USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She is the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat. She was launched in 1797, one of six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794 and the third constructed. The name "Constitution" was among ten names submitted to President George Washington by Secretary of War Timothy Pickering in March of 1795 for the frigates that were to be constructed. Joshua Humphreys designed the frigates to be the young Navy's capital ships, and so Constitution and her sister ships were larger and more heavily armed and built than standard frigates of the period. She was built at Edmund Hartt's shipyard in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts. Her first duties were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi-War with France and to defeat the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War.
USS Merrimack, or variant spelling USS Merrimac, may be any one of several ships commissioned in the United States Navy and named after the Merrimack River.
USS Langley (CV-1/AV-3) was the United States Navy's first aircraft carrier, converted in 1920 from the collier USS Jupiter, and also the US Navy's first turbo-electric-powered ship. Conversion of another collier was planned but canceled when the Washington Naval Treaty required the cancellation of the partially built Lexington-class battlecruisers Lexington and Saratoga, freeing up their hulls for conversion to the aircraft carriers Lexington and Saratoga. Langley was named after Samuel Pierpont Langley, an American aviation pioneer. Following another conversion to a seaplane tender, Langley fought in World War II. On 27 February 1942, while ferrying a cargo of USAAF P-40s to Java, she was attacked by nine twin-engine Japanese bombers of the Japanese 21st and 23rd Naval Air Flotillas and so badly damaged that she had to be scuttled by her escorts.
USS Cyclops (AC-4) was the second of four Proteus-class colliers built for the United States Navy several years before World War I. Named for the Cyclops, a primordial race of giants from Greek mythology, she was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. The loss of the ship and 306 crew and passengers without a trace some time after 4 March 1918 remains the single largest loss of life in U.S. Naval history not directly involving combat. As it was wartime, she was thought to have been captured or sunk by a German raider or submarine, because she was carrying 10,800 long tons (11,000 t) of manganese ore used to produce munitions, but German authorities at the time, and subsequently, denied any knowledge of the vessel. The Naval History & Heritage Command has stated she "probably sank in an unexpected storm", but the ultimate cause of the ship's loss is not known.
USS Patapsco was a Passaic-class ironclad monitor in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for the Patapsco River in Maryland.
The Mediterranean Squadron, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was part of the United States Navy in the 19th century that operated in the Mediterranean Sea. It was formed in response to the First and Second Barbary Wars. Between 1801 and 1818, the squadron was composed of a series of rotating squadrons. Later, squadrons were sent in the 1820s to the 1860s to suppress piracy, primarily in Greece and to engage in gunboat diplomacy. In 1865 the force was renamed the European Squadron.
The second USS Ballard (DD-267/AVD-10) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Edward J. Ballard.
USS Camanche was a Passaic-class monitor that was prefabricated at Jersey City, New Jersey by Donahue, Ryan and Secor for the sum of 613,164.98 dollars. She was disassembled and shipped around Cape Horn in the sailing ship Aquila to San Francisco, California. Aquila arrived in San Francisco on 10 November 1863 but sank at her wharf in 30 feet of water on 14 November 1863 as a result of storm damage and a collision with another ship. The monitor's parts were salvaged and she was launched on 14 November 1864. Camanche was commissioned in May 1865, Lieutenant Commander Charles J. McDougal in command.
The first USS Casco was the first of a class of twenty 1,175-ton light-draft monitors built by Atlantic Works, Boston, Massachusetts for the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Contoocook was a screw sloop-of-war built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She is named after a river and village in New Hampshire. She was launched 3 December 1864 at Portsmouth Navy Yard and commissioned 14 March 1868, commanded by Captain George Balch.
USS Prometheus (AR-3) was a repair ship that served the United States Navy during World War I and World War II. Named after Greek mythology figure Prometheus, she was originally laid down as a collier on 18 October 1907 at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California; launched on 5 December 1908; and commissioned 15 January 1910 as USS Ontario.
USS Ethan Allen (1859) was a 556-ton bark acquired by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War, and used as a gunboat in support of the blockade of Confederate waterways.
USS Hannibal (AG-1) was launched 9 March 1898 as the 1,785 GRT steamer Joseph Holland of London. The ship was laid down at as North Dock yard hull 143 for F. S. Holland, London, by J. Blumer & Company at Sunderland, England. Completion was in April 1898.
USS Nightingale (1851) was originally the tea clipper and slave ship Nightingale, launched in 1851. USS Saratoga captured her off Africa in 1861; the United States Navy then purchased her.
USS Naumkeag (1863) was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat assigned to patrol Confederate waterways.
USS Annie was a schooner captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a ship's tender in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways. Her service during the Union naval blockade of Confederate waters peaked during the Second Chesapeake Affair (1863–64) as a "fresh reinforcement from the south" in the search and capture of the U.S.S Chesapeake.
The first USS Wando was a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. In commission from 1864 to 1865, she was used by the United States Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.
USS Gladiolus (1864) was a steamship acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.
USS Polaris, originally called the America, was an 1864-screw steamer procured by the Union Navy as USS Periwinkle during the final months of the American Civil War. She served the Union Navy's struggle against the Confederate States as a gunboat.
The Action of 9 November 1822 was a naval battle fought between the United States Navy schooner USS Alligator and a squadron of three pirate schooners off the coast of Cuba during the Navy's West Indies anti-piracy operation. Fifteen leagues from Matanzas, Cuba, a large band of pirates captured several vessels and held them for ransom. Upon hearing of the pirate attacks, Alligator under Lieutenant William Howard Allen rushed to the scene to rescue the vessels and seize the pirates.
