| North Carolina was the third launched but the first
commissioned of a new class of ships-of-the-line designed by naval constructor
William Doughty. She was one of "nine ships to rate not less than 74 guns
each" authorized by Congress 29 April 1816. The resolution of Congress 3
March 1819 specified that ships of her rate be named for States of the Union.
Her sister ships were the nearly identical
Alabama (renamed
New
Hampshire);
Delaware,
New York,
Ohio,
Vermont, and
Virginia. |
| North Carolina was built by naval constructor Samuel Humphreys
at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Humphreys' own design was approved by the
Navy Commissioners provided that timbers had not already been cut to William
Doughty's design. But the timbers had been cut and Humphreys was content
with permission to make alterations while following the dimensions of the
Doughty design. The nature of these alterations are not clear but they were
apparently minor. After completing North Carolina, Humphreys was permitted
to build a ship-of-the-line of his own design -- the gigantic
Pennsylvania. |
| North Carolina's keel was laid February 1818. She launched
at Philadelphia 7 September 1821 and was fitting out at Norfolk 24 June 1824
when Master Commandant Charles W. Morgan was ordered to command. She was
pierced for 102 guns and is said to have originally mounted a total of
ninety-four 32-pounders and 42-pounder guns. A Bureau of Ordnance Register
shows her armament in 1845 as follows: Spar deck: two 32-pounders, twenty-four
42-pounders, two 9-pounders on boartd temporarily as signal guns, one 6-pounder
carronade, and one boat gun. Main deck: four 8-inch chambered cannons, four
8-inch guns reamed up from 42-pounder cannon -- "These guns were reamed up
at the West Point foundry in 1841 and are considered of doubtful value,"
twenty-four 32-pounder cannon. Lower deck: thirty-two 42-pounder
cannon. |
| On 15 December 1824, North Carolina became flagship of
senior officer of the Navy, Commodre John Rodgers. She also carried captain
of the fleet, Capt. Daniel T. Patterson, 10 lieutenants, 34 midshipmen, and
a full quota of staff officers. Matthew C. Perry was her senior lieutenant.
Several of her midshipmen would later bocme famous Navy leaders -- Samuel
F. DuPont, Thomas O. Selfridge, and S. P. Lee. Bewfore sailing from Hampton
Roads on her first foreign cruise, 26 March 1825, Commodroe Rodgers entertained
visitors including President James Monroe. Attorney General William Wirt
said of North Carolina: "Genius at her prow and energy on her deck,
her country asks no nobler representative on the ocean." |
| "The stately North Carolina" departed Hampton Roads 27
March 1825 and reached Gibraltar after a boisterous passage of 33 days. She
led the Mediterranean Squadron guarding our merchant commerce during the
war between Turkey and Greece. She was also instrumental in establishing
the friendly relations and prestige that paved the way for our first commercial
treaty with Turkey which opened the principal ports of the eastern Mediterranean
and those of the Black Sea to American commercial traders. |
| Commodore John Rodgers in North Carolina, successfully
sought out the Admiral of the Turkish Fleet to find out whether the Gurkish
Government was willing to make a treaty, the terms accepatble and the methods
of negotiations preferred. He also let it be known that the United States
sought trade with all Turkish ports on an equal footing with the most favored
nations, free ingress and egress to the Black Sea which had been closed,
except to favored European nations, since the capture of Constantinople in
1453, and permission to appoint consuls to any Turkish ports. He thus laid
the keel of our first commercial treaty with Turkey. |
| The mighty ship-of-the-line cruised throughout the Mediterranean
until 18 May 1827, then sailed form Port Mahon for return to Hampton Roads,
28 July 1827. She ws placed in ordinary at Norfolk until decommissioned 30
October 1836 to fit out for duty on the Pacific station. She became flagship
of Commodore Henry E. Ballard 26 December 1836 and departed Hampton Roads
12 January 1837 for the west coast of South America. |
| North Carolina arrived at Rio de Janeiro 4 March, called
at Montevideo and Buenos Aires, then rounded Cape Horn to reach Callao, Peruy,
26 May 1837. Commodore Ballard assumed command of the Pacific Squadron protecting
our merchant commerce at a time when a war was raging between Chile and Peru.,
further complicated by strained relations btween the United States and Mexico.
In North Carolina, Ballard provided the qualities of traditional naval
leadership emphasized more than half a century later by Secretary of State
John Hay: "I have always felt relieved when a naval officer has arrived on
the scene because he alsays kept with the situation." |
| North Carolina continued as flagship of the Pacific Squadron
until late March 1839 and returned off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, 27 June 1839.
She became a receiving ship at the New York Navy Yard until decommissioned
7 September 1865. A demonstration of the triumphs of naval architecure the
American genius was capable of producing, she was one of the most popular
ships of her time. Often called "The stately North Carolins," she
was sold 1 October 1867. Her figurehead, a bust of Sir Walter Raleigh, was
presented to the state of North Carolina in July of 1909. |
Tonnage, 2,633; Length, 197'1 1/2"; Beam 63'; Depth
of hold, 22'; Complement, 820; Armament, seventy-four plus guns |
|
Bibliography
 |
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting
Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1969),
Vol.4: L-M, p. 592-596 |
|
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1970), Vol.5: N-Q, p. 107 |
|
