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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Raritan (I)

Frigate:

Laid down in 1824 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard

Launched 13 June 1843

Commissioned the frigate USS Raritan in 1844, CAPT. Francis H. Gregory in command

Raritan cleared New York harbor, 20 February 1844 bound for the South Atlantic to serve as COMO. Daniel Turner's flagship until November 1845

During the War with Mexico Raritan was based at Pensacola and operated with the Home Squadron blockading the east coast of Mexico and supporting Army operations

Raritan as COMO. David Connor's flagship and the frigate Potomac landed 500 men at Point Isabel to reinforce that military depot in May 1846

Raritan participated in the landings at Vera Cruz in March; at Tuxpan in April; and at Tabasco in June 1847

Laid up at Norfolk, in ordinary during 1848

Re-activated in 1849, she served as flagship of the West Indies Squadron

Then as flagship for the Home Squadron

Transferred to the Pacific in 1859 to cruise between Panama and Cape Horn and as far west as the International Date Line

Raritan operated out of Valparaiso from June 1851 to October 1852

The Frigate returned to the US in 1852 and was laid up in ordinary at Norfolk

Raritan was destroyed, 20 April 1861, by Union forces as they evacuated the navy yard

Specifications:
Displacement 1,726 t.
Length 174'
Beam 45'
Depth of Hold 14' 4"
Draft 22' 8"
Speed 23 kts.
Complement 480

Armament

four 8" guns

eighteen 32-pdr guns

twenty-two 42-pdr carronades

Propulsion sail

Size	Image Description	Source
128k	Black and white photo of a lithograph by Martinet of the frigates *Raritan* and *Constitution. From the Collection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hyde Park, New York. US Naval History an Heritage Command photo # NH 1731*	US Naval History and Heritage Command
120k	Black and white photo of a water color painting by an unknown artist of *Raritan* as the flagship of COMO. David Connor during the Mexican War. From the Collection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hyde Park, New York. US Naval History an Heritage Command photo # NH 2380	US Naval History and Heritage Command
155k	Line engraving from Harper's Weekly, 1861 of Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA.. It depicts (from left to right) the ships: USS Pennsylvania, USS Columbia, USS Raritan and USS United States moored off the yard prior to their destruction on 20 April 1861. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo #: NH 59559	Robert Hurst

USS Raritan (I)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Last Updated 17 March 2017