View source for USS Powhatan (1850)

{{short description|Ship}}
{{other ships|USS Powhatan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= USS Powhatan (1850) photograph NH 48102.jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Powhatan''
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag=[[File:US Naval Jack 36 stars.svg|48px|Union Navy Jack]]  {{USN flag|1861}}
|Ship name=USS ''Powhatan''
|Ship namesake= [[Powatan]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Norfolk Naval Shipyard]], [[Portsmouth, Virginia]]
|Ship original cost=$785,000
|Ship laid down=6 August 1847
|Ship launched=14 February 1850
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=2 September 1852
|Ship decommissioned=2 June 1886
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
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|Ship motto=
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|Ship fate=Scrapped, 5 August 1887
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship type= [[Steamship|steam]] [[frigate]]
|Ship tonnage=2415
|Ship displacement={{convert|3765|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|253|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|45|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|18|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=[[Steam engine]], {{convert|1500|hp|0|abbr=on}}, side paddlewheels
|Ship speed={{convert|11|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=289 officers and enlisted
|Ship armament=*1 × {{convert|11|in|mm|abbr=on}} [[Dahlgren gun|Dahlgren]] smoothbore gun
*10 × {{convert|9|in|mm|abbr=on}} Dahlgren smoothbore guns
*5 × 12-pounder guns (5.4&nbsp;kg)
|Ship armor=
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|}
The first '''USS ''Powhatan''''' was a sidewheel [[Steamship|steam]] [[frigate]] in the [[United States Navy]] during the [[American Civil War]]. She was named for [[Powhatan]], a Native American chief of eastern [[Virginia]]. She was one of the last, and largest, of the United States Navy's paddle frigates.

''Powhatan'' was built by [[Samuel Hartt]] and her keel was laid on 6 August 1847 at [[Norfolk Naval Shipyard]], then Gosport Shipyard, at [[Portsmouth, Virginia]]. Her engines were constructed by [[Mehaffy & Company]]. She cost $785,000. She was launched on 14 February 1850 by the Norfolk Navy Yard and commissioned on 2 September 1852, Captain [[William Mervine]] in command.

==Service history==
===Home Squadron, 1852===
After shakedown out of the Norfolk Navy Yard, ''Powhatan'' joined the [[Home Squadron]] as [[flagship]] of Commodore [[John T. Newton]] and sailed for New York where she was visited by the [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]], [[John P. Kennedy]]. She departed New York on 16 October 1852 for [[Veracruz, Veracruz|Vera Cruz]] with the new Minister to [[Mexico]], Judge [[Alfred Conkling]], on board and returned to Norfolk on 27 November via [[Havana]] and [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]].
[[File:USS Powhatan (ship, 1852) 40543.jpg|thumb|263x263px|''Powhatan'']]

===East India Squadron, 1853–1860===
''Powhatan'', under Comdr. [[William J. McCluney]], was next assigned to the [[East India Squadron]] and arrived on station via [[Cape of Good Hope]] on 15 June 1853. Her arrival in Chinese waters coincided with an important phase of Commodore [[Matthew C. Perry]]'s [[Perry Expedition|expedition]] to open commercial relations with the Japanese. She was Perry's flagship during his November visit to [[Huangpu District, Guangzhou|Whampoa]]. On 14 February 1854 she entered [[Tokyo Bay|Edo Bay]] with the rest of the squadron, remaining until the [[Convention of Kanagawa]] was signed on 31 March 1854 as part of Perry's show of force. After the signing of the treaty, the squadron moved to [[Shimoda, Shizuoka|Shimoda]], one of the ports opened by the treaty and the site of a future American consulate to conduct surveying operations. While at Shimoda, [[Yoshida Shoin]] came aboard and unsuccessfully requested to be taken to the United States.

During August 1855, ''Powhatan'' accompanied {{HMS|Rattler|1843|6}} in a successful [[Battle of Kuhlan|battle]] against Chinese pirates off [[Kowloon]], and reached the U.S. on 14 February 1856 with the new treaty.
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[File:USS powhatan.jpg|left|thumb|Official dinner for Japanese diplomats aboard USS ''Powhatan''|{{deletable image-caption|1=Monday, 1 June 2009}}]] -->

The [[Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United States–Japan)|US-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce]] was signed on her deck on 29 July 1858 (19 June in the old Japanese calendar).

The U.S. Minister, [[Frederick Townsend Ward|Gen. Ward]] came to [[Penang]] on the steamer ''Ganges'' and was transferred to the ''Powhatan'' for his journey onto [[Beijing|Pekin]] in May 1859.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-aug-03-1859-2078707/|title = Other-Articles-Aug-03-1859-2078707 &#124; NewspaperArchive®}}</ref> The American government also at the same time chartered the steamer ''Hong Kong'' accompany Ward into the north and to return the remains of [[Ye Mingchen]]'s for interment in [[Guangzhou|Canton]], 13 May 1859.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-aug-03-1859-2078635/|title = Other-Articles-Aug-03-1859-2078635 &#124; NewspaperArchive®}}</ref><ref>{{cite ECCP|title=Yeh Ming-ch'ên}}</ref>

On 13 February 1860, the ''Powhatan'' accompanied by a Japanese capital ship, {{ship|Japanese warship|Kanrin Maru||2}} that departed on 9 February (18 January in the old Japanese calendar), left [[Yokohama]], Japan, en route to San Francisco as part of the [[Japanese Embassy to the United States (1860)|first official embassy]] of the Empire of Japan to the United States of America. The Japanese embassy was formally composed of three men: Ambassador Shinmi Masaoki (新見正興), Vice-Ambassador Muragaki Norimasa (村垣範正), and Observer Oguri Tadamasa (小栗忠順).

===Civil War, 1860–1865===
''Powhatan'' remained active throughout the Civil War. She served as Flag Officer [[Garrett J. Pendergrast]]'s flagship at Vera Cruz during October 1860. In April 1861, while under the command of Lt. [[David Dixon Porter]], she assisted in the relief of [[Fort Pickens]], Florida.  President [[Abraham Lincoln]] had attempted to countermand the order sending the ''Powhatan'' to Fort Pickens and send the ship to assist in the relief expedition to [[Fort Sumter]] instead, but because Secretary of State [[William H. Seward]] signed the order "Seward" rather than "Lincoln," the order was not obeyed.<ref>[[Allan Nevins]], ''The Improvised War, 1861–1862'' (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1959), p. 65 n. 58.</ref> The ''Powhatan'' assisted in the establishment of the blockade of [[Mobile, Alabama]] on 26 May, capturing [[schooner]] ''Mary Clinton'' on 29 May. During July and August ''Powhatan'' joined the blockade of the Southwest Pass of the [[Mississippi River]], retaking schooner ''Abby Bradford'' on 15 August. From late August to October she pursued [[CSS Sumter|CSS ''Sumter'']] throughout much of the [[West Indies]].

''Powhatan'' operated off [[Charleston, South Carolina]] from October 1862 to August 1863, captured schooner ''Major E. Willis'' on 19 April and sloop ''C. Routereau'' on 16 May, and deployed for a second time to the West Indies from November 1863 to September 1864 as flagship of Rear Admiral [[James L. Lardner]]. She participated in the [[First Battle of Fort Fisher|successful reduction of Fort Fisher]], 24–25 December 1864 and in [[Second Battle of Fort Fisher|its capture]] on 13–15 January 1865.

===South Pacific Squadron, 1866–1869===
After the war, in October 1865, she sailed from Boston with {{USS|Tuscarora|1861|2}} and {{USS|Vanderbilt|1862|2}}, escorting [[Monitor (warship)|monitor]] {{USS|Monadnock|1864|6}} to California via [[Cape Horn]]. She arrived at San Francisco on 22 June 1866.

''Powhatan'' was the flagship of the [[South Pacific Squadron]] 1866–1869, commanded by Rear Admiral [[John A. Dahlgren]] from 12 December 1866 to 14 July 1868. In March 1866 she was sent to [[Valparaíso]] to protect U.S. interests during the [[Chincha Islands War]].

On 13 August 1868, ''Powhatah'' sustained damaged to one of her paddle wheels at [[Callao]], Peru during the [[1868 Arica earthquake|Arica earthquake]].<ref name=S290968>{{Cite news |title=The Following Relates to the Earthquake in South America |newspaper=The Standard |location=London |date=29 September 1868 |issue=13776 |page=7 }}</ref>

===North Atlantic Squadron, 1869–1886===
From 1869 to 1886, she was attached to the North Atlantic Squadron and was flagship from 15 September 1869 until 30 December 1870.<ref name="moh"/> On 24 August 1873, ''Powhatan'' was caught in a storm at [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], Canada. She was driven from her moorings at the Cunard wharf across to the ordnance wharf.<ref name=LG130973>{{Cite news |title=The Terrible Hurricane in the Atlantic |newspaper=Lancaster Gazetter |location=Lancaster |date=13 September 1873 |issue=4507 |page=6 }}</ref> She served as flagship again from 4 July 1877 until 10 December 1879. During this period, three ''Powhatan'' crewman earned the [[Medal of Honor]] for rescuing fellow sailors from drowning: Landsman [[George W. Cutter]] at [[Norfolk, Virginia]], on 27 May 1872; Seaman [[Joseph B. Noil]] at Norfolk on 26 December 1872; and Coxswain [[William Anderson (Medal of Honor)|William Anderson]] on 28 June 1878.<ref name="moh"/>

In 1877, the ship was ordered to [[Baltimore]], Maryland along with the [[USS Swatara (1873)|''Swatara'']], on a peacekeeping mission following the [[Baltimore railroad strike of 1877|city's riots]], which occurred as part of the [[Great Railroad Strike of 1877]].<ref name="meek">{{cite book |date=1889 |title=Fifth Regiment Infantry, Md. Nat. Guard, U. S. Volunteer. A History of the Regiment from Its First Organization to the Present Time |url=http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2200/sc2221/000009/000014/pdf/ecp-26-667-5.pdf |publisher=Geo A. Meekins |page=105 }}</ref>

The ship ended her long and conspicuous career by making numerous cruises in [[Cuba]]n waters to protect American commerce: July–August 1880, February–May 1882, January–May 1883, January–May 1885, and January–February 1886. ''Powhatan'' was decommissioned on 2 June 1886 and was sold on 30 July 1886 to [[Burdette Pond]] of [[Meriden, Connecticut]], and scrapped 5 August 1887.

==See also==
<!-- Reminder to those who routinely delete 'See also' links: [[WP:ALSO]]: "The links in the "See also" section do not have to be directly related to the topic of the article, because one purpose of "See also" links is to enable readers to explore tangentially related topics."  The only way some pages are ever discovered and read is through 'See also'. -->
* {{Commons category-inline|USS Powhatan (ship, 1852)}}
{{Portal|American Civil War}}
*[[List of steam frigates of the United States Navy]]
*[[Bibliography of early American naval history]]
*[[Union Navy]]
*[[Union Blockade]]
*[[List of United States Navy ships]]

==References==
:{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/p10/powhatan-i.htm}}
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="moh">{{Cite web
  | title       = Medal of Honor Recipients – Interim Awards, 1871–1898
  | work        = Medal of Honor Citations
  | publisher   = [[United States Army Center of Military History]]
  | date        = 3 August 2009
  | url         = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/int1871-98.html
  | access-date  = 24 August 2010 }}</ref>
}}

{{1868 shipwrecks}}
{{1873 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powhatan}}
[[Category:1850 ships]]
[[Category:American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Sailing frigates of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Portsmouth, Virginia]]
[[Category:Ships of the Union Navy]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in August 1868]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in August 1873]]