View source for USS Grampus (1821)

{{Other ships|USS Grampus}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:Schooner_Grampus.jpg|300px|USS ''Grampus'' (1821-1843)]]
|Ship caption=''Grampus'' depicted flying her National Ensigns upside down, a sign of distress
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|1843}}
|Ship name=USS ''Grampus''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Washington Navy Yard]]
|Ship laid down=1820
|Ship launched=August 1821
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=1 August 1843<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2016/august/missing-and-presumed-lost |title=Missing and presumed lost |publisher=U. S. Naval Institute |accessdate=16 August 2024}}</ref>
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Foundered, 15 March 1843
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship type=[[Schooner]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|171.5|LT|t|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|97|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|23|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=Sail
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|Ship complement=142 officers and enlisted
|Ship armament=2 × {{convert|9|pdr|kg|lk=on|abbr=on}} guns, 8 × {{convert|24|pdr|kg|abbr=on}} [[carronade]]s
|Ship notes=
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|}
[[Image:USS Grampus sketch.jpg|thumb|300px|Plans of USS ''Grampus'']]

'''USS ''Grampus''''' was a [[schooner]] in the [[United States Navy]]. She was the first U.S. Navy ship to be named for the ''Grampus griseus'', also known as [[Risso's dolphin]].

''Grampus'' was built at the [[Washington Navy Yard]] under the supervision of naval constructor [[William Doughty (naval architect)|William Doughty]], based on a design by [[Henry Eckford (shipbuilder)|Henry Eckford]]. Her {{convert|73|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[keel]] was laid down in 1820. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] in early August 1821. The need to suppress [[piracy]] and to maintain ships to catch slavers led to the building of five such schooners, the largest of which was ''Grampus''. This was the first building program undertaken by the Navy since the [[War of 1812]].

==Service history==
[[Lieutenant]] [[Francis Gregory]] commanded ''Grampus'' on her first cruise as part of the [[West Indies Squadron (United States)|West Indies Squadron]], which took her to the [[Antilles]] in pursuit of [[Piracy|pirate]]s. In the company of {{USS|Hornet|1805, brig|2}}, {{USS|Enterprise|1799|2}}, {{USS|Spark|1813|2}}, {{USS|Porpoise|1820|2}}, and {{USS|Shark|1821|2}}, ''Grampus'' engaged in convoying merchant vessels throughout 1821, the presence of the squadron having a marked effect on piratical activity among the islands.

On 16 August 1822, ''Grampus'' fought a [[brig]] flying [[Spain|Spanish]] colors, but which Lt. Gregory suspected was a pirate. When he called upon her commander to surrender, he was met with cannon and small arms fire. ''Grampus'' answered in turn, and reduced the bogus Spaniard to a floating wreck in {{frac|3|1|2}} minutes. The brig [[Striking the colors|struck her colors]] and Lt. Gregory discovered that she was ''Palmyra'', a [[Puerto Rico]]-based pirate carrying the papers of a [[privateer]] as a subterfuge. ''[[Lloyd's List]]'' named the privateer as ''Panchetta'', of 18 guns and 92 men. The privateer had suffered 11 men killed.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Marine List |work=Lloyd's List |issue=5741 |date=11 October 1822 |hdl=2027/hvd.32044105226328?urlappend=%3Bseq=345 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044105226328?urlappend=%3Bseq=345 }}</ref>

In 1825, [[Captain (naval)|Captain]] [[John D. Sloat]] — commander of ''Grampus'' — engaged another [[Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican]] pirate, [[Roberto Cofresí]], in [[Capture of the sloop Anne|battle]]. Cofresí was captured along with eleven members of his crew, and they were turned over to the Spanish government. Cofresí was jailed in [[Fort San Felipe del Morro|El Castillo del Morro]] in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.preb.com/biog/hcofresi.htm| author=Luis R. Negrón Hernández, Jr.| title=Roberto Cofresí: El pirata caborojeño| language=es| access-date=2007-05-25}}</ref>

''Grampus'' had a small part in the ''[[United States v. The Amistad|Amistad]]'' trials: in November–December 1839, the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] had ''Grampus'' standing by in [[New Haven Harbor]], so that if the court ruled in favor of the slaves' Spanish "owners," they could deport the Africans to [[Cuba]] before they could file an appeal. However, the district judge ruled that the Africans had been illegally enslaved and must be returned to Africa. It was the government that appealed on behalf of the slaveholders, and ''Grampus'' was not needed.

''Grampus'' continued her duties in the protection of shipping in the [[Caribbean Sea]] and in the [[South Atlantic Ocean]] until August 1841, when she was detached from the [[Africa Squadron]] while lying at [[Boston Navy Yard]] and attached to the [[Home Squadron]] at [[Norfolk, Virginia]] on 23 January 1843.

''Grampus'' was last spoken to by {{USS|Madison|1832|2}} off [[St. Augustine, Florida]] on 15 March 1843. She is presumed to have foundered in a gale off [[Charleston, South Carolina]] with all hands.

==Fictional namesake==

Author [[Herman Melville]] created a fictional whaling ship in his novel [[Moby-Dick]] by the name of "Grampus", its crew briefly mentioned in Chapter 3 as they enter the Spouter Inn after a three years voyage.  Although no connection to the U.S. Navy's "Grampus" seems to be intended, nor is it even remotely implied, it is still interesting to note that the real "Grampus" disappeared while Melville was serving in the Navy aboard the {{USS|United States|1797|6}}, the topic of its loss possibly a subject among Melville's shipmates.  The enigmatic character of [[Bulkington (character Moby-Dick)|Bulkington]] disappears from the Spouter Inn in the midst of the "Grampus" crew's revelries, his shipmates pursuing him into the night with cries of "Where's Bulkington?"  Later in the book Bulkington turns up as a crewman on board the [[Pequod (Moby-Dick)|Pequod]], the narrator Ishmael noting it would be Bulkington's fate to die at sea, but never mentioning him again in the book.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/g7/grampus-i.htm}}

{{1822 shipwrecks}}
{{1843 shipwrecks}}

{{Coord|32.625|-79.725|type:event_globe:earth_region:US-SC|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grampus}}
[[Category:Schooners of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast]]
[[Category:Missing ships]]
[[Category:Individual sailing vessels]]
[[Category:1821 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in March 1843]]
[[Category:Warships lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in August 1822]]
[[category:Ships involved in anti-piracy efforts]]