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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Spitfire (IV)

Sidewheel Gunboat:

Built date and location unknown

Launched, date unknown

Purchased in May 1846 and delivered to the US Navy, 14 July 1846

Commissioned, USS Spitfire, 21 August 1846, CDR. Tattnall USN in command

Spitfire joined the American blockading force off Vera Cruz, 10 November 1846

On 12 November she participated in the expedition against Tampico,remaining there until about 2 January until a sufficient number of Army troops could arrive to hold the town

The gunboat returned to the blockade off Vera Cruz, 3 January 1847

On 9 March, Spitfire led a group of gunboats and other light draft naval vessels close to the shore to support the landing of Army troops at Vera Cruz

On the 10th she anchored east of the Mexican fortress at San Juan de Ulloa as a diversion while General Scott shifted his headquarters ashore at Vera Cruz

On 22 March Spitfire led an attack on the shore end of the city walls and maintained the bombardment until dark

After the surrender of Vera Cruz, Spitfire participated in the expedition against Alvarado

On 14 June, she was part of the force which took Frontera at the mouth of the Tabasco River

Ascending the river, Spitfire and the other shallow draft gunboats of the flotilla occupied the city of Tabasco on the 16th

By this time most of the fighting of the Navy in the Gulf of Mexico had ceased. After routine duties protecting Army supply lines and communication, Spitfire returned home and was decommissioned and sold at Norfolk in 1848.

Final Disposition, fate unknown

Specifications:
Displacement 241 t.
Length 118'
Beam 22'6"
Depth of Hold 9'3"
Draft unknown
Speed unknown
Complement unknown

Armament unknown

Propulsion steam

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By
098699601	233k	A colored lithograph of USS Spitfire leading shallow draft vessels of COMO. M.C Perry's flotilla up the Tabasco River to occupy the city of Tabasco on 16 June 1847		Robert Hurst

Spitfire (IV)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Last Updated 13 May 2022