Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 11 text:

bf iq Assigned to harass British shipping of the very coast of the island Empire in I 77 Z the Continental Brig Lexington assisted in the capture or destruction of numerous enemy vessels, until her am- munition exhausteai she was captured ojj' the French coast following a fierce battle.

Page 10 text:

Lexington .9 plight rigged some emergency sails and gave chase. Defenseless under the new at- tack, unable to outmaneuver and escape, and with seven men killed and eleven wounded, Cap- tain Johnson struck his colors. Reporting the conquest, British Lieutenant Bazeley stated: HI gave chace at five in the Yard Portsmouth Virginia in November. on May 31, 1831 she was returned to active duty under the command of Master Commandant Silas M. Duncan. She proceeded to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and joined the South Atlantic Squadron. Master Commandant Isaac McKeever took com- mand on August 16, 1832. Four years later the L . ......... , , . B-unvimsu mv:-vBrviil411! ':- IS??'1'Y'.i '7 'fm-1'1 - - ' '1-v nnv -msq'xx-m 's-n - 4 -mv v vi ' .4 ,.. --.L ...... ..- i... .. . 2 ' ' 7 7 7 . Morning and came up with him at half past seven, had a close Engagement till ten, when He bore up and made Sail, as soon as I got my Rigging to rights, again gave Chace Qsicj and came up with him at half past one, renewed the Action till half past two, when he Struck. A British prize crew was quickly placed aboard and sailed the ship to England. The first Ameri- can ship Lexington, therefore, had its short but proud history draw to a finale. Authorized by an Act of Congress on March 3, 1825, the second U. S. vessel to wear the name Lexington was an 18-gun Sloop-of-War. Con- structed at the New York Navy Yard for a cost of 3112,128, her vital statistics included: Length ............. 127 feet Breadth . . . . 33 feet, 6 inches Draft .............. 16 feet, 6 inches Gross weight ......... 691 tons Her complement was 190 officers and men, and her 18-gun title was somewhat of a mis- nomer-armament consisted of twenty-four me- dium 24-pounders. The new warship was launched March 9, 1826 and commissioned june 11 of the same year, sailing under the com- mand of Master Commandant William B. Shu- brick. Her initial mission was to protect Ameri- can fishing vessels off the coast of Labrador. Upon her return to the United States the ship was dispatched to Trinidad to bring back the remains of Commodore Oliver H. Perry who had died there in 1819. In 1827 she was sent to the Mediterranean where she cruised for three years under the com- mands of Master Commandant B. W. Booth fApril 28, 1827 -july 20, 182811, Master Com- mandant S. L. Breeze Uuly 20, 1828 -August 182811, Master Commandant William M. Hunter QOctober 2, 1828 - November 1830j. Returning to the United States in 1830, Lexing- ton was laid up in ordinary at the Norfolk Navy 8 vessel was sent to the Pacific Coast of the United States to protect American commerce. Returning to the east coast, Lexington was con- verted into a store ship and her armament of 24 medium 24-pounders was taken off to be replaced by six 32-pounder carronades. In April 1843 the Sloop-of-War was sent to the Mediterranean where she remained for several years before being sent via the Suez Canal to the Pacific Squadron. During the War with Mexico 11846 - 1848j Lexington, under the command of Lieutenant Theodorus Bailey, operated along the coast of California transporting troops for the U. S. Army and assisting in the blockade of Mexican ships in California ports. On january 12, 1848 a naval force was landed at San Blas and after attacking the Mexican fortifications, drove off the defenders and captured the guns. She returned to the east coast in the early 1850's and sailed from New York on june 18, 1853 under the command of Lieutenant Johnj. Glasson. After joining CommodorePMatthew C. Perry's famous expedition to Japan, Lexington remained in far eastern waters for two years. Closing out her naval service, shereturned to New York City and was decommissioned Febru- ary 26, 1855 and subsequently was disposed of by sale. In june, 1861 Commodore john Rogers purchased a ship for the War Department which was to bear the name Lexington, but which was radically different from either her two predeces- sors or those to follow. It was a side-wheel steamer, drawing only six feet of water, which had been built at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the previous year, and had made two runs from that city to New Orleans. Described as a splendid, three-tiered wedding cake of thin white pine topped with usual carved woodworkf, she was purchased at Cincinnati,

Page 12 text:

'Y 55+ -xveaud-rinuzmzmramhwssawnunv-remain wnmmnmmeenm-mmmn: Ohio for l1320,666, and naturally required a con- siderable amount of refitting for naval service. The conversion to a gunboat was accomplished by cutting her down to one deck, raising per- pendicular oak bulwarks around the sides as a defense against musketry, dropping the boilers into the hold, and placing the steam pipes as low as possible. She was armed with four 8-inch smoothbores and a pair of 32-pounders fone of the latter was later replaced by two 30-pounder Parrott rifles, and by 1864 she had also been armed with two additional 8-inch guns.j Commander Roger N. Stembel was assigned as first captain of Lexington, he commanded a vessel 177 feet 7 inches in length, having a breadth of 36 feet, 10 inches, weighing 448 tons, and boasting a speed of 7 knots. Furthermore, his officers were all army men! At Cairo, Illi- nois on August 12, she was assigned to duty with the Western Flotilla, an Army organization whose ships were paid for and controlled by the Army and staffed completely by Army officers and enlisted men-except for the Commanding Officer who was appointed by the Secretary of the Navy. Later, after much friction, between the Army and Navy-each wanted control of the river-going forces, but the Army didn't want to man them-naval officers and men took over the gunboats. This gunboat, along with a pair of other timberclads, Tyler and Conestoga, was placed at the disposal of General Grant and assigned to aid Union forces in maintaining control of the environ lands along the Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. During the organization of the main Union ironclad fleet she and Tyler were used to support Union Army movements and disperse possible concentrations of Confed- erate sympathizers. In this capacity Lexington supported Grant's movements against Paducah, Kentucky, where she seized the steamer W B. Perry on August 22. On September 4 Lexington briefly exchanged fire with Confederate Gunboat jackson Qformer- ly the old towboat Yankeej, but was forced to break off the engagement because of a depleted powder supply and because half the gun tackles for the cannons were not in working condition The same day shots were traded with the bat- teries at Hickman and Columbus, Kentucky. In company with another timberclad, Lexing- ton covered the advance of Grant's Army on Norfolk, Mississippi. This was accomplished by the ships steaming down the river, lobbing shells ahead of the advancing troops-much in the manner of gunfire support ships' shore bom- bardments in conjunction with amphibious land- ings or beach head attacks in modern warfare. The next day, as the town had fallen, the Union vessels engaged the batteries near Lucas Bend and attacked enemy ships in the river. jackson and a steamer took refuge under the potent Con- federate shore batteries which prevented their capture, but one vessel was severely damaged when one of Lexingtonis 8-inch guns dropped a 15-second time-fused shell into the starboard wheelhouse. The next assignment proved an uneventful one - standing guard in the Ohio River for ten days in support of an expedition to Owensboro, Ken- tucky. Returning to harassment duty in the Mis- sissippi, Lexington again engaged the batteries at Columbus on October 7. Exactly a month later she joined with gunboat Tyler to protect General Grantls Army transports during the bat- tle of Belmont, Missouri. When the reinforced Confederates, supported by fresh artillery, sud- denly launched an attack on the troop trans- ports, the two ships moved in close to shore and opened up a withering fusillade of grape, canis- ter and 5-second shells. The land-based guns could not depress quickly enough to fire on the gunboats, and the Confederates were routed with heavy casualties. The effectiveness of the timber- clads in this engagement reportedly gave Grant a high idea of the powers of floating artillery. The beginning of 1862 saw Lieutenant james W. Shirk take over as commanding officer. january was spent primarily in operations in the Tennessee, and on February 6 Lexz'ngton joined the Union flotilla for the attack on Fort Henry. There were seven Union warships in the river for the attack-three ironclads, the super-ironclad Essex and the trio of timberclads Tyler Cones toga and Lexington The morning was dark and threatening with the river running high after 10