View source for USS St. Louis (1828)

{{short description|Gunboat of the United States Navy}}
{{other ships|USS St. Louis}}

{{No footnotes|date=October 2011}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:USS St. Louis (1828).jpg|300px|USS St. Louis]]
|Ship caption=''St. Louis'' serving as a receiving ship at Philadelphia, 1874. She has been housed over to provide accommodations, but she still retains her masts and the stump of her bowsprit
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag=[[Image:US Naval Jack 36 stars.svg|48px|Union Navy Jack]]  {{USN flag|1861}}
|Ship name= USS ''St. Louis''
|Ship namesake= [[St. Louis]], Missouri
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=
|Ship laid down= 12 February 1827
|Ship launched= 18 August 1828
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 20 December 1828
|Ship decommissioned=  12 May 1865
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 9 August 1906
|Ship reinstated=
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|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate= Sold for scrapping, 5 June 1907
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship type= [[Sloop-of-war]]
|Ship displacement= {{convert|700|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship length= {{convert|127|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|33|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|15|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=Sail
|Ship sail plan=
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|Ship complement=125 officers and enlisted
|Ship armament=20 × 24-pounder smoothbore guns
|Ship armor=
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|}
'''USS ''St. Louis''''' was a [[sloop-of-war]] in the [[United States Navy]] through most of the 19th century.

''St. Louis'' was laid down on 12 February 1827 at the [[Washington Navy Yard]]; launched on 18 August 1828; and commissioned on 20 December 1828, [[Master Commandant]] [[John D. Sloat]] in command.

On the day of her commissioning, ''St. Louis'' got underway and proceeded to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], for final outfitting. She departed [[Hampton Roads]] on 14 February 1829 and headed for [[Havana]], [[Cuba]]. Thence, she proceeded, via [[Rio de Janeiro]] and [[Cape Horn]], to [[Callao, Peru]]. Arriving there on 20 June, the sloop of war joined the [[Pacific Squadron]] under [[Commodore (United States)|Commodore]] [[Jacob Jones (naval officer)|Jacob Jones]]; and, until 8 September 1831, she cruised the coasts of the Americas to protect the trade and interests of the United States. On that day, she sailed for Cape Horn and the east coast; and arrived off [[Sandy Hook, New Jersey]], on 9 December. She was laid up in ordinary at [[New York City]] on the 25th.

Recommissioned on 19 September 1832, ''St. Louis'' departed New York on 12 October to base at [[Pensacola, Florida]], as a unit of the [[West Indies Squadron (United States)|West Indies Squadron]]. She spent the following six years, largely as flagship for the squadron, cruising the [[Caribbean]]. On 28 May 1838, she sailed from Havana for New York where she again was placed in ordinary on 1 July and laid up until 5 April 1839.

''St. Louis'' sailed on 30 June to join the Pacific Squadron at [[Monterey, California]]. En route, she put in at [[San Francisco, California]] where her commanding officer interceded with the government of [[California]] for imprisoned foreign residents. She had the distinction of being the first American [[man-of-war]] to carry the flag into that port. Following operations off the coast of [[Peru]], she returned to Norfolk on 15 September 1842 and was laid up in ordinary there the following day.

''St. Louis'' was recommissioned on 27 February 1843 and soon joined the [[East India Squadron]] as [[flagship]]. She was at [[Singapore]] early in 1844 while the first commercial treaty with [[China]] was being negotiated. She returned to Norfolk in September 1845 after participating in the evacuation of British colonists during the [[Battle of Kororareka]], [[New Zealand]] in March. At Norfolk the ship underwent conversion to lengthen her hull by 13 feet. Departing from Norfolk on 11 August 1848, she sailed to Rio de Janeiro, where she served on the [[South America Station]] until returning in July 1851.
[[File:USS St. Louis.jpg|200px|left|thumb|''USS St. Louis by Gunner Moses Lane during her cruise in the Mediterranean from 1852 to 1855'']]
''St. Louis'' next departed from Norfolk on 24 August 1852 to cruise the [[Mediterranean]]. On 2 July 1853, while she was at [[Smyrna]], [[Turkey]], her commanding officer, [[Captain (naval)|Captain]] [[Duncan Ingraham]], demanded that the commander of the [[Austria]]n [[frigate]], [[Austrian frigate Hussar|''Hussar'']], release Hungarian refugee [[Martin Koszta]]. The revolutionary leader had emigrated to the United States and announced his intentions of becoming an American citizen. Subsequently, while in Smyrna on business, he had been arrested by Austrian officials. Mediation by the French Consul effected Koszta's release.

''St. Louis'' returned to New York on 8 May 1855 and sailed again in November to help suppress the slave trade along the western coast of [[Africa]], returning to New York on 9 February 1858. In September of that year, she joined the [[Home Squadron]] based at [[Pensacola, Florida]].

In January 1861, while serving with the Home Squadron off [[Veracruz, Veracruz|Vera Cruz]], [[Mexico]], ''St. Louis'' was ordered to return to Pensacola to stand guard during the turmoil which preceded the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]]. In April, she aided in the reinforcement of [[Fort Pickens]]; then joined in the massive blockade of southern ports. On 5 September, she assisted {{USS|Brooklyn|1858|2}} in the capture of blockade-running [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] ''brig'', [[CSS Macao|''Macao'']], at the mouth of the [[Mississippi River]].

After being rearmed during a brief period in the [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]], now armed with four {{convert|8|in|mm|abbr=on}} shell guns, twelve 32-pounder guns, two 20-pounder [[Parrott rifle]]s, and one 12-pounder smoothbore, she sailed on 24 February 1862 for [[Cadiz, Spain]]. For the next two years, she criss-crossed the Atlantic, cruised the African coast, and patrolled the areas in and around the [[Canary Islands]] and the [[Azores]] in search of Confederate commerce raiders. Cadiz and [[Lisbon]] were her primary bases for such operations. She returned to [[Port Royal, South Carolina]], on 26 November 1864 for service in the [[South Atlantic Blockading Squadron]].

Three days later, sailors and marines from ''St. Louis'' went ashore at [[Boyd's Landing]] to participate in the combined [[United States Army|Army]]-Navy thrust up the [[Broad River (South Carolina)|Broad River]]. Under the command of Comdr. [[George H. Preble]], the expedition was designed to assist General [[William Tecumseh Sherman]] as he approached [[Savannah, Georgia]] at the end of his march across [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. This operation was completed on 29 December. ''St. Louis'' then briefly returned to blockade duty before finally sailing to the [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]] where she was decommissioned on 12 May 1865.

''St. Louis'' spent the remainder of her career at Philadelphia. After being laid up in 1866 and declared unserviceable, she became a [[receiving ship]] at [[League Island]] and continued this duty until 1894 when she was loaned as a training vessel to the [[Pennsylvania Naval Militia|Naval Militia]] of the State of [[Pennsylvania]].

On 30 November 1904, while she was engaged in this service, her name was changed to ''Keystone State''. She was finally struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register|Navy list]] on 9 August 1906 and sold for scrapping, on 5 June 1907, to [[Joseph G. Hitner]] of Philadelphia.

==See also==
{{Portal|American Civil War}}
* [[Union Navy]]
* [[Union Blockade]]

==References==
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s17/st_louis-i.htm}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Louis}}
[[Category:Sloops of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Ships of the Union Navy]]
[[Category:American Civil War sloops of the United States]]
[[Category:Gunboats of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:1828 ships]]
[[Category:Flagstaff War]]