USS Mississippi, a sidewheel steamer, was the first ship of
the United States Navy to bear
that name. She was named
for the Mississippi
River. Her keel was laid
down by the Philadelphia Navy Yard
in 1839; built under the personal supervision of
Commodore Matthew
Perry.
She was commissioned on December 22, 1841, with
Captain W.
D.
Salter in command and launched several weeks
later.
Service history
Mexican-American War
After several years of service in the
Home
Squadron, during which she performed experiments crucial to
development of the steam Navy,
Mississippi joined the
West Indian Squadron in 1845 as
flagship for Commodore Perry.
During the Mexican-American War, she took part in
expeditions against Alvarado
, Tampico
, Pánuco
, and Laguna
de los Términos, all successful in tightening American control
of the Mexican coastline and interrupting coastwise commerce and
military supply operations.
She
returned to Norfolk for repairs on January 1, 1847, then arrived at
Veracruz
on March 21, carrying Perry to take command of the
American fleet. At once she and her men plunged into
amphibious operations against
Veracruz, supplying guns and their crews to be taken ashore for
the battery which fought the city to surrender in four days.
Through
the remainder of the war, Mississippi contributed guns,
men, and boats to a series of coastal raids on Mexico’s east coast,
taking part in the capture of Tabasco
in
June.
Mission to Japan
Mississippi cruised the Mediterranean
Sea
during 1849–1851, picking up Louis Kossuth on his way into exile.
Then they
returned to the United
States
to prepare for service as the flagship of Commodore
Perry's momentous voyage to Japan
.
The
squadron cleared Hampton
Roads
on November 24, 1852, for Madeira
, the
Cape of Good
Hope
, Hong
Kong
, and Shanghai, which was
reached May 4, 1853.
The
squadron now approached Japan by calls in the Ryukyu Islands
and Bonin
Islands
, and entered Tokyo Bay
on July 8, 1853. Commodore Perry proceeded,
in one of the most difficult, skillful, and significant
naval/diplomatic missions ever recorded, to negotiate a trade
treaty with the Japanese, hitherto absolutely opposed to opening
their country to Western trade and influence. After further
cruising in the Far East,
Mississippi and the squadron
returned to Japan on February 12 , 1854 and on March 31 the
Convention of Kanagawa was
signed.
Mississippi returned to New York City
on April 23, 1855, and again sailed for the Far
East on August 19, 1857, to base at Shanghai and patrol in support of America's
burgeoning trade with the Orient. As the flagship for
Commodore
Josiah Tattnall, she was
present during the British and French attack on the Chinese forts
at
Taku in June 1859, and two months later, she
landed a force at Shanghai when the American consul requested her
aid in restoring order to the city, torn by civil strife.
She
returned to ordinary at Boston, Massachusetts
, in 1860, but was reactivated when the American Civil War became
inevitable.
Civil War
She
arrived off Key West,
Florida
, to institute the blockade there on June 8, 1861,
and five days later made her first capture, the schooner Forest
King bound with coffee from Rio de
Janeiro
to New Orleans, Louisiana
. On November 27, off
Northeast Pass, Mississippi
River, she joined in capturing the British bark
Empress, again carrying coffee from Rio to New Orleans.
The following spring, she joined Farragut's squadron for the
planned assault on New Orleans. After several attempts, on April 7,
1862, she and successfully passed over the bar at Southwest Pass,
the heaviest ships ever to enter the
river to that time.
As
Farragut brought his fleet up the river, a key engagement was that
with Fort
Jackson
and Fort Saint Philip
on April 24, during which Mississippi ran
the Confederate ram Manassas
ashore, wrecking her with two mighty broadsides. The city
was now doomed, and
Mississippi, her heavy draft making
her less suitable to river operations than lighter ships, remained
off New Orleans for much of the next year.
Ordered
upriver for the operations against Port Hudson
, Mississippi sailed with six other ships
lashed in pairs, while she sailed alone. On March 14, 1863,
she grounded while attempting to pass the forts guarding Port
Hudson. Under enemy fire, every effort was made to refloat her by
Captain
Melancthon Smith and his
executive officer
George Dewey (later
to achieve fame as an admiral). At last, her machinery was
destroyed, her battery spiked, and she was fired to prevent
Confederate capture. When the flames reached her magazines, she
blew up and sank. She lost 64 men, with the accompanying ships
saving 223 of her crew.
References
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