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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Merrimack (I)

Ship:
  • Built by funds subscribed by the citizens of Newburyport, MA.
  • Launched, 12 October 1798, by an Association of Shipwrights and presented to the Navy
  • Placed in service in December 1798, Capt. Moses Brown in command
  • Sailed from Boston 3 January 1799 for the Windward Islands to protect American merchantmen in the Caribbean during the naval war with France
  • On 28 June 1799, Merrimack took her first prize L'Magicienne, the former American naval schooner USS Retaliation
  • On 7 August 1799, took the French letter-of-marque schooner Bonaparte
  • With USS Ganges and USS Pickering, recaptured American schooner John on 15 August
  • Merrimack freed American brig Ceres 6 June 1800
  • At Curacao, 22 September, Merrimack and USS Patapsco fought off a French force of 16 Ships from Guadeloupe besieging the city with 1,400 men
  • Merrimack captured French privateer sloop Phoenix 20 October and later in the year took French brig Brilliant
  • A list of American prizes credits Merrimack with recapturing English schooner Godfrey but gives no details about the action
  • After escorting a convoy of merchantmen home to Boston in 1801 Merrimack was stripped of naval equipment in April and was sold later in the year
  • Final Disposition lost off Cape Cod while operating in merchant service under the name Monticello
    Specifications:
    Displacement 460 t.
    Length unknown
    Beam unknown
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown
    Armament
    twenty 9-pdrs
    eight 6-pdrs
    Propulsion sail
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    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
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    Merrimack
    091903729    		 229k
    Namesake
    Merrimack - The Merrimack River (or Merrimac an occasional earlier spelling) is a 117-mile-long river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Gulf of Maine at Newburyport.
    The Merrimack River at Pembroke, New Hampshire
    Map of the Merrimack River watershed. created based on USGS data by ©Karl Musser.    		 Tommy Trampp
    USS Merrimack (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 4 December 2020