USS Congress (1841)

Last updated

USS Congress (1841).jpg
USS Congress (1841)
History
US flag 34 stars.svg
NameUSS Congress
Builder Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
LaunchedAugust 16, 1841
CommissionedMay 7, 1842
FateSunk, March 8, 1862
General characteristics
Type Frigate
Tonnage1867
Length179 ft (55 m) (p.p.)
Beam47 ft 9.6 in (14.569 m)
Draft22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
PropulsionSails
Complement480 officers and enlisted
Armament
  • 4 × 8 in (203 mm) guns
  • 48 × 32  pdr (15  kg) guns

USS Congress was a United States Navy frigate in operation between 1842 and 1862. The fourth Navy ship to carry that name Congress, she served in the Mediterranean, South Atlantic Ocean, and in the Pacific Ocean. She continued to operate as an American warship until the American Civil War, when she was sunk by the ironclad CSS Virginia in battle of Newport News, Virginia, in 1862.

Contents

Service history

Congress was launched at the Portsmouth Navy Yard on August 16, 1841 and placed in commission under Captain Philip Voorhees on May 7, 1842. Her first cruise, starting on July 15, took her to the Mediterranean for service with the Squadron of Commodores Charles W. Morgan and Charles Morris. In December 1843, Voorhees joined Commodore Daniel Turner's Brazil Squadron blockading Montevideo in safeguarding U.S. trade during the Uruguayan Civil War. On September 29, 1844, Voorhees captured an armed Argentine schooner that delivered a mail to the Argentine commanding officer. [1] This overreaction damaged the US-Argentina relation and resulted in a court martial for Voorhees. His impetuosity resulted in a few months suspension, for Voorhees, but did little damage to his career. [2] Congress remained active in the theatre until January 1845. She was then placed in ordinary at Norfolk, Virginia in March.

Congress was recommissioned on September 15, 1845, as flagship of Commodore Robert F. Stockton and sailed for the Pacific Ocean in late October. After landing the U.S. Commissioner to the Sandwich Islands at Honolulu, Hawaii on June 10, she proceeded to Monterey Bay where she joined the Pacific Squadron. Captain Elie A. F. La Vallette assumed command on July 20 and employed her along the west coast during the Mexican–American War. Large detachments of her crew participated in battles on Rio San Gabriel and the plains of La Mesa, and in the occupation of Los Angeles. She assisted in the bombardment and capture of Guaymas in October 1847, and in November furnished a detachment that aided in the occupation of Mazatlán. On August 23, 1848, she departed La Paz, Baja California Sur for Norfolk, Virginia, arriving the following January to be placed in ordinary.

In May 1850, she was assigned a threefold mission; protect U.S. interests between the mouth of the Amazon River and Cape Horn, prevent the use of the American flag to cover the African slave trade, and maintain neutral rights during hostilities among the South American countries. Departing Hampton Roads, Virginia on June 12, she arrived at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on September 1 and assumed duty as flagship of the Brazil Squadron under Commodore Issac McKeever until June 1853. She returned to New York City on July 20 for decommissioning. On June 19, 1855, Congress sailed for the Mediterranean and there followed two years as flagship of Commodore Samuel Livingston Breese. Sailing from Spezia, Italy on November 26, 1857, she arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 13, 1858, and was placed out of commission. In 1859, Congress was reassigned as flagship of Commodore Joshua R. Sands and the Brazil Squadron, remaining in that area until the Civil War precipitated her return to Boston, Massachusetts on August 22, 1861.

American Civil War service

Congress's magazine explodes USS Congress explodes.jpg
Congress's magazine explodes

On September 9, 1861, she was ordered to duty under command of Capt. Louis M. Goldsborough in the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, later to serve under commanding officer W. Smith, and executive officer Lieutenant Joseph B. Smith.

Congress was anchored off Newport News, Virginia, as part of the Union blockade of that port on March 8, 1862, when she fell under attack by the Confederate ironclad, CSS Virginia (ex-USS Merrimack) and five other small ships. [3] Serving aboard Congress at this time was McKean Buchanan, brother of the commanding officer of the Virginia, Franklin Buchanan. [4] After exchanging broadsides with Virginia, Congress slipped her moorings and ran aground in shallow water.

The ironclad and her consorts attacked from a distance and inflicted great damage on the ship, killing 120, including the commanding officer, Joseph B. Smith. Executive officer Austin Pendergrast assumed command. Ablaze in several places and unable to bring guns to bear on the enemy, Congress was forced to strike her colors and raise a white flag. [5] Heavy shore batteries prevented Virginia from taking possession. [3] Instead she fired several rounds of hot shot (red-hot cannonballs) and incendiary causing Congress to burn to the water's edge, and her magazine to explode. Lt. Smith, having been in command at the time, died in the action. Eventually, during the battle, Congress sank by the stern. In September 1865, Congress was raised and taken to the Norfolk Navy Yard where she was later sold. She later was stripped for the valuable wood and metal near her mast. The sails later were used to make a flag in memory of the ship.

See also

Related Research Articles

CSS <i>Virginia</i> Civil War Confederate ironclad

CSS Virginia was the first steam-powered ironclad warship built by the Confederate States Navy during the first year of the American Civil War; she was constructed as a casemate ironclad using the razéed original lower hull and engines of the scuttled steam frigate USS Merrimack. Virginia was one of the participants in the Battle of Hampton Roads, opposing the Union's USS Monitor in March 1862. The battle is chiefly significant in naval history as the first battle between ironclads.

USS <i>United States</i> (1797) First of the six original frigates of the U.S. Navy

USS United States was a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy and the first of the six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794. The name "United States" 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 United States and her sisters were larger and more heavily armed and built than typical frigates of the period. She was built at Humphrey's shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and launched on 10 May 1797 and immediately began duties with the newly formed United States Navy protecting American merchant shipping during the Quasi-War with France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Hampton Roads</span> 1862 naval battle in the American Civil War, the first between ironclads

The Battle of Hampton Roads, also referred to as the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack or the Battle of Ironclads, was a naval battle during the American Civil War.

USS <i>Cumberland</i> (1842) US Navy sailing frigate, 1842–1862

The first USS Cumberland was a 50-gun sailing frigate of the United States Navy. She was the first ship sunk by the ironclad CSS Virginia.

USS <i>Powhatan</i> (1850) Ship

The first USS Powhatan was a sidewheel steam frigate in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for Powhatan, a Native American chief of eastern Virginia. She was one of the last, and largest, of the United States Navy's paddle frigates.

USS <i>Minnesota</i> (1855) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Minnesota was a wooden steam frigate in the United States Navy. Launched in 1855 and commissioned eighteen months later, the ship served in east Asia for two years before being decommissioned. She was recommissioned at the outbreak of the American Civil War and returned to service as the flagship of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Lorimer Worden</span> US Navy admiral

John Lorimer Worden was a U.S. Navy officer in the American Civil War, who took part in the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first-ever engagement between ironclad steamships at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 9 March 1862.

Edmund Ross Colhoun was a rear admiral of the United States Navy who served during the Mexican War and the American Civil War, in which he was commended for his participation in the bombardment and capture of Fort Fisher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiram Paulding</span> United States Navy rear-admiral

Hiram Paulding was a rear admiral in the United States Navy, who served from the War of 1812 until after the Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Harwar Parker</span>

William Harwar Parker was an officer in the United States Navy and later in the Confederate States Navy. His autobiography, entitled Recollections of a Naval Officer 1841–1865, provides a unique insight into the United States Navy of the mid-19th century during an era when the Age of Sail was coming to an end and the advent of steam power and ironclads was beginning.

USS <i>Merrimack</i> (1855) U.S. Navy Steam frigate

USS Merrimack, also improperly Merrimac, was a steam frigate, best known as the hull upon which the ironclad warship CSS Virginia was constructed during the American Civil War. The CSS Virginia then took part in the Battle of Hampton Roads in the first engagement between ironclad warships.

USS <i>St. Lawrence</i> Frigate of the United States Navy, launched 1848

USS St. Lawrence was a frigate in the United States Navy that saw service during the mid-19th century, including the American Civil War. She was based on the same plans as USS Brandywine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrett J. Pendergrast</span> American naval officer (1802-1862)

Commodore Garrett Jesse Pendergrast was an American naval officer who served in the United States Navy during the War of 1812 and as part of the Brazil Squadron and Home Squadron. He served in the Union Navy during the American Civil War. He commanded the USS Cumberland during the loss of the Gosport Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia to Confederate forces and captured 16 Confederate ships in the early stages of the Union blockade. He served as commander of the Philadelphia Navy Yard from October 1861 until his death in November 1862.

USS Fairfield was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy. Fairfield was launched 28 June 1828 by New York Navy Yard; and first put to sea 20 August 1828, Commander Foxhall A. Parker, Sr., in command.

<i>Ironclads</i> (film) American TV series or program

Ironclads is a 1991 made-for-television movie produced by Ted Turner's TNT company about the events behind the creation of CSS Virginia from the remains of USS Merrimack and the battle between Virginia and USS Monitor in the Battle of Hampton Roads, March 8, 1862 – March 9, 1862. Noel Taylor received an Emmy Award nomination for his costume designs for the production.

USRC <i>Naugatuck</i> Revenue cutter of the United States

USRC Naugatuck was a twin-screw ironclad experimental steamer operated by the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service during the American Civil War. She served the U.S. Treasury Department as the USRC E.A. Stevens, a name she retained until sold in 1890. She was loaned to the Navy by the Treasury Department and thus mistakenly referred to in U.S. Navy dispatches during early 1862 as "USS Naugatuck".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Voorhees</span>

Philip Falkerson Voorhees was an officer in the United States Navy, who served during the War of 1812, and later commanded the East India Squadron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George H. Cooper</span>

Rear Admiral George Henry Cooper was an officer in the United States Navy. During his long naval career, he served on the African Slave Trade Patrol, and fought in the Second Seminole War, the Mexican War, the American Civil War, and the Korean Expedition, and rose to command of the North Atlantic Squadron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Smith (admiral)</span>

Joseph Smith was a rear admiral of the United States Navy, who served during the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, and the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cummings Howell</span>

John Cummings Howell was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He rose to the rank of rear admiral and late in his career was commander-in-chief of the North Atlantic Squadron and then of the European Squadron.

References

  1. Written on September 11, 1844 to Mrs. Philip F. Voorhees by American author James Fenimore Cooper, http://www.fulkerson.org/jersey.html Archived May 13, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  2. David Foster Long, Gold Braid and Foreign Relations: Diplomatic Activities of U.S. Naval Officers, 1798–1883, pg 157–160, Naval Institute Press, 1988
  3. 1 2 Pendergrast, Austin (March 9, 1862). "Report of Lieutenant Pendergrast, U.S. Navy, executive officer of the frigate USS Congress". The Navy Department Library (online). Washington D.C.: Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved August 20, 2022. At 12:40 p.m. the Merrimack with three small gunboats was seen steaming down from Norfolk… At 2:10 p. m. the Merrimack opened with her bow gun with grape, passing us on the starboard side at a distance of about 300 yards, receiving our broadside and giving one in return. After passing the Congress she ran into and sunk the U.S. sloop of war Cumberland… At 3:30 the Merrimack took a position astern of us, at a distance of about 150 yards, and raked us fore and aft with shells, while one of the smaller steamers kept up a fire on our starboard quarter… We were soon boarded by an officer from the Merrimack who said that he would take charge of the ship. He left shortly afterwards, and a small tug came alongside… A sharp fire with muskets and artillery was maintained from our troops ashore upon the tug, having the effect of driving her off. The Merrimack again opened on us, although we had a white flag at the peak to show that we were out of action. After having fired several shells into us she left us and engaged the Minnesota and the shore batteries. We took the opportunity to man the boats and send the wounded ashore. We then ourselves left, the ship being on fire near the after magazine and in the sick bay… produced by hot shot thrown from the Merrimack.
  4. Davis, 1996, The Civil War, p.216
  5. New York State Historian (1897). Annual report of the State Historian , Volume 1. Wynkoop, Hallenbeck Crawford Co., state printers. pp. 89–92.

36°57′45″N76°24′10″W / 36.96250°N 76.40278°W / 36.96250; -76.40278