Friday, May 11, 2012

USS Perry-- Part 2

This ship was decommissioned and commissioned on many occasions.  There are several mistakes in the Wikipedia article.

After its commissioning in 1843, the Perry, named after Oliver Hazard Perry, hero of the Battle of Lake Erie, embarked on a round-the-world cruise until 1845  During te Mexican War, it was struck by a hurricane and ended up running onto a reef with no casualties and later was kedged off.

In 1847, the ship joined the Brazil Squadron and was involved with capturing two ships involved with the slave trade.

In 1855, the Perry participated in an American show of force in Paraguay where the USS Water Witch (the same ship captured by Lt. Thomas Pelot and his force during the Civil War) had been fired upon.

Recommissioned during the Civil War, it escorted troops to Annapolis, Maryland, during the early stages of the war before joining the newly established Atlantic Blockading Squadron.  Steaming southeast of Cape Lookout, NC, it captured the blockade-runner Hannah B. Johnson on May 31, 1861 and three days later, the Confederate privateer Savannah.

Then, it was called back to Washington, D.C., where it took position in the Potomac River to protect the capital in the aftermath of the First Battle of Bull Run.

In February 1862, the Perry took position off New Inlet, NC, in the Outer Banks.  (However, the only New Inlet in North Carolina I'm familiar with is the one by the Cape Fear River in Wilmington.

The ship ended the war with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

It was decommissioned a final time in 1865 and sold that same year.

Quite a Busy Ship.  --Old B-Runner

No comments:

Post a Comment