HMS Cyane (1806)
Encyclopedia
HMS Cyane was a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
Banterer-class
Banterer class post ship
The Banterer-class sailing sixth rates were a series of six post ships built to an 1805 design by Sir William Rule, which served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War...
sixth-rate
Sixth-rate
Sixth rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 24 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without.-Rating:...
post ship
Post ship
Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the Age of Sail to describe a ship of the sixth-rate that was smaller than a frigate , but by virtue of being a rated ship , had to have as its captain a post captain rather than a lieutenant or commander...
of nominally 22 guns, built in 1806 at Topsham
Topsham
Topsham may refer to:United Kingdom:* Topsham, DevonUnited States:* Topsham, Maine, a town** Topsham , Maine, a census-designated place in the town* Topsham, Vermont, a town...
, near Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. She was ordered in January 1805 as HMS Columbine but renamed Cyane on 6 December of that year. Cyane had a distinguished career in British service that included the award in 1847 of a clasp to the Naval General Service Medal to any still surviving crew members of either of two actions. On 20 February 1815, she and HMS Levant
HMS Levant (1813)
HMS Levant was a 20-gun Cyrus-class sixth rate of the Royal Navy built by William Courtney, of Chester. She was one of five British warships that were captured or destroyed by in the War of 1812...
engaged the USS Constitution
USS Constitution
USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel...
; outgunned, both had to surrender. She then served as the USS Cyane, including a stint on anti-slavery duties, until she was broken up in 1836.
Commissioning and early service
She initially mounted 22 long 9-pounders on her main deck and also eight 24-pounder carronades and two long 6-pounders on her quarter-deck and forecastle. Captain Thomas StainesThomas Staines
Sir Thomas Staines, , Captain in the Royal Navy, Knight Commander of the Bath, and of the Sicilian Order of St. Ferdinand and Merit, and Knight of the Ottoman Order of the Crescent....
commissioned her in March 1807. At his request the Navy Board exchanged her 9-pounders for 32-pounder carronades. The Board also increased her complement by twenty to 175 officers, men and boys. Staines also added two brass howitzers to her armament.
In 1807, Cyane took part in the operations off Copenhagen in September 1807. After the Danish navy surrendered, Cyane participated in the blockade of Zealand. Then on 30 November she, and several other British warships escorted a convoy of merchant vessels from Helsingborg
Helsingborg
Helsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...
back to Britain. On 8 December, Cyane was in company with , and the hired armed
Hired armed vessels
right|thumb|250px|Armed cutter, etching in the [[National Maritime Museum]], [[Greenwich]]During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Royal Navy made use of a considerable number of hired armed vessels...
cutter Resolution when they captured the Danish ketch Jeltzomine den Roske.
Mediterranean service
In February 1808, Cyane sailed for the Mediterranean. There her boats captured eight merchantmen before, on 22 May, she captured the letter of marqueLetter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
Medusa while cruising of Majorca. Medusa was armed with 12 guns and had a crew of 80 men. Medusa was the last Spanish ship that the British captured before Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
turned against Napoleon.
On 3 June 1808, Staines received a letter from the Captain-General of the Balearic Isles that the citizens of Mallorca had declared their allegiance to Ferdinand II and wished to begin talks with the British. Staines sailed to Palma where he received a most cordial welcome. Staines then notified Rear Admiral Thornbrough who sent Sir Francis Laforey in to negotiate with the Supreme Junta. Cyane spent the next ten months patrolling Spain's south coast to harass French shore batteries and shipping.
Cyane then transferred to the command of Rear Admiral George Martin, who was in command of British naval forces on the Sicily station. On 8 May 1809, Cyane captured a bombard and drove another vessel ashore near Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
.Bombard usually means a bomb vessel
Bomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannon —although bomb vessels carried a few cannon for self-defence—but rather mortars mounted forward near the bow and elevated to a high angle, and projecting their fire in a...
but can also mean a type of merchant vessel. In this case we have no information as to the appropriate meaning.
Two days later, Cyane and sank two gunboats that were escorting a French convoy at Terracina
Terracina
Terracina is a town and comune of the province of Latina - , Italy, 76 km SE of Rome by rail .-Ancient times:...
. Then, on 14 and 15 May, the two British vessels raided a depot near the promontory of Monte Circello, which itself is near the Pontine Marshes
Pontine Marshes
thumb|250px|Lake Fogliano, a coastal lagoon in the Pontine Plain.The Pontine Marshes, termed in Latin Pomptinus Ager by Titus Livius, Pomptina Palus and Pomptinae Paludes by Pliny the Elder, today the Agro Pontino in Italian, is an approximately quadrangular area of former marshland in the Lazio...
and Terracina
Terracina
Terracina is a town and comune of the province of Latina - , Italy, 76 km SE of Rome by rail .-Ancient times:...
. There they brought off as much wood as the two ships could carry. Whilst the ships were loading the timber, a sergeant, two corporals, and 20 privates came on board, deserters from the French Army.
Next, Staines captured three Martello tower
Martello tower
Martello towers are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards....
s, each mounting two heavy guns. On 17 May Staines personally came up on the inattentive garrison of the first tower and through an interpreter informed them that he had placed powder against the tower and that he would blow them up if they did not surrender. When the French soldiers made sounds suggesting they were preparing to resist, he fired a musket through the keyhole; the frightened garrison immediately surrendered. He then took the commander from that tower to another tower to persuade its garrison too to surrender. The garrison did surrender and Staines had both towers blown up. He then captured and destroyed a third tower, all without any casualties to Cyane.
On 26 May Cyane arrived at Milazzo
Milazzo
Milazzo is a town and comune in the province of Messina, Sicily, Italy.The city is situated between two bays, one of Milazzo and the east to the west of Patti, in a strategic place in the north-eastern Sicily.Located 43 km from the provincial capital, is part of the metropolitan area of the Strait...
in north-west Sicily where she met up with Admiral Martin in , who was gathering a fleet. The whole force sailed from Milazzo
Milazzo
Milazzo is a town and comune in the province of Messina, Sicily, Italy.The city is situated between two bays, one of Milazzo and the east to the west of Patti, in a strategic place in the north-eastern Sicily.Located 43 km from the provincial capital, is part of the metropolitan area of the Strait...
, including Canopus, , , Cyane and , together with transports and the like, some 133 vessels in all, sailed on 11 June to the coast of Calabria. On 15 June, Alceste, two Sicilian frigates, and some 90 or so transports from Palermo joined them. The aim of the expedition was to attack the islands of Ischia
Ischia
Ischia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...
and Procida
Procida
Procida is one of the Flegrean Islands off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. The island is between Cape Miseno and the island of Ischia. With its tiny satellite island of Vivara, it is a comune of the province of Naples, in the region of Campania. The population is about ten...
.
On 20 June Cyane sailed south with Espoir and 12 Sicilian gunboats to patrol between Procida and Cape Miseno
Cape Miseno
Cape Miseno is the headland that marks the northwestern limit of the Gulf of Naples as well as the Bay of Pozzuoli in southern Italy...
. Their assignment was to intercept French reinforcements attempting to reach the islands.
Then on 24 June, Cyane began what turned out to be several days of action. First, she drove 12 gunboats, each armed with a 24-pounder gun, into the Bay of Pozzuoli
Pozzuoli
Pozzuoli is a city and comune of the province of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean peninsula.-History:Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia...
. She also cut out two polacres, one carrying troops to reinforce Procida, from under different shore batteries. The following morning a French 42-gun frigate (the Cérès), a 28-gun corvette (the Fama), and the division of gunboats attempted to come out of the bay and force their way to Naples. Cyane and consorts drove them back after an hour-long ineffectual exchange of fire.
On daylight on 26 June, the British spotted 47 enemy vessels and Martin sent Cyane, Espoir, and a flotilla of gunboats to block them from entering the harbour at Naples. They were able to capture 18 heavy gunboats, destroy four, and dispose of 15 other armed vessels, forcing the remainder to turn away. In all, Cyane and her Anglo-Sicilian force cost the French 37 vessels.
However, during this action, shore batteries subjected Cyane to three hours of bombardment that not only put 23 large shot into her hull but cost her two men killed and seven wounded, one of them mortally. That afternoon, fifteen French soldiers at a battery on Point Mesino hoisted a flag of truce. They surrendered to boats from Cyane, which then spiked their four 42-pounder guns and destroyed the carriages. The French deserters left with boats. That evening Cyane fired into the French vessels at anchor in Pozzuoli Bay.
On the morning of 27 June, Cyane came to be becalmed under another battery, this one of eight 42-pounder guns, two 10" mortars and two howitzers. After two hours of enduring their harassing fire, Staines was fed up and led a landing party that succeeded in spiking the guns and throwing the mortars into the sea, all without loss.
That evening, Cyane again engaged Cérès, Fama and the French gunboats for one and a half hours before having to break off the fight as she was running out of powder and both Cyane and Cérès were getting too close to the mole at Naples. (Fama took the opportunity to escape to Naples.)
Staines and his two lieutenants were wounded in the action, Staines losing his arm, and one of the lieutenants dying the following summer while at home. Cyane lost two killed, as well as 17 more men wounded; the French acknowledge losing 50 men killed and wounded. Cyane was so damaged by the three days of fighting that Admiral Lord Collingwood
Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood
Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as Nelson's successor in commands.-Early years:Collingwood was born in Newcastle upon Tyne...
ordered her home for a refit. Cyane arrived back in Britain on 16 October.
Staines was knighted on 6 December. His Majesty Ferdinand the Fourth
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
, King of the Two Sicilies
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...
, conferred on him the insignia of a Knight Commander of the Royal Sicilian Order of St. Ferdinand and of Merit. A group of leading citizens of the Isle of Thanet
Isle of Thanet
The Isle of Thanet lies at the most easterly point of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the nearly -wide River Wantsum, it is no longer an island ....
honoured Staines with a dinner at Margate and presented him with a sword. In April 1810 he transferred to . In 1847 all surviving members of the crew of Cyane that had served between 25 and 27 June received the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Cyane 25–27 June 1809".
Francis Collier
Captain Francis Collier served as captain of Cyane from 3 September 1810 until February 1812. He served with her in the Mediterranean, the Channel and the West Indies.In December 1810 Collier volunteered Cyanes boats to assist those of in boarding and setting fire to the French frigate Elize which had run aground at Tatihou
Tatihou
Tatihou is an island of Normandy in France with an area of 290,000 square metres. It is located to the east of the Cotentin peninsula just off the coast near Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. It is almost uninhabited, and is usually reached by amphibious boat although, being a tidal island, it is also...
island while attempting to escape from La Hogue. Captain Charles Grant of Diana declined the assistance, preferring stealth over force. The British succeeded in boarding and setting fire to Elize without suffering any losses despite fire from shore batteries and nearby French brigs.
In early 1812, a seaman named Oakey struck Collier. The subsequent court martial sentenced him to death. His plea for a stay of execution was denied, and every ship in port sent a boat of seamen to witness the hanging. Oakey came on deck with his arms tied behind him, attended by the Chaplain. However, after the sentence of the Court Martial had been read Captain Hall produced a letter from the Prince Regent that, at Collier's request, commuted Oakey's sentence to transportation. The reprieve stunned Oakey, who fell on his knees and wept.
Channel
From May 1812, Cyane was under Captain Thomas Forrest. On 11 July she captured the French privateer Serene, bound to New Orleans.On 16 January 1814, Cyane was in company with the 74-gun third-rate
Third-rate
In the British Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...
ship of the line and her prize, the ex-French letter of marque
Letter of marque
In the days of fighting sail, a Letter of Marque and Reprisal was a government licence authorizing a person to attack and capture enemy vessels, and bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale...
brig , when Cyane spotted two 44-gun French frigates, Alcmène
French frigate Alcmène (1811)
The French frigate Alcmène was an Armide-class frigate of a nominal 44 guns, launched in 1811. The British captured her on 1814. The Royal Navy named her HMS Dunira, and then renamed her HMS Immortalite but never commissioned her nor fitted her for sea. In March 1822 she became a receiving ship at...
and Iphigénie
French frigate Iphigénie (1810)
The French frigate Iphigénie was a Pallas-class frigate of a nominal 44 guns, launched in 1810. The British captured her on 1814. The British named her HMS Palma, and then renamed her HMS Gloire...
. Venerable joined her and after a chase that left Cyane far behind, captured Alcmène after losing two men dead and four wounded, while the French lost 32 dead and 50 wounded. Alcmène had a complement of 319 men under the command of Captain Ducrest de Villeneuve, who was wounded when he brought her alongside Venerable and attempted a boarding.
Jason and Cyane tracked Iphigénie and initially fired on her but broke off the engagement because they were out-gunned. Cyane continued the chase for over three days until Venerable was able to rejoin the fight after having sailed 153 miles in the direction she believed that Iphigénie had taken. On 20 January 1814, after a 19 hour chase, or what amounted in all to a four day chase Iphigénie, Venerable captured the quarry, having again left Cyane behind. In the chase, Iphigénie cast off her anchors and threw her boats overboard in order to try to gain speed. She had a complement of 325 men, under the command of Captain Emerie. She apparently did not resist after Venerable came up. Before meeting up with the British ships, the two French vessels had taken some eight prizes.
The British took Alcmène into service as HMS Dunira, later HMS Immortalite, but as a receiving ship in Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
and never commissioned. Iphigénie became HMS Palma and then HMS Gloire, but she too was never commissioned. She was laid up in ordinary
Reserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....
until sold in 1817. The action resulted in the award in 1847, to any surviving claimants, of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Cyane 16 Jany. 1814".
Cyane vs. the USS Constitution On 20 February 1815, Cyane, under the command of Captain Gordon Thomas Falcon, and the 20-gun Levant, Captain the Honorable George Douglas
George Douglas
George Douglas may refer to:*George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus , Scottish magnate*George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus , Scottish magnate*George Douglas, Master of Angus , Scottish nobleman*George Douglas of Pittendreich George Douglas may refer to:*George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus (1378–1402),...
, were about 100 miles east of Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
. At about one o'clock in the afternoon Cyane tacked towards a strange vessel and challenged her. When she received no reply she assumed the other to be an American frigate, so made haste towards Levant. The frigate was the USS Constitution, which had left Boston on 11 December 1814.
Off Cape Finisterre
Cape Finisterre
right|thumb|300px|Position of Cape Finisterre on the [[Iberian Peninsula]]Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain....
on 8 February 1815, Charles Stewart
Charles Stewart (1778-1869)
Charles Stewart was an officer in the United States Navy.Born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Stewart went to sea at the age of thirteen as a cabin boy and rose through the grades to become master of a merchantman. He grew up with Captain Stephen Decatur and Richard Sommers...
of the Constitution had learned the Treaty of Ghent
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent , signed on 24 December 1814, in Ghent , was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
had been signed, but realized that before it was ratified, a state of war would still exist. (The U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
unanimously approved the treaty on February 16, 1815, and President James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
exchanged ratification papers with a British diplomat in Washington on February 17; the treaty was proclaimed on February 18.)
Although he knew they were outgunned, Douglas decided to fight in the hope of disabling Constitution sufficiently to save two valuable convoys that had sailed from Gibraltar a few days back in company with the two British ships.
Just after 6 o'clock Cyane got on the port bow of the Constitution, while Levant got on the port quarter. Cyane and Levant exchanged a series of broadsides with Constitution for about half an hour, but Stewart soon out-maneuvered both of them. After Levant drew off for repairs, he concentrated fire on Cyane. During this time, out of her crew of 145 men and 26 boys, Cyane had six killed and 13 wounded. She also took on five feet of water in her hold and had so much damage to her masts and rigging that she became unmanageable and had to soon strike her colors. The April/May 1983 issue of American Heritage magazine carried an article "What it was like to be Shot up by Old Ironsides" concerning the discovery of three pages of HMS Cyanes logbook from 13–20 February 1815, with a transcription of the 20 February 1815 battle.See http://www.americanheritage.com/content/what-it-was-be-shot-%E2%80%98old-ironsides%E2%80%99
The Constitutions second lieutenant came aboard Cyane as prize master
Prize crew
Prize crew is a term used to indicate a number of crew members of a ship chosen to take over the operations of a captured ship.In the early days of sailing and up into the American Civil War, capturing enemy ships was quite common...
, and Constitution left her to pursue Levant. Levant returned to engage Constitution, but once she saw that Cyane had been defeated she turned and attempted escape. Constitution soon overtook her, and after several more broadsides, she too struck her colors
Striking the colors
Striking the colors is the universally recognized indication of surrender, particularly for ships at sea. Surrender is dated from the time the ensign is struck.-In international law:# "Colors. A national flag . The colors . ....
. Out of her 115 men and 16 boys, the Levant had six seamen and marines killed and one officer and 14 seamen and marines wounded.
Stewart remained with his new prizes overnight while ordering repairs to all ships. Constitution had suffered little damage in the battle, though it was later discovered she had twelve 32-pound British cannonballs embedded in her hull, none of which had penetrated through. The Americans took their prisoners to St. Jago (Santiago) in the Cape Verde Islands and landed them there, but left in a hurry when British ships were reported. Cyane took one course and Levant took another.
Captain Sir George Collier in Leander
HMS Leander (1813)
HMS Leander was a 4th rate Ship-of-the-Line of 60 guns of the Royal Navy, launched on 10 November 1813.In the War of 1812 she took part in the battle of Fort McHenry....
caught sight of them off Porto Praya on 11 March and succeeded in recapturing Levant. Cyane successfully escaped recapture; she arrived in the North River on 10 April and anchored near the USS Constellation
USS Constellation (1797)
USS Constellation was a 38-gun frigate, one of the six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794. She was distinguished as the first U.S. Navy vessel to put to sea and the first U.S. Navy vessel to engage and defeat an enemy vessel...
. She was adjudicated by a prize court
Prize court
A prize court is a court authorized to consider whether or not a ship has been lawfully captured or seized in time of war or under the terms of the seizing ship's letters of marque and reprisal...
and purchased by the Navy who renamed her USS Cyane.
Before Collier could pursue Constitution, news reached him that the signing of the Treaty of Ghent
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent , signed on 24 December 1814, in Ghent , was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
had ended the war.
The subsequent court martial of Falcon, his officers and men for the loss of Cyane took place on board Akbar
HMS Cornwallis (1801)
HMS Cornwallis was a Royal Navy 54-gun fourth rate. Jemsatjee Bomanjee built the Marquis Cornwallis of teak for the East India Company. The Company sold her to the Royal Navy in 1801 shortly after she returned from an expedition against the Mahe Islands...
at Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
on 28 June 1815. The board acquitted Falcon and the others as they had done their utmost against a much stronger enemy vessel. The court also praised the crew who, with the exception of three men, resisted the American attempts to "wean them from their allegiance, under circumstances of unprecedented severity exercised towards them."
American service
Cyane cruised off the west coast of Africa from 1819–1820 and in the West Indies from 1820-1821 protecting the Liberian colony and suppressing piracy and the slave trade. In this regard she was a predecessor to the Africa SquadronAfrica Squadron
The Africa Squadron was a unit of the United States Navy that operated from 1819 to 1861 to suppress the slave trade along the coast of West Africa...
and the West Indies Squadron
West Indies Squadron (United States)
The West Indies Squadron, or the West Indies Station, was a United States Navy squadron that operated in the West Indies in the early nineteenth century. It was formed due to the need to suppress piracy in the Caribbean Sea, the Antilles and the Gulf of Mexico region of the Atlantic Ocean...
. She cruised in the Mediterranean during 1824-1825, and on the Brazil Station during 1826-1827.
Several notable Americans served aboard Cyane. In 1819 Matthew Calbraith Perry joined her and sailed with her to Liberia. The reason she sailed to Liberia was that President James Monroe had the Secretary of the Navy order an American vessel to convoy the Elizabeth to Africa with the first contingent of freed slaves that the American Colonization Society
American Colonization Society
The American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...
was resettling there. Of the 86 black emigrants sailing on the Elizabeth, only about one-third were men; the rest were wives and children.
Captain Jesse Duncan Elliott took command of Cyane In March 1825 she received as her second lieutenant Uriah P. Levy
Uriah P. Levy
Uriah Phillips Levy was the first Jewish Commodore of the United States Navy, a veteran of the War of 1812 and a major philanthropist. At the time, Commodore was the highest rank obtainable in the U.S. Navy and would be roughly equivalent to the modern-day rank of Admiral...
, a Sephardic Jew who would rise to the rank of Commodore in the US Navy. While on Cyane, Levy became very popular after saving the life of an American who had been impressed into the Brazilian Navy. Levy’s courageous act so struck the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro I, that he ordered that no U.S. citizen ever again be impressed into the Brazilian Navy. Pedro then offered Levy the rank of captain in the Imperial Brazilian Navy. Levy declined, stating, “I would rather serve as a cabin boy in the United States Navy than hold the rank of Admiral in any other service in the world.”
Fate
Cyane was laid up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard where she sank in 1835. She was raised and broken up the following year.External links
- Phillips, Michael -