USS Saranac (1848)

300px Saranac, in port in the 1870s
Career (US)	Union Navy Jack
Laid down:	1847 at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine
Launched:	14 November 1848
Commissioned:	12 October 1850
Out of service:	18 June 1875
Struck:	1875 (est.)
Fate:	wrecked, 18 June 1875
General characteristics
Displacement:	1,463 tons
Length:	215 ft 6 in (65.68 m)
Beam:	37 ft 9 in (11.51 m)
Draught:	depth of hold 26 ft 6 in draft 17 ft 4 in (max.)
Propulsion:	sail and steam engine side wheel-propelled
Speed:	9 knots
Complement:	not known
Armament:	nine 8-inch guns

For other ships of the same name, see USS Saranac.

USS Saranac (1848) – a sloop of war -- was laid down in 1847 during the Mexican-American War; however, by the time she completed sea trials, the war was over. She was commissioned in 1850 and saw service protecting American interests in the Atlantic Ocean as well as the Pacific Ocean. When the American Civil War broke out, Saranac patrolled America’s West Coast. Retained by the Navy post-war, she continued serving her country until wrecking in 1875.

Built in Maine in 1848

The second ship to be so named, Saranace was laid down in 1847 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, and was launched on 14 November 1848. The new side wheel steam sloop of war got underway on 10 April 1850 for a trial cruise in the North Atlantic. Upon returning home, she underwent repairs and alterations before commissioning on 12 October 1850, Captain Josiah Tattnall in command.

Pre-Civil War operations

Saranac operated along the Atlantic coast of the United States in the Home Squadron until being placed in ordinary at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 23 June 1852. Reactivated on 15 September, the ship sailed for New York City to embark the Chevalier de Sodre, the Brazilian Minister to the United States, and got underway again on 5 October to return that distinguished diplomat to his home. She arrived at Pará on the 26th and, after disembarking her passengers, she served on the Brazil Station until returning to Philadelphia and decommissioning on 20 July 1853.

Recommissioned on 5 November 1853, the steamer sailed for the Mediterranean where she operated until returning to Philadelphia on 26 June 1856. She was decommissioned there on 1 July for repair of her machinery and installation of new boilers.

After re-commissioning on 17 September 1857, she got underway to begin the long voyage south round Cape Horn and back up the Pacific Ocean coast of the Americas for duty along the west coast of the United States.

Civil War service

She was still performing this duty when the Civil War erupted, and she remained at the task of protecting American commerce along the coast of California throughout the war. After the Confederacy had collapsed, Saranac cruised at sea in search of Southern cruiser, Shenandoah, which remained a menace to Union shipping until belatedly learning of the end of the war.

Post-Civil War operations

Saranac continued to protect American commerce and interests until ending her longest period in commission on 25 January 1869. Recommissioned on 27 January 1870, the veteran ship resumed operations along the west coast. She operated in that increasingly important region until she was wrecked on 18 June 1875 on the submerged Ripple Rock in Seymour Narrows off Campbell River, British Columbia.

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

See also

• American Civil War
• Union Navy
• Confederate States Navy