| Ohio was the first launched 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.
Her keel was laid in November 1817 and she launched at the New York Navy
Yard 30 May 1820. "A more splendid ship I never beheld," said an English
naval officer who visited Ohio in 1826 while she lay in ordinary at
New York. In the ensuing years she decayed badly unitl 1837 when she shifted
to the Boston Navy Yard to complete fitting out. She commissioned 11 October
1838 Capt. Joseph Smith, commanding, and sailed the 17th to be armed at New
York. |
| Ohio was built by naval constructor Henry Eckford who
modified the Doughty design in her construction. She was nearly identical
to sister ships of "North Carolina class": Alabama (renamed
New Hampshire); Delaware, New York, North Carolina,
Vermont, and Virginia. Doughty would later complain: "And as the dimensions
given by the draught for each ship were correct and approved, it is conceived
that the inference would necessarily be that any material deviation would
be improper." He had furnished Henry Eckford instructions ranging from deck
plans to the mode by which a round house was to be installed. "As respects
the Ohio," wrote Doughty, "it may be remarked generally that she is
about the same length and beam and 2 feet more in depth of hold than the
other ships; that with the same weight on board she will draw from 12 to
18 inches more abaft, and will carry her guns as high from the water, but
being sharper both forward and abaft, she will plunge and fall deeper than
the others and be more uneasy at her masthead." Ohio was certainly
a handsome ship, being a remarkably good sailer and a good seaboat as well.
It was said that she handled like a frigate, so splendid were her sailing
qualities. |
| The flagship of Commodore Isaac Hull, Ohio departed New
York 6 December 1838 to join the Mediterranean Squadron under Commodore Isaac
Hull. Under the command of Capt. Joseph Smith, she made passage through rough
seas to Gibraltar in just 21 days with a speed average of about 12 knots.
One of her officers wrote the editor of the Boston Transcript: "I never supposed
such a ship could be built -- a ship possessing in so great a degree all
the qualifications of a perfect vessel of war." The Niles National Register
of 3 October 1840 reported the observations of an English captain in the
Royal Navy: "The Ohio is the perfection of a line-of-battleship."
|
| Acting as flagship for 2 years, she protected commerce and suppressed
the slave trade off the African coast. Ohio proved to be an excellent
sailer repeatedly making more than 12 knots. One of her officers stated,
"I never supposed such a ship could be built-a ship possessing in so great
a degree all the qualifications of a perfect vessel." |
| She led a squadron in the Mediterranean having a mission not unlike
the powerful 6th Fleet of today, lending stability in time of international
turmoil, showing the flag, and protecting our growing maritime commerce.
She returned to Boston 17 July 1841 and decommissioned there 3 August. |
| To meet the needs of the Mexican War Ohio again commissioned
at Boston 7 December 1846, Capt. Silas H. Stringham, commanding. She put
to sea and sailed 4 January 1847 for the Gulf of Mexico, arriving off Vera
Cruz 22 March where she joined the bombarding fleet off Vera Cruz. Some of
her seamen and marines landed 24 March 1847 to man shore artillery in cooperation
with the Army assault and Ohio landed 10 guns on 27 March to help
in the siege that led to the surrender of Vera Cruz. |
| Ohio drew too much water for coastal operations in the
gulf. However, 336 of her crew were transferred to steam frigate
Mississippi and participated in the Tuxpan River Expedition. In 1847,
the entire distance from the mouth of the river to the town was covered with
thick jungle growth. The enemy had constructed three well-positioned forts
on bluffs overlooking bends in the river. On 18 April, Commodore Perry arrived
off the mouth of the river with 15 vessels. At 10 p.m. light-draft steamers
Scourge, Spitfire, and Vixen, each towing a schooner,
moved up stream. Bombships, Etna, Hecla and Vesuvius
followed closely while 30 surfboats containing 1,500 men brought up the rear.
Approaching the town, the squadron came under hot fire from Fort LaPena.
Commodore Matthew C. Perry ordered Commander Franklin Buchanan to disembark
the surfboats and storm the fort. As the landing party swept ashore, the
Mexicans abandoned their position. The other two forts fell in a like manner,
with only light casualties sustained by the squadron. Men from Ohio
retrieved the guns of brig Truxtun which had foundered in a storm
near Tuxpan 16 September 1846. The town was occupied and all military stores
destroyed. |
| Ohio departed her station off Sacrifice Island, near Vera
Cruz, 9 May 1847, and reached New York 7 June. There, she embarked U.S. Minister
to Brazil, David Todd, for transport to Rio de Janeiro. She sailed from New
York 26 June 1847, remaining at Rio de Janeiro 7 August to 7 December 1847,
before rounding Cape Horn for the Pacific Station. She arrived at Valparaiso,
Chile, 20 January 1848. The following day she became the flagship of Commodore
Thomas Catesby Jones who had charge of naval operations on the west coast
of Mexico. She sailed 28 January 1848 for service at Callao, Peru, thence
direct to Mazatlan, Mexico, arriving 6 May. On the 18th, she landed Lt. Henry
Eld with one midshipman and 60 men to assist occupation of the city. Artisans
skilled in building log houses were also sent ashore. All returned by 17
June as the occupation ended under terms of the peace treaty. |
| Commodore Jones was relieved 19 August 1848 by Commodore Cornelius
K. Stribling. As flagship of Stribling's Pacific Squadron, Ohio cruised
north to San Francisco to protect commerce and police the newly acquired
California Territory during the chaotic early months of the gold rush and.
During this two year period she also traveled to Samoa and Hawaii. She returned
to the Boston Navy Yard 25 April 1849, decommissioned 3 May 1850, and served
there as a receiving ship until placed in ordinary 28 October 1875. She was
sold at Boston 27 September 1883 to Israel L. Snow. |
| Ohio was resold and towed to Peconic Bay, Long Island,
New York. Before she was broken up, the "perfection of a line-of-battleship"
was visited by thousands of sightseers. Her figurehead of "Hercules" was
acquired by the owners of Canoe Place Inn, Hampton Bay, Long Island. When
Canoe Place Inn passed out of existence in 1954, "Hercules" moved to the
Village Green of Stony Brook, Long Island, New York. |
| Specifications |
| A record of Ohio's original armament was not found. There
is partial indication in her deck log for 27 October 1838: ". . . received
on board 64 breeches and carriages for the lower and main deck guns." Bureau
of Ordnance Gun Register shows her armament in 1845 as follows: Spar deck
two 32-pounder cannons and twenty-four 42-pounder carronades. Main deck:
thirty-two 32-pounder cannon. Lower deck: thirty-two 42-pounder cannon. In
January 1847 some new guns were received and her armament is recorded as
follows: Spar deck: four 8-inch shell guns of 53 hundredweight, four 32-pounders
of 57 hundredweight and twelve 32-pounders of 42 hundredweight. Main deck:
four 8-inch shell guns of 63 hundredweight, twenty-eight 32-pounders of 60
hundredweight. Lower deck: four 8-inch shell guns of 63 hundredweight and
twenty-eight 42-pounders. Her tonnage was 2,757 |
|
Bibliography
 |
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1970), Vol.5: N-Q, p. 143 |
|
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1969), Vol.4: L-M, p. 586-590 |
|
