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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Vandalia (I)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal
Boston Class Sloop-of-War:
  • Laid down in 1825 at Philadelphia Navy Yard
  • Launched in 1828
  • Commissioned USS Vandalia, 6 November 1828, CDR. John Gallagher in command
  • Assigned to the Brazil Squadron, 16 December 1828
  • Returned to Norfolk, 18 December 1831 and decommissioned the next day
  • Recommissioned, 4 October 1832
  • Assigned to the West Indies Squadron
  • Returned to Norfolk in August 1834 and decommissioned, 24 August
  • Recommissioned, 31 December 1834, for duty with the West Indies Squadron
  • Laid up for repairs from 30 August to 24 November 1838, before returning to the West Indies Squadron
  • Decommissioned, 23 November 1839, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Recommissioned, 3 February 1842, for assignment to the newly created Home Squadron
  • Decommissioned, 30 April 1845, at Norfolk, after an epidemic of yellow fever broke out while at Haiti
  • While in ordinary at Norfolk Vandalia was lengthen by 13 feet in 1848
  • Recommissioned, 9 August 1849, joining the Pacific Squadron, 5 September 1849
  • Decommissioned, 14 October 1852, New York Navy Yard
  • Recommissioned, 14 February 1853, joining COMO. Matthew C. Perry's East Indies Squadron
    Present at Perry's historic entrance into Tokyo Bay, 13 February 1854
    Helped to protect American interests in China in 1855 Taiping Rebellion
  • Decommissioned, 30 September 1856, at Portsmouth N,H. Navy Yard
  • Recommissioned, 11 November 1857 for duty with the Pacific Squadron
    Rescued survivors of the American clipper ship Wild Wave, wrecked off Oeno and Pitcairn Islands in 1859
    Conducted an expedition against natives at Waya, Fiji Islands, following the murder of two American citizens
  • Decommissioned, 6 January 1861, at New York Navy Yard
  • Recommissioned, 8 November 1861, for duty with the East Indies Squadron
  • Called home at the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861
  • Vandalia assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, 31 May 1861, off Charleston and Bull's Bay, S.C.
    Captured schooner Henry Middleton, 21 August 1861
    Assisted in the capture of sailing ship Thomas Watson, 15 October 1861
    Participated in the amphibious assault upon Roanoke Island, N.C., 7 and 8 November 1861
    Patrolled off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina from December 1861 to December 1862
  • Decommissioned 4 February 1863, at New York Navy Yard
  • Assigned to duty as a receiving and guard ship at Portsmouth, N.H., 17 October 1864
  • Final Disposition, broken up at Portsmouth sometime between 1870 and 1872.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 614 t.
    Length 127' 4"
    Beam 34' 6"
    Depth unknown
    Draft 15' 6"
    Speed unknown
    Complement 150
    Armament Twenty-four– medium 24 pound long guns; later reduced to 18 x 32-pounder carronades and two 24-pound long guns
    Propulsion sail
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Vandalia) 69k Drawing of USS Vandalia during Commodore Perry's opening up of Japan in 1854.
    Courtesy naval-history.net web site.    		 Bill Gonyo
    Vandalia
    098634708    		 327k Sketch by F. Muller of USS Vandalia underway.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 43851    		 Robert Hurst
    Montgomery (III) 158k Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861, pages 456-457, depicting a large number of Navy ships off the New York Navy Yard, early in the Civil War. Vessels shown include (from left to right): USS Montgomery;
    USS Vandalia;
    USS Brandywine;
    USS North Carolina;
    USS Potomac;
    USS Savannah;
    USS R.R. Cuyler;
    USS Mount Vernon;
    USS Roanoke;
    USS Resolute
    and USS Wabash. A rowing launch is underway in the foreground.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59308    		 Bill Gonyo
    Roanoke (II) 117k "The Blockade of Charleston".
    A line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861, page 599, probably depicting the capture of the blockade runner Arthur Middleton, off Charleston, S.C., 21 August 1861. Arthur Middleton is shown in the center of the view, flying a Confederate flag. USS Vandalia is at left, and USS Roanoke is at right.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59302.    		 Robert Hurst
    Issac Smith 75k "Bombardment and Capture of Port Royal, South Carolina, 7 November 1861" Engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", July-December 1861 volume, pages 760-761. It depicts Federal warships, under Flag Officer Samuel F. DuPont, USN, bombarding Fort Beauregard (at right) and Fort Walker (at left). The Confederate squadron commanded by Commodore Josiah Tattnall is in the left center distance. Subjects identified below the image bottom are (from left): tug Mercury,
    Fort Walker,
    USS Wabash (DuPont's flagship),
    steamer Screamer (?),
    USS Susquehanna,
    CSS Huntsville, Commo. Tattnall, (probably misidentified as no record exists that CSS Huntsville served in the defenses of Port Royal, S.C.
    USS Bienville,
    USS Pembina,
    USS Seneca,
    USS Ottawa,
    USS Unadilla,
    USS Pawnee,
    USS Mohican,
    USS Isaac Smith,
    USS Curlew; (probably misidentified as no record exists that USS Curlew served with South Atlantic Blockading Squadron),
    USS Vandalia,
    USS Penguin,
    USS Pocahontas,
    USS Seminole,
    Fort Beauregard,
    USS R.B. Forbes
    and "Rebel Camp".
    US Naval History and Heritage Command # NH 59256    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Vandalia)
    098634706    		 525k Honorable Discharge and Obituary of Patrick C. McFadden, US Navy veteran.
    Patrick C. McFadden (1824-1901) served in Vandalia from October 1852, through October 1856. He was a native of the area of Kilcar, County Donegal Ireland. His Honorable Discharge from Vandalia, dated October 1856 was given at Kittery, Maine. McFadden received his Citizenship in Norwich, CT. in 1867. He lived in New York City, and retired to Canton, IL. in 1874, and died there in February, 1901. His obituary states he was witness to the opening of Japan during the Matthew G.Perry Expedition, and also posted for 11 months in Shanghai, China with detached duty to the US Consulate with 25 other enlisted men and Officers, which is noted in his sworn Pension Application dated 1898.    		 Patrick T. McFadden
    Vandalia
    098634707    		 80k Naval Officer George E. Nicholls, USN, a Civil War period photograph taken at the time he was assigned to USS Vandalia.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 47512.    		 Robert Hurst
    Model of the sloop-of-war USS Vandalia built entirely from scratch based on plans held in the US National Archives.
    Submitted by Tommy Trampp, Courtesy Gene Andes Ship Models
    Vandalia I Vandalia I Vandalia I
    USS Vandalia (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 27 August 2020