 October 1800, Bostonengaged and captured the French corvette Berceau. Boston was laid up in 1802, and considered not worth repairing at the outbreak of the War of 1812. She was burned at the Washington Naval Yard on 24 August 1814 to prevent her capture by British forces.
USS Philadelphia, a 1240-ton, 36-gun frigate, was the second vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the city of Philadelphia. Originally named City of Philadelphia, she was built in 1798–1799 for the United States government by residents of that city. Funding for her construction was raised by a drive that collected $100,000 in one week, in June 1798. She was designed by Josiah Fox and built by Samuel Humphreys, Nathaniel Hutton and John Delavue. Her carved work was done by William Rush of Philadelphia. She was laid down about November 14, 1798, launched on November 28, 1799, and commissioned on April 5, 1800, with Captain Stephen Decatur, Sr. in command. She was captured by Barbary pirates in Tripoli with William Bainbridge in command. Stephen Decatur led a raid that burned her down, preventing her use by the pirates.
USS Constellation was a nominally rated 38-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate of the United States Navy.
The first USS Eagle, a schooner, was built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1798, and commissioned in the Revenue Cutter Service under the command of Captain Hugh G. Campbell, USRCS.
USS Ganges was a man-of-war in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France.
USS Experiment was a schooner in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France.
L'Insurgente was a 40-gun Sémillante-class frigate of the French Navy, launched in 1793. During the Quasi War with the United States, the United States Navy frigate USS Constellation, with Captain Thomas Truxtun in command, captured her off the island of Nevis. After her capture she served in the United States Navy as USS Insurgent, patrolling the waters in the West Indies. In September 1800 she was caught up in a severe storm and was presumed lost at sea.
USS Pickering was a brig, the 1st brig built for the UCRC Service, in the United States Revenue Cutter Service and then the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France. She was named for Timothy Pickering, then the Secretary of State.
The first USS George Washington was a frigate in the United States Navy. She was named after United States Founding Father and President George Washington.
The second USS Delaware was a ship which served in the United States Navy during Quasi-War with France.
The first John Adams was originally built in 1799 as a frigate for the United States Navy, converted to a corvette in 1809, and later converted back to a frigate in 1830. Named for American Founding Father and president John Adams, she fought in the Quasi-War, the First and Second Barbary Wars, the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. At the end of her career, she participated in the Union blockade of South Carolina's ports.
The second USS General Greene was a frigate in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France.
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.
USS Portsmouth was constructed for the United States Navy in 1798 by master shipbuilder James Hackett to a 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 with funds contributed by the citizens of Portsmouth.
USS Augusta was a brig purchased by the US Navy on 30 June 1799 at Norfolk, Virginia. She mistakenly went to Trenton, New Jersey arriving on 13 September, she was then ordered to Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania for inspection by naval constructor Joshua Humphreys to see if the transport would be suitable for use as a warship. Capt. Bird was replaced by Lieutenant Archibald McElroy on the 13th. Humphreys approved and fitting out began in September. She was placed in commission for service in the Quasi-War with France sometime late in 1799.
USS Richmond was a brig purchased for the US Navy in 1798 by the citizens of Richmond, Petersburg, Manchester and Norfolk, Virginia, while being built at Norfolk as Augusta for a Mr. Myers. Renamed Richmond, she was fitted out in the fall of that year and in December stood out from Hampton Roads for the Caribbean with Captain Samuel Barron in command for service in the Quasi-War with France.
The first USS Patapsco was a sloop in the United States Navy.
The Connecticut was a sailing frigate built by Seth Overton at Chatham, Conn. and launched 6 June 1799 at Middletown, Conn. During outfitting, probably on or just before 7 July she foundered. She was refloated. She sailed 15 Oct. 1799 under the command of Captain Moses Tryon for the Guadaloupe Station, arriving off Puerto Rico on 28 October. She cruised in the West Indies for a year during the Quasi-War with France, protecting American commerce from French privateers. Connecticut's successful career was highlighted by the capture of four privateers and the recapture of seven American merchantmen. On 7 November, 1799 she recaptured schooner "Hannah" captured 72 hours earlier. On 8 December she recaptured brig "Penelope" captured by French privateer "Fleur de Mair" on 3 December. On 28 December she engages captured American schooner "Polly" that is then run ashore a Legue west of Point Chateaux. After a fight with the prize crew, who were on shore, it was found to be impossible to refloat her and she was burned. On 30 December she captured off Point Petre French privateer brig "Conqueror of Italy", the most successful privateer operating out of Guadeloupe having captured 200 American merchant ships. "Conquest of Italy" was put in service as a tender for USS Constellation. On 15 January, 1800 She fired upon a privateer but it found shelter by a fort on Demerara, later that day she chased a ship ashore at Deseada which bilged and sank. On 2 April she stopped and detained ex-American schooner "Commerce" that had been captured by a privateer, condemned by Court at Point Peter and sold to a Dane. Capt. Tryon thought her papers were not "regular" and sent her to St. Kitts for evaluation, where she was released. On 28 April, with USS Richmond, she recaptured Thomas Chalkley. On 1 June, she captured privateer schooner "Le Piege" off Descada, and on 3 July recaptured brig "Martha and Mary" on the north side of St. Kitts. On 5 June, captured privateer schooner "La Unite". On 17 June, recaptured a schooner off Guadalupe. On 15 July, with USS Philadelphia, captured French Letter of Marque ketch "Le Chouchou". Arrived at New London, Conn., 18 Oct. 1800. Capt. Richard Derby was ordered to replace Capt. Tryon on 1 November. In a letter dated 20 February to Josiah Parker, chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs, Navy Secretary Stoddert recommended selling her. Connecticut was sold at New York in 1801 for $19,300.
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