USS Fulton (1837)

USS "Fulton" (1837) was a steamer that served the U.S. Navy prior to the American Civil War, and then was recommissioned in time to see service in that war. However, her participation was limited to being captured by Confederate forces in port of Pensacola, Florida, at the outbreak of war.

The second ship to be named "Fulton" by the Navy, a side wheel steamer, was launched 18 May 1837 by New York Navy Yard; and commissioned 13 December 1837, Captain M. C. Perry in command. She was often called "Fulton II".

Service in the North Atlantic

"Fulton" cruised the Atlantic coast, aiding ships in distress, conducting ordnance experiments, and training officers in gunnery. A major event of her early service came on 23 November 1838, when she bested the British steamer SS Great Western in a speed contest off New York. Decommissioned at New York 23 November 1842, "Fulton" lay in ordinary until 1851, when she was rebuilt and her machinery completely replaced.

Upgraded in 1841 and returned to service

"Fulton" was essentially a harbor defense ship and was unsuitable for the cruising missions then emphasized by Navy policy. Accordingly, the New York Navy Yard rebuilt her in 1851 as a much more conventional warship. "Fulton" was recommissioned 25 January 1852 for duty in the Home Squadron, and sailed from New York 22 February for the West Indies.

Pre-Civil War operations

During the next six years, aside from necessary repair periods in the yards at Washington, D.C., Norfolk, Virginia, and Boston, Massachusetts, "Fulton" ranged from the Caribbean to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, transporting Government officials, protecting merchantmen against search on the high seas, and joining in the search for USS|Albany|1846 (January through May 1855) and the expedition to Nicaragua in 1857 to break up William Walker's filibustering activities. The next year "Fulton's" commanding officer obtained the release of five American merchant ships held at Tampico, Mexico, by revolutionary forces. From October 1858 to May 1859 "Fulton" joined in operations commanded by Commodore W. B. Shubrick during his negotiations to improve relations with Paraguay, sailing the La Plata and the Parana and Paraguay Rivers. After lying out of commission at Norfolk, Virginia, from 7 May 1859 to 30 July 1859, "Fulton" cruised off Cuba to suppress the slave trade until laid up at Pensacola, Florida, in mid-October 1859.

Captured by Confederate forces in Pensacola

Captured by the Confederates when they took the Pensacola yard on 12 January 1861, "Fulton" was considered for use in the Confederate States Navy, but was never fitted out. She was destroyed in the evacuation of the yard by the Confederates upon Federal reoccupation 10 May 1862.

References

See also

* United States Navy
* American Civil War

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/f5/fulton-ii.htm USS Fulton]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-f/fulton2.htm USS Fulton (1837-1861)]