USS Peacock (1813)
| 300px The Peacock as drawn by Alfred Thomas Agate, while she was on the United States Exploring Expedition | |
| Career | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Peacock |
| Ordered: | 3 March 1813 |
| Builder: | New York Navy Yard |
| Laid down: | 9 July 1813 |
| Launched: | 19 September 1813 |
| Decommissioned: | October, 1827 |
| Refit: | Rebuilt as exploring ship, 1828 |
| Recommissioned: | 1829 |
| Fate: | Wrecked, 17–19 July 1841 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Sloop-of-war |
| Displacement: | 509 long tons (517 t) |
| Length: | 117 ft 11 in (35.94 m) |
| Beam: | 31 ft 6 in (9.60 m) |
| Draft: | 16 ft 4 in (4.98 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Complement: | 140 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
• 20 × 32-pounder guns • 2 × 12-pounder guns |
The first USS Peacock was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the War of 1812.
Peacock was authorized by Act of Congress 3 March 1813; laid down 9 July 1813 by Adam & Noah Brown at the New York Navy Yard; and launched 19 September 1813. She served in the War of 1812, capturing twenty ships. Subsequently she served in the Mediterranean Squadron, and in the "Mosquito Fleet" suppressing Caribbean piracy. She patrolled the South American coast during the colonial wars of independence. She was decommissioned in 1827 and broken up in 1828 to be rebuilt as USS Peacock (1828), intended as an exploration ship. She sailed as part of the United States Exploring Expedition in 1838. Peacock ran aground and broke up on the Columbia Bar without loss of life in 1841.
War of 1812
During the War of 1812, Peacock made three cruises. Departing New York 12 March 1814, she sailed with supplies to the naval station at St. Mary's, Georgia. Off Cape Canaveral, Florida 29 April, she captured her first prize, the British brig Epervier, which she sent to Savannah.
Peacock departed Savannah on 4 June on her second cruise; proceeding to the Grand Banks and along the coasts of Ireland and Spain, she returned via the West Indies to New York. She captured 14 enemy vessels of various sizes during this journey.
Peacock departed New York 23 January 1815 with Hornet and Tom Bowline and rounded the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean, where she captured three valuable prizes. On 30 June, she captured the East India Company cruiser Nautilus in the Straits of Sunda, When he learned that the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war, had been ratified, Warrington released the prize and returned to New York on 30 October.
Peacock left this port again 13 June 1816, bound for France, with the Honorable Albert Gallatin and party aboard. After pulling into Havre de Grâce 2 July, she proceeded to join the Mediterranean Squadron. But for a year of Mediterranean–United States—and return transits, 15 November 1818–17 November 1819, the sloop remained with this squadron until 8 May 1821, when she departed for home; she then went into ordinary at the Washington Navy Yard 10 July.
Fighting pirates
Pirates were ravaging West Indian shipping in the 1820s and on 3 June 1822, Peacock became flagship of Commodore David Porter’s West India Squadron, that rooted out the pirates. Peacock served in the expedition that broke up a pirate establishment at Funda Bay, 28–30 September, capturing several schooners. Peacock captured the schooner Pilot 10 April 1823 and another sloop 16 April. In September, "malignant fever" necessitated a recess from activities, and Peacock pulled into Norfolk, Virginia 28 November.
South America
In July 1823, the sloop was involved in the Battle of Lake Maracaibo and Mr. Peter Storms decided to join the Independentist cause, who won their independence[1] on 3 August. Later, in March 1824, the sloop proceeded to the Pacific and for some months cruised along the west coast of South America, where the colonies were struggling for independence. In September 1825, Peacock sailed to Hawaii, where a treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation was negotiated. From 24 July 1826 until 6 January 1827, the sloop visited other Pacific islands to protect American commerce and the whaling industry. Returning to South America from Hawaii, the ship was struck by a whale, suffering serious damage. Nevertheless, she reached Callao, from which she departed 25 June for New York.
Diplomatic missions
After Peacock arrived in New York in October 1827, she was decommissioned. She was broken up in 1828 and rebuilt for a planned expedition of exploration. While her size and configuration stayed about the same, the newly rebuilt sloop-of-war carried only ten guns, eight long 24-pounders and two long 9-pounders.
When plans for the exploratory voyage stalled in Congress, Peacock re-entered regular service in the West Indies from 1829-31 and was sent to Brazil in 1832. She carried diplomat Edmund Roberts to Siam in March, and Muscat in September 1833, where he negotiated treaties of amity and commerce with King Rama III and Sultan Said bin Sultan respectively. Returning in 1835-37, she carried the ratification of those treaties.
Fate
Peacock finally joined the United States Exploring Expedition in 1838, where she did good service before getting stuck on a bar of the Columbia River in Oregon. She broke up on 17–19 July 1841 after all the crew and much of the scientific data had been taken off (though most of Titian Peale's notes were lost).[2]
References
- ↑ Rastrogeo Margariteño, (spanish) (pdf) (page 40-41)
- ↑ Philip K. Lundeberg, "Characteristics of Selected Exploring Vessels," appendix 1 of Magnificent Voyagers: The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842, edited by Herman J. Viola and Carolyn Margolis (Smithsonian Institution: 1985), p255.
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
