USS Perry (1843)

Type

Brig

Period

19th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: USS Perry was a small sailing brig built for the U.S. Navy in the 1840s, notable for a long and varied career touching several major episodes of mid-19th-century American naval history, from anti-slave-trade patrols off West Africa to the Paraguay expedition and Civil War blockade duty. She is also remembered for her role in the 1861 capture of the slave ship Savannah, an event later commemorated in period art. Specifications: The brig displaced 280 tons, measured 105 ft in length with a 25 ft 6 in beam, 12 ft 3 in depth of hold, and a 13 ft 2 in draft. She carried a crew of 67 and was armed with two 32-pounder guns and six 32-pounder carronades, a typical light armament for a brig of her size and era. Service History: Built at the Norfolk Navy Yard and commissioned 13 October 1843 under Comdr. Samuel F. Du Pont, Perry's first cruise carried Caleb Cushing, the first American Commissioner to China, partway to his post before she went on to protect American whalers in the Pacific. She later served in the Mexican-American War blockade, suppressed the slave trade off West Africa (including the 1861 capture of the slaver Savannah), took part in the 1858-59 Paraguay expedition following the Water Witch incident, and performed Union blockade service in the Civil War before being decommissioned at Philadelphia on 29 April 1865 and sold at public auction that August. Notable Facts: A period painting by Fritz Müller depicting Perry's capture of the slave ship Savannah in 1861 survives in the National Gallery of Art's collection (also held on Wikimedia Commons under a CC0/public domain designation) and is a useful visual reference for her rig and hull profile. Bluejacket Shipcrafters produces a scale model kit of the vessel, noting her reputation as one of the fastest brigs in the Navy at the time of her launch. During the Mexican-American War era she also survived a severe hurricane in October 1846 that drove her onto reefs at Bahia Honda Key, with the entire crew surviving and the ship later kedged off and repaired.