USS Stromboli (1846)

In 1846, the United States Navy purchased brig "Howard" at Boston, Massachusetts to strengthen its forces for the Mexican-American War. Commissioned on March 18, 1847 as bomb brig USS "Stromboli", named for the island of Stromboli in the Tyrrhenian Sea, the ship sailed for the Gulf of Mexico under the command of Commander William S. Walker.

"Stromboli" performed blockade duty in the Bay of Campeche, especially off the mouth of the Coatzacoalcos River. In mid-June, she sailed to the mouth of the Tabasco River. On June 14, she and USS "Bonita" were towed across the bar into the river as Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry's squadron occupied Frontera. The force then moved upstream and took Tabasco the following day.

"Stromboli" later returned to blockade duty off the mouth of the Coatzacoalcos. That summer, the ship's crew was stricken by yellow fever, but she continued to help guard the U.S. Army water communications through the winter and spring.

In July 1848, "Stromboli" sailed home, and she was decommissioned on September 6, 1848. She was sold later that year.