Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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Captain Henry Johnson. On February 27, 1777 Lexington sailed from Baltimore toward Europe, having been assigned the mission of harassing British commercial ves- sels there. She arrived in Bordeaux, France on April 3, having captured two small British ships while making the crossing. A squadron was formed with Reprisal and Dolohin at the mouth of the Loire River on May 26th, and two days later the trio sailed from St. Nazaire. Captain Lambert Wickes, commanding officer of both Relorisal and the entire expedition, issued orders for the ships not to separate . . .unless we should be Chased by a Vessel of Superior Force 8: it should be Necessary to do so for our own preservation. His instructions dealing with the capture of ships included the admoni- tion: 'GThe Prize Master must not Report or Enter her as Prize, but as An American Vessel from a port that will be most likely to gain Credit according to the Cargo she may have on board .... Be Very Attentive to your Signals and if you should be taken, you must take Care to Destroy them .... Take care to have all the Prisoners properly Secured, to prevent their Rising 8: taking your Vessel .... '7 Proceeding through the Irish Channel from the south, and after passing through the north chan- nel, they arrived at a point in the Irish Sea op- posite the ports of Glasgow and Greenock-in a position to intercept both coastal and inter-ocean commerce. Rewards were not long in coming. On june 19 the squadron captured two brigs and two sloops off the north coast of Ireland. Following addi- tional successes the next day, Captain Wickes reasoned that word of the attacks might be reach- ing the British Admiralty, and ordered the three ships south along the coast of Ireland. Their plundering continued, and by june -25 the score showed nine brigs, two ships and seven other vessels had been captured. Eight of the eighteen prizes were sent into French ports, seven more sunk, one was used to allow prisoners from all the ships to return to England and one was re- tained as a tender. The final vessel stopped had been a smuggler, and was allowed to pass. Lexington reached Morlaix, France on june 278 - only to be restrained there by the authoritiesg France had been threatened with dire conse- quences by the British if they allowed American vessels to sail from their ports to prey on Eng- lish commerce. The ship was ordered detained until proper assurances could be given that she would head straight for America. It was Septem- ber 17 before she was finally permitted to sail, and two days later she engaged the British cutter Alert, boasting only 10 guns. Exceedingly rough weather made a pitched battle impossible, although Lexington managed to shoot off her rival's sails. Her ammunition exhausted, the American ship broke off hostilities and headed back towards France. The cutter, however, perhaps realizing A black-lzulleal yellow-trimmed brig named Wild Duck became the first Lex- ington, propergz of the Continental N avy, in I 7 7 6 Alternatebf running the British blockade and fighting gallantbz on her own of the Middle Atlantic Colonies, she continualbz hustrated her would-be opponents. Boarded and cap- tured on one occasion, her crew imme- diatebz regained control and sailed her to sajegz in Baltimore.

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. ,- ,.,. ...... ,-.-- ..1!!l...,,,,..... ,.,....:.,., , -mn: . A-N-mu-1-rv-avnummsvna-es-ui.-g..-wx mama-an-rr v sr-e.1.e..-mfg' in-enfniviu. A isa: ur?-flf-'lTTfiffT1fl'5'7g Eff 'TF ' Z' flT1I3zELi51 fZ ITT '?'1 ' f 'ZP ing two more, before surrendering. Captain Barry placed a prize crew aboard his victim, who sailed her back to Philadelphia, while he re- ported that very afternoon to the Marine Com- mittee: HI have the pleasure to acquaint you that at one P.M. this day I fell in with the sloop Edward fof eight gunsj, belonging to the Lz'ver- pool frigate. She engaged us near two glasses. They killed two of our men and wounded two more. We shattered her in a terrible manner, as you will see. We killed and wounded several of her crew .... I have the happiness to acquaint you that all our people behaved with much couragef, Continuing to operate off the coast, Lexington encountered no other enemy ships, and, when provisions ran low on May 5, she slipped past British frigates Roebuck and Liverpool and their tenders to moor again at the Wharton and Humphrey Shipyards for refitting. Three days later the ship's crew was hastily mustered and taken in small boats down the Delaware River to a floating battery. Rumors had reached Phila- delphia that two British frigates in the roadstead were about to force their way up the river to bombard the city, when the assault didn't ma- terialize, however, the crew returned to their ship. On May 20 the ship sailed down the river to Chester, where she joined the 16-gun Continental Brig Reprisal. A week later these two were off Cape May with the sloop Hornet when they spotted the 74-gun British frigate Liverpool in the early morning haze. The British captain was amazed when the American ships hove to, rather than fleeing his mighty warship at first glance. He immediately seized the opportunity to challenge the lighter vessels, ordering his topsails shaken out and his steering sails rigged. However, when Liverpool had closed to about one mile, the Americans ran up all the canvas they could find and headed to- wards the shallower waters off Cape May. Their strategy was to lure their opponent into shallow water where she would run aground, becoming helpless. The frigate's Captain was too wise in his nautical ways to fall for the ruse, however, and he gave up the pursuit when his soundings showed a depth of only four fathoms. 6 With both sides thus frustrated, the American ships sailed on to Cape May and 8.I1ChOICd- Lexington remained 'there until june 6, when she slipped through the blockading British forces and sped southward to warn powder and am- munition ships coming from.Cape Francois of the existence of the blockade. June 29 the armed brig Nancy, enroute to Philadelphia with a cargo of ammunition and stores from the West Indies, was sighted and pursued off the Delaware Capes by half a dozen British warships and their tenders. Lexington and Reprisal came to her assistance and were able to take aboard the most valuable part of Nancy it cargo, including 270 barrels of powder. Nancy was run ashore and grounded, under cover of fog, near Cape May, there her Captain and crew set afire and abandoned her. Several British boats were dispatched in an attempt to seize what was left of the burning prize, but the powder still aboard exploded just as the hapless boarding party took possession of her with three cheersf' ending any hope of salvage. Lexington, meanwhile, not wishing to risk her newly-acquired cargo in a battle, fled to Cape May. In july she sailed for the waters off Ber- muda, but it proved an uneventful cruise during which no enemy vessels were encountered, and she returned to Philadelphia in October. There her original commanding officer, Captain Barry, was relieved by Captain William Hallock. That month the ship was placed at the disposal of the Secret Committee of Congress to carry im- portant dispatches in addition to her other duties. Lexington? initial assignment in this connection came almost immediately, when she departed for Cape Francois on October 23. Misfortune overtook the ship on her return voyage in December, when she encountered the British frigate Pearl and was captured. Officers and some of the crew were removed, and a prize crew from Pearl took command. Their conquest was short-lived, however, for the captive sailors overpowered their guards that very night. Upon assuming control they hauled down the Union jack, hoisted the colors of the Continental Navy, and sailed to Baltimore, Maryland. There she was refitted and placed under the command of

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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,