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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

Flying Fish (I)

Schooner:
  • Built, date and location unknown, as the New York pilot boat Independence
  • launched, date unknown
  • Purchased at New York 3 August 1838
  • Placed in service as Flying Fish at Hampton Roads, 12 August 1838, Passed Midshipman S. R. Knox, in command
  • Assigned as a tender in the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838-42
  • Sailed with her squadron, 19 August 1838, via Madeira and Rio de Janeiro while bound for Terra del Fuego the squadrons jumping off point for exploration of the Antarctic Continent, in 1839
  • In 1840 the squadron proceeded to survey Pacific islands
  • Flying Fish made independent surveys in the Columbia River in 1841
  • Rendezvousing at San Francisco with the squadron in 1841 Flying Fish participated in a survey of the Sulu Sea in 1842
  • Found unfit for further service Flying Fish was struck from the Naval Register and sold at Singapore in February 1842
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 96 t.
    Length 65' 6"
    Beam 22' 6"
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement 15
    Armament two guns
    Propulsion sail
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Vincennes 408k A modern rendering of the six vessels of the U.S. Exploring Expedition assembled at Orange Bay, near Cape Horn, in February 1839. Shown from the left are the schooner Sea Gull at anchor; the flagship USS Vincennes in the foreground, hoisting out her launch; the schooner Flying Fish under way, shifting her anchoring ground; the sloop-of-war USS Peacock with her hands furling sail; the brig USS Porpoise standing in and shortening sail, preparing to anchor; and the store ship USS Relief in the distance with her upper yards sent down, preparing to distribute provisions. Artist unknown.
    From "Sea of Glory: The Epic South Seas Expedition 1838-42" by Nathaniel Philbrick.    		 Robert Hurst
    Flying Fish 180k Sketch of the schooner Flying Fish in Antarctic waters in pursuit of CAPT. James Cook's Ne Plus Ultra, (Cook's furthest southward penetration of the Antarctica 72° South) from an illustrated poem about the schooner's historic sail south published in 1843
    From "Sea Of Glory: The Epic South Seas Expedition 1838-42" by Nathaniel Philbrick.    		 Robert Hurst
    Flying Fish (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 9 January 2015