USS Vesuvius (1846)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
|
|
| Ordered: | as Saint Mary |
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | in 1845 |
| Acquired: | 1846 |
| In service: | circa 1846 |
| Out of service: | circa 1 August 1848 |
| Struck: | 1848 (est.) |
| Fate: | sold, October 1848 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 239 tons |
| Length: | 97 ft 0 in (29.57 m) |
| Beam: | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) |
| Draft: | 9' 8" (forward) 11' 4" (aft) |
| Depth of hold: | 10' 0" |
| Propulsion: | sail |
| Speed: | not known |
| Complement: | not known |
| Armament: | one 10-inch mortar |
USS Vesuvius (1845) was a 239-ton steamer acquired by the U.S. Navy for use during the Mexican-American War which was an armed military conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas.
Vesuvius, outfitted with a heavy 10-inch mortar that was designed to attack and damage land-based fortifications, was assigned by the Navy to operations in the Mexican battle zones.
Vesuvius – a coastal Cargo ship built in 1845 at Williamsburg, New York, as Saint Mary – was acquired by the Navy at New York City in 1846 for use with the blockading squadrons in the Gulf of Mexico.
Records of the ship's service are sketchy at best, especially for her early service in the Navy. However, reports indicate that she apparently operated as Vesuvius, off Vera Cruz, although one source dates her renaming as occurring on 5 January 1847. In August 1846, after many members of her crew contracted yellow fever while she was stationed off Vera Cruz, Vesuvius put into Bermuda en route north for recuperation.
She was probably refitted at New York, as records indicate that, under the command of Comdr. George A. Magruder, she departed from that port towards the end of the winter of 1846 and 1847, arriving at Laguna del Carmen, Mexico, on 7 March 1847, for blockade duty. Vesuvius was assigned to the port of Laguna. At this juncture, Commodore Matthew Galbraith Perry – commanding the Gulf Squadron—appointed Magruder the military governor of the town, and the commander was of great value to Perry as an administrator. The majority of time spent by Vesuvius on the Gulf station was spent at Laguna, where she logged the shipping movements of vessels both inside and outside the harbor.
In the spring of 1847, when Commodore Perry launched his expedition against Tuxpan, Vesuvius was withdrawn temporarily from Laguna to support the operation. The Mexicans defending the town with 650 men led by General Cos were ideally situated to command its approaches.
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Wikipedia