Ships Vermonters' Served On
USS Bainbridge
(Brig: 259 tons; length 100'; beam 25'; depth of hold 13'; draft 14'; complement 80; armament 12 32-pounder carronades)
The first Bainbridge was laid down early in 1842 by the Boston Navy Yard; launched on 26 April 1842; and commissioned on 16 December 1842, Comdr. Zachariah F. Johnston in command.
The brig departed Boston on 26 January 1843 and joined the Home Squadron. Following service along the Atlantic coast and in the West Indies, she arrived at New York on 3 May 1844. Putting to sea again on 26 June under Comdr. W. D. Newman, she sailed south for service in the Brazil Squadron. However, on 8 October of that year, Comdr. Newman died on board and was succeeded in command by Lt. Gabriel G. Williamson. Bainbridge operated along the Atlantic coast of South America before returning home in the autumn of 1847. After reaching Norfolk, Va., on 10 October of that year, she was laid up for repairs.
Reactivated on 13 March 1848, the ship, commanded by Lt. Albert G. Slaughter, departed Hampton Roads, Va., on 10 April and headed eastward across the Atlantic. After reaching the African coast, she patrolled the waters off that continent alert for any ships that might attempt to slip to sea with a cargo of slaves. Turning homeward later in the spring of 1850, she arrived at New York on 2 July and was decommissioned there on the 18th of that month.
Recommissioned on 8 October 1851, Comdr. John Manning in command, the brig sailed for Brazil on 2 November, but soon after reaching South America turned eastward and returned to the coast of Africa for another cruise devoted to combating the slave trade. Following almost two years of this arduous duty, she arrived back in New York on 15 August 1853 and was decommissioned there on the 30th for yard work.
Recommissioned on 19 October 1853, Lt. Charles G. Hunter in command, Bainbridge sailed for South America to join the Brazil Squadron then under Commodore William D. Slater. During the cruise, relations between the United States and Paraguay deteriorated to the point where Hunter felt that the interests and honor of the United States demanded that an American warship proceed to Asunción to correct the situation. Acting on this sentiment, he asked the Commodore for permission to undertake this mission himself in Bainbridge. Slater, possibly wary of "Alvarado" Hunter's judgment because of a reputation for impetuosity acquired by exceeding his orders during the Mexican War, refused.
Smarting from this rebuff--and probably suffering from mental illness--Hunter sailed for home in Bainbridge without permission. Arriving at New York on January 1855, Bainbridge was soon placed under the command of Lt. James H. Rowan and returned to South American waters where she resumed duty on the Brazil Station. She returned home late in the summer of 1856 and was decommissioned at Norfolk on 18 September of that year and laid up for repairs.
Recommissioned on 28 April 1858, the ship returned to the Brazil Squadron and participated in the 19-ship expedition commanded by Commodore William B. Shubrick to support diplomatic efforts seeking redress from Paraguay for firing on the Navy ship Water Witch during that ship's exploration of the Parana River and its tributaries. Bainbridge returned home in the autumn of 1860 and was decommissioned at Boston on 15 November.
In ordinary there in the spring of 1861 when the Civil War broke out, the brig was recommissioned on 15 May 1861 and sailed south on the 21st to Aspinwall, New Granada (Panama), to protect Union shipping--especially those carrying gold from California to New York--against vessels sailing under Confederate letters of marque. Following this duty, she served in the Gulf Blockading Squadron and, on 11 May 1862, captured the turpentine- and cotton-laden Confederate schooner Newcastle at sea in the gulf. On the 24th, she and Amanda took the steamer Swan west of the Tortugas with a cargo of cotton and rosin. On 11 June, Bainbridge seized Baigarry and that schooner's cargo of cotton in the Gulf of Mexico.
Early that summer, the brig sailed north for repairs, but on 3 August 1862, she sailed south again to join the East Gulf Blockading Squadron. In September, she headed back toward the Isthmus of Panama. Between 22 and 24 November, Bainbridge encountered a severe storm near Aspinwall that forced her to jettison all spars, sails, gun carriages, guns, shot, powder, provisions, and water. Following extensive repairs she sailed for New York where she arrived in May 1863.
Later that summer, she was assigned to Rear Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont's South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. On 21 August, while proceeding to her new station, she capsized during a severe storm off Cape Hatteras. All but one member of her crew perished.
Source: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC.
Green Mountain Boys known to have served on Bainbridge:
Allis, Egbert Harris, appt Acting Assistant Surgeon, USN, 1/27/62; more
Smith, S. Horace, enl 8/13/63, Surgeon's steward, USN, lost at sea in Bainbridge, 8/21/63
