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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS St. Mary's (II)


Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Sloop of War:
  • Built in 1843-44 at Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Commissioned USS St Mary's in the fall of 1844, CDR. John L. Saunders in command
  • Assigned to Commodore Robert Stockton's Mediterranean Squadron while at Philadelphia
  • USS St. Mary's sailed with the squadron to reinforce Commodore David Conner's Gulf of Mexico Squadron in event of war with Mexico over the annexation of Texas
  • USS St. Mary's primary duty during the War with Mexico was blockade duty especially at Tampico and support for the Vera Cruz landings
  • Ordered back to Norfolk in April arriving in May 1847
  • USS St. Mary's sailed from Norfolk, for duty with the Pacific Squadron, 11 April 1848
  • USS St. Mary's participation in Commodore Perry's opening of Japan in July 1853 Returned to the east coast for repairs at Philadelphia in 1853 and returning to the Pacific Squadron in 1854
  • Laid up at Mare Island in September 1866
  • Recommissioned, in the fall of 1870
  • Placed in ordinary at Norfolk, VA., 3 June 1873
  • Transferred to the Public Marine School at New York in 1875, she served as a school ship until June 1908
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in August 1908 to Thomas Butler and Co., Boston and in November 1908, she was scrapped
    Specifications:
    Displacement 958 t.
    Length 149' 3"
    Beam 37' 4"
    Draft 18'
    Speed unknown
    Complement 195
    Armament
    sixteen 32-pdrs
    six 8 inch guns
    Propulsion sail

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    Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Saratoga 294k US Navy ships of the Japanese Squadron, established to promote free trade with Japan in 1852. From left to right:
    USS Susquehanna,
    USS Saratoga,
    USS St. Mary's,
    USS Supply,
    USS Plymouth,
    USS Perry,
    USS Mississippi and
    USS Princeton.
    From ~ The Archive of the Old Print Man ~ "Gleason's Pictorial Drawing Room Companion", Boston, 1852.
    Tommy Trampp
    St Mary's 53k USS St. Mary's rides at anchor during the late 1800s, with her hull painted dull black except for her bow scrollwork and a narrow white band at maindeck level; this was the customary finish for the Navy's wooden ships at this time. To fit her for her role as a training ship, her battery has been removed; her curtained gun ports now provide light and air for berthing spaces below decks.
    US Navy photo from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Robert Hurst
    St Mary's 129k USS St. Mary's in the first dry dock established at Mare Island Navy Yard, circa 1854. The sectional dry dock was built in New York and shipped out to California in sections around Cape Horn. USS St. Mary's was one of the first ships to use the dock.
    US Navy photo from "A Long Line of Ships: Mare Island's Century of Naval Activity in California", by Arnold S. Lott. Annapolis, MD. United States Naval Institute
    Robert Hurst
    St Mary's 533k USS St. Mary's at anchor, off Mare Island Navy Yard in August 1870. Note USS Independence in the background. Darryl Baker
    St Mary's 1108k Sketch of USS St. Mary's at sea titled "Man overboard", 8 June1872, Lat 18° 36' 30"N Long 147° 19'W Darryl Baker
    St Mary's 113k Starboard broadside view of USS St. Mary's, location unknown, circa 1890 to 1901.
    Library of Congress photo # LC-D4-20930
    Mike Green
    St Mary's 315k USS St. Mary's under full sail while serving as the Public Marine School at New York's school ship, circa 1875 to 1908. Tommy Trampp
    St Mary's
    LOC Photo # LC-D428-746
    109k USS St. Mary's at the Dewey Naval Parade on the Hudson River, New York, 29 September 1899.
    Library of Congress, Photo #'s LC-D428-745 and LC-D428-745
    Mike Green
    St Mary's<
    LOC Photo No. LC-D428-745
    113k
    St Mary's
    098602309
    334k USS St. Mary's at the Dewey Naval Parade on the Hudson River, New York, 29 September 1899.
    New York Historical Society - George E. Stonebridge Photograph Collection, 1897-1918 (bulk 1899-1904) Identifier nyhs_PR066_956
    Daniel Hacker
    St Mary's
    098602311
    212k USS St. Mary's moored, 21 April 1900, location unknown.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # 19-N-19-1-9
    Robert Hurst
    St Mary's
    098602310
    193k USS St. Mary's moored, 15 January 1908, location unknown. Note small tug in foreground.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # 19-N-19-1-8
    Robert Hurst
    St Mary's
    098602312
    374k USS St. Mary's moored at New York in 1907, just before the end of her schoolship career. David Wright

    USS St. Mary's (II)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    This page is created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Michael Junge
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    Last Updated 5 June 2023