USS Preble (1839)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Preble.

History
Name	USS Preble
Builder	Portsmouth Navy Yard
Launched	13 June 1839
Commissioned	1840
Fate	Exploded and sunk, 27 April 1863
General characteristics
Type	Sloop-of-war
Displacement	556 long tons (565 t)
Length	117 ft (36 m)
Beam	32 ft (9.8 m)
Depth of hold	15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion	Sail
Armament	16 × 32-pounder guns

USS Preble was a United States Navy sloop-of-war with 16 guns, built by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, launched June 13, 1839 and commissioned in 1840. She was named after Commodore Edward Preble (1761–1807).

Early Service

Preble first sailed for Labrador, and then went to cruise in the Mediterranean Sea in 1843. She was attached to the African Squadron in 1845. In 1846, Preble sailed for New York and joined the Pacific Squadron on the West Coast of the United States, where she participated in the Mexican–American War. In 1848, Captain James Glynn took her first to Hong Kong and then to Japan, where he became the first American to negotiate successfully with the "closed country." In November 1850, she returned to the east coast of the United States, where she became a practice ship for midshipmen until 1857, when she was placed in ordinary.

Civil War Service

During the American Civil War, in July 1861, she joined the Gulf Blockading Squadron, and participated to the blockade of the Mississippi River.

She was posted at Head of the Passes, Mississippi River, on 12 October 1861 when the blockade squadron there was attacked by a Confederate Fleet, that included the first ironclad, Manassas. Being a sail powered ship only, she did not enjoin the battle action but made a swift retreat out the Southwest Pass to safety.**

Preble was serving as a guard ship when, on April 27, 1863, moored in Pensacola Bay, she caught fire due to the carelessness of a crewman. The vessel was abandoned and exploded. In 1963, the wreck of the Preble was discovered by Navy divers, who retrieved a number of artifacts.

See also

• United States Navy
• List of United States Navy ships

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

• • {ORN, volume 16}

Further reading

• Arnold, Bruce Makoto. Diplomacy Far Removed: A Reinterpretation of the U.S. Decision to Open Diplomatic Relations with Japan. Unpublished Thesis. University of Arizona, May 2005.[1]
• United States Navy (1850). Deposition of Ranald MacDonald regarding his imprisonment in Japan, made to Commander James Glynn, USS Preble. G.P.O.Available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection Senate executive document, 31st Congress, 1st session, no. 84

External links

• Detailed history of the USS Preble