Grampus was built at the Washington Navy Yard under the supervision of naval constructor William Doughty, based on a design by Henry Eckford. Her 73 ft (22 m) keel was laid down in 1820. She was launched in early August 1821. The need to suppress piracy and to maintain ships to catch slavers led to the building of five such schooners, the largest of which was Grampus. This was the first building program undertaken by the Navy since the War of 1812.
Service historyedit
LieutenantFrancis Gregory commanded Grampus on her first cruise as part of the West Indies Squadron, which took her to the Antilles in pursuit of pirates. In the company of Hornet, Enterprise, Spark, Porpoise, and Shark, Grampus engaged in convoying merchant vessels throughout 1821, the presence of the squadron having a marked effect on piratical activity among the islands.
On 16 August 1822, Grampus fought a brig flying Spanish colors, but which Lt. Gregory suspected was a pirate. When he called upon her commander to surrender, he was met with cannon and small arms fire. Grampus answered in turn, and reduced the bogus Spaniard to a floating wreck in 3+1⁄2 minutes. The brig struck her colors and Lt. Gregory discovered that she was Palmyra, a Puerto Rico-based pirate carrying the papers of a privateer as a subterfuge. Lloyd's List named the privateer as Panchetta, of 18 guns and 92 men. The privateer had suffered 11 men killed.[1]
Grampus had a small part in the Amistad trials: in November–December 1839, the U.S. government had Grampus standing by in New Haven Harbor, so that if the court ruled in favor of the slaves' Spanish "owners," they could deport the Africans to Cuba before they could file an appeal. However, the district judge ruled that the Africans had been illegally enslaved and must be returned to Africa. It was the government that appealed on behalf of the slaveholders, and Grampus was not needed.
Author Herman Melville created a fictional whaling ship in his novel Moby-Dick by the name of "Grampus", its crew briefly mentioned in Chapter 3 as they enter the Spouter Inn after a three years voyage. Although no connection to the U.S. Navy's "Grampus" seems to be intended, nor is it even remotely implied, it is still interesting to note that the real "Grampus" disappeared while Melville was serving in the Navy aboard the USS United States, the topic of its loss possibly a subject among Melville's shipmates. The enigmatic character of Bulkington disappears from the Spouter Inn in the midst of the "Grampus" crew's revelries, his shipmates pursuing him into the night with cries of "Where's Bulkington?" Later in the book Bulkington turns up as a crewman on board the Pequod, the narrator Ishmael noting it would be Bulkington's fate to die at sea, but never mentioning him again in the book.
grampus, 1821, other, ships, with, same, name, grampus, grampus, schooner, united, states, navy, first, navy, ship, named, grampus, griseus, also, known, risso, dolphin, grampus, depicted, flying, national, ensigns, upside, down, sign, distresshistoryunited, s. For other ships with the same name see USS Grampus USS Grampus was a schooner in the United States Navy She was the first U S Navy ship to be named for the Grampus griseus also known as Risso s dolphin Grampus depicted flying her National Ensigns upside down a sign of distressHistoryUnited StatesNameUSS GrampusBuilderWashington Navy YardLaid down1820LaunchedAugust 1821FateFoundered 15 March 1843General characteristicsTypeSchoonerDisplacement171 5 long tons 174 3 t Length97 ft 30 m Beam23 ft 6 in 7 16 m Draft9 ft 6 in 2 90 m PropulsionSailComplement142 officers and enlistedArmament2 9 pdr 4 1 kg guns 8 24 pdr 11 kg carronadesPlans of USS GrampusGrampus was built at the Washington Navy Yard under the supervision of naval constructor William Doughty based on a design by Henry Eckford Her 73 ft 22 m keel was laid down in 1820 She was launched in early August 1821 The need to suppress piracy and to maintain ships to catch slavers led to the building of five such schooners the largest of which was Grampus This was the first building program undertaken by the Navy since the War of 1812 Service history editLieutenant Francis Gregory commanded Grampus on her first cruise as part of the West Indies Squadron which took her to the Antilles in pursuit of pirates In the company of Hornet Enterprise Spark Porpoise and Shark Grampus engaged in convoying merchant vessels throughout 1821 the presence of the squadron having a marked effect on piratical activity among the islands On 16 August 1822 Grampus fought a brig flying Spanish colors but which Lt Gregory suspected was a pirate When he called upon her commander to surrender he was met with cannon and small arms fire Grampus answered in turn and reduced the bogus Spaniard to a floating wreck in 3 1 2 minutes The brig struck her colors and Lt Gregory discovered that she was Palmyra a Puerto Rico based pirate carrying the papers of a privateer as a subterfuge Lloyd s List named the privateer as Panchetta of 18 guns and 92 men The privateer had suffered 11 men killed 1 In 1825 Captain John D Sloat commander of Grampus engaged another Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresi in battle Cofresi was captured along with eleven members of his crew and they were turned over to the Spanish government Cofresi was jailed in El Castillo del Morro in San Juan 2 Grampus had a small part in the Amistad trials in November December 1839 the U S government had Grampus standing by in New Haven Harbor so that if the court ruled in favor of the slaves Spanish owners they could deport the Africans to Cuba before they could file an appeal However the district judge ruled that the Africans had been illegally enslaved and must be returned to Africa It was the government that appealed on behalf of the slaveholders and Grampus was not needed Grampus continued her duties in the protection of shipping in the Caribbean Sea and in the South Atlantic Ocean until August 1841 when she was detached from the Africa Squadron while lying at Boston Navy Yard and attached to the Home Squadron at Norfolk Virginia on 23 January 1843 Grampus was last spoken to by Madison off St Augustine Florida on 15 March 1843 She is presumed to have foundered in a gale off Charleston South Carolina with all hands Fictional namesake editAuthor Herman Melville created a fictional whaling ship in his novel Moby Dick by the name of Grampus its crew briefly mentioned in Chapter 3 as they enter the Spouter Inn after a three years voyage Although no connection to the U S Navy s Grampus seems to be intended nor is it even remotely implied it is still interesting to note that the real Grampus disappeared while Melville was serving in the Navy aboard the USS United States the topic of its loss possibly a subject among Melville s shipmates The enigmatic character of Bulkington disappears from the Spouter Inn in the midst of the Grampus crew s revelries his shipmates pursuing him into the night with cries of Where s Bulkington Later in the book Bulkington turns up as a crewman on board the Pequod the narrator Ishmael noting it would be Bulkington s fate to die at sea but never mentioning him again in the book References edit The Marine List Lloyd s List No 5741 11 October 1822 hdl 2027 hvd 32044105226328 Luis R Negron Hernandez Jr Roberto Cofresi El pirata caborojeno in Spanish Retrieved 2007 05 25 This article incorporates text from the public domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships The entry can be found here 32 37 30 N 79 43 30 W 32 625 N 79 725 W 32 625 79 725 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title USS Grampus 1821 amp oldid 1196291728, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
