USS Hancock

Several ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Hancock or USS John Hancock, in honor of patriot and statesman John Hancock (1737–1793) President of the Continental Congress and United States in Congress Assembled.

• The first Hancock was the former schooner Speedwell, one of a small flotilla hired in October 1775 to support General George Washington's siege of Boston. She was declared unfit for service late in 1776, and returned to her owner early the following year.

• The second Hancock was a sailing frigate of the American Revolutionary War, commissioned in 1776 and captured by the British in 1777. Renamed HMS Iris, her new owners boasted of her as "the finest and fastest frigate in the world." In 1781 she was captured by a French squadron. In 1793 the British found Iris dismantled at Toulon; they blew her up as they evacuated.

• The third Hancock (AP-3), originally SS Arizona, was purchased by the War Department, then transferred to the Navy in 1902, and used as a transport until 1925.

• Originally named Hancock, aircraft carrier (CV-14) was renamed Ticonderoga while under construction in 1943. The lead ship of her class, she was launched in 1944 and sold for scrap in 1975.

• Originally named Ticonderoga, aircraft carrier (CV-19) was renamed Hancock while under construction in 1943. The fourth Hancock was launched in 1944 and sold for scrap in 1976.

• The first John Hancock was an steamship first commissioned in 1850. She was sold in California in 1865.

• The second John Hancock, (DD-981), was a Spruance-class destroyer, launched in 1977 and decommissioned in 2000.

References

See also USS Lewis Hancock.