USS Vincennes (1826-1867)
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[edit] The Begining
USS Vincennes, a 703-ton Boston class sloop of war, was built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York. Commissioned in August 1826, she sailed to the Pacific by way of Cape Horn and cruised extensively in that ocean until 1830. Her return voyage was made by way of China, the Philippines, the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope, with arrival in New York in June 1830. Vincennes had thus circumnavigated the Earth during nearly four years, becoming the first U.S. Navy ship to do so.
[edit] West Indies and the Gulf
Following repairs, in 1831-32 Vincennes operated in the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico. She departed for a second Pacific deployment in 1833, again sailing around the Globe to return to the U.S. East Coast in June 1836. The sloop was then refitted with a light spar deck for service as flagship of the United States Exploring Expedition. Commanded by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, the expedition left Hampton Roads, Virginia, in August 1838 and passed around Cape Horn early in 1839.
[edit] The 3rd Voyage
Following survey operations and other scientific work along the west coast of South America and in the South Pacific during the rest of the year, in late 1839 Vincennes arrived at Sydney, Australia, her base for a pioneering cruise to Antarctica. Between mid-January and mid-February 1840, she operated along the icy coast of the southernmost continent. The remainder of her deployment included visits to the islands of the South Pacific, Hawaii, the Columbia River area, California, Wake Island, the Philippines and South Africa. This third voyage around the World ended at New York in June 1842.
Home Squadron service in the Caribbean area occupied Vincennes until mid-1844. Nearly a year later she left the East Coast for another trip, this time eastbound, to Asian waters. In July 1846, in company with the ship-of-the-line Columbus, she attempted to pay a diplomatic call on Japan, but the effort was rebuffed by Japanese authorities. After further duty on the China Station, Vincennes came back to New York in April 1847.
[edit] The begining of the end
Her next cruise, beginning in late 1849, took her back to the Pacific for operations along the west coasts of South and North America and a visit to Hawaii. Repaired at New York between September 1852 and March 1853, soon thereafter the sloop began another three years of exploration work, this time involving surveys in the western and northern Pacific.
Vincennes operated with the African Squadron in 1857-1860. During the American Civil War she was employed along the Gulf Coast. She fought a battle with the ram CSS Manassas and other Confederate States of America ships on 12 October 1861. Later in that year she captured the would-be blockade runner Empress and spent much of the rest of the conflict on guard duty at Ship Island, Mississippi. Completing a career that made her one of the Navy's most widely-travelled ships, USS Vincennes was Decomissioned in August 1865 and sold in October 1867.
