USS Reefer (1846)

USS Reefer, was a pilot schooner purchased by the United States Navy at New York City on May 25, 1846 from shipbuilders Brown & Bell for service as a dispatch boat in Commodore David Conner's Home Squadron during the Mexican–American War.

History
United States
Name: USS Reefer
Builder:
  • Brown and Bell
  • New York, New York
Acquired: May 25, 1846
Commissioned: June 19, 1846
Decommissioned: 1848
Fate: Sold at New York in 1848
General characteristics
Type: Schooner
Displacement: 76.5 short tons (69.4 t)
Length: 59 ft (18 m)
Beam: 19 ft (5.8 m)
Draft: 6 ft (1.8 m)
Propulsion: Sail
Complement: 40 officers and enlisted
Armament:
  • 1 × 18 pdr (8.2 kg)
  • or
  • 1 × 32 pdr (15 kg) gun

Service history

The Reefer was commissioned on June 19, 1846, Lieutenant Isaac Sterrett in command.

The schooner reached Veracruz on July 10, 1846 and began blockade duty south of that port. Early in August, she participated in an expedition against Alvarado, a river port some 30 miles from Veracruz, which sheltered a number of Mexican gunboats. However, the strong current prevented the American vessels from effecting the planned landing. Another attempt was made against Alvarado on October 15, 1846 but was again abortive. In this second attack upon the Mexican port a shell hit Reefer near her rudder head but did not damage her seriously.

On October 16, 1846, Reefer got underway with a task force commanded by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, but, on the 17th, she was separated from her consorts in a severe storm and missed participating in the expedition up the Tabasco River. The occupation of Tampico came in mid-November for the schooner as she became station ship at that port. In March 1847, she was part of the force which captured Veracruz.

After the fall of that important port, the American squadron occupied other Mexican ports along the gulf coast. Alvarado and Tuxpan fell in April, and in June Frontera and Tabasco came into American hands ending the fighting on the Mexican east coast. Thereafter, Reefer and her sister ships settled down to blockade duty and maintained both water lines of supply and communication for the Army.[1]:58

Post war

After the war ended, the Reefer was sold at New York in 1848.

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References
  1. Moody, James L. (1976). Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Volume VI. Defense Dept., Navy, Naval History Division.
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