Texan sloop-of-war Austin
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| History | |
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 Republic of Texas
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| Namesake: | Stephen F. Austin |
| Builder: | Shott and Whitney, Baltimore |
| Launched: | 1839 |
| Commissioned: | 5 January 1840 |
| Decommissioned: | 11 May 1846 |
| Renamed: | Originally called the Texas |
| Homeport: | Galveston, Texas |
| Fate: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Sloop of War |
| Displacement: | 600 tons |
| Length: | 125 ft (38 m) |
| Beam: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Draught: | 12.5 ft (3.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | wind |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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The Texan sloop-of-war Austin was the flagship of the Second Texas Navy from 1840 to 1846. Commanded by Commodore Edwin Ward Moore, she led a flotilla in the capture of Villahermosa in 1840. After a period of inaction in port, Austin participated in the Naval Battle of Campeche in 1843. Austin was transferred to the United States Navy when Texas joined the United States in 1845, but was run aground and broken up in 1848.
The Texas Navy was officially formed in January 1836, with the purchase of four schooners: Invincible, Brutus, Independence, and Liberty. These ships, under the command of Commodore Charles Hawkins, helped Texas win independence by preventing a Mexican blockade of the Texas coast, seizing Mexican ships carrying reinforcements and supplies to its army, and sending their cargoes to the Texas volunteer army. Nevertheless, Mexico refused to recognize Texas as an independent country. By the middle of 1837, all of the ships had been lost at sea, run aground, captured, or sold. With no ships to impede a possible invasion by Mexico, Texas was vulnerable to attack.
In 1838, President Mirabeau B. Lamar responded to this threat by forming a second Texas Navy. Unlike Sam Houston, Lamar was an ardent supporter of the Texas Navy and saw the urgent need for its continuation. The second Texas Navy was placed under the command of Commodore Edwin Ward Moore, an Alexandria Academy graduate recruited from the United States Navy. One of the ships of this second navy was the Austin, which served as the flagship of the navy.
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Wikipedia