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USS Ganges (1794)
Encyclopedia
USS Ganges was a man-of-war in the United States Navy
during the Quasi-War
with France.
She was originally a fast sailing merchantman, built in Philadelphia in 1794 for the East Indies
trade and named for the Ganges, India's principal river, which flows into the Bay of Bengal
. Ganges regularly sailed to Calcutta and Canton. Apparently she returned to civilian service after serving in the U.S. Navy between 1798 and 1801.
, who had returned in her from a voyage to China.
and Long Island
. On 13 July, further orders authorized her to take any French armed ship wherever found, but she continued patrol between Cape Henry
and Long Island for the protection of the large seaport cities. On 30 July, Ganges was directed to return to Philadelphia for refitting, but put into New York City
instead because of fever and plague at Philadelphia.
In mid-September 1798, Captain Thomas Tingey
relieved Captain Dale and, on 7 December, his ship was ordered to the Windward Passage
between Cuba and Hispaniola to join the squadron protecting the Jamaican trade. Cruising in these waters with General Pinkney and South Carolina, she guarded American merchantmen from seizure by French naval vessels, privateers, and "all armed vessels acting without commission."
. Tingey detained the captain of Ceres, questioned him, and reported to intelligence. The incident occasioned the following passage from Tingey's letter of concern to Benjamin Stoddert
, the Secretary of the Navy:
On 21 February, officers of the 28-gun English frigate boarded Ganges off Cape Nichola Mole
, Hispaniola
, and demanded all Englishmen aboard. Tingey firmly replied:
The crew gave three cheers, ran to quarters, and called for "Yankee Doodle
". Surprise departed.
Having returned home for repairs in March, Ganges convoyed Kingston, carrying American Consul General Dr. Edward Stevens, to talk with Toussaint Louverture in Haiti
. She then cruised the Caribbean
from Havana
to Puerto Rico
, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, St. Bartholomew's
, Santo Domingo
, Barbuda
, and Jamaica.
On 21 April off Cape Isabella she seized the American sloop
Mary, of Norwich, for illegal trading. That same day she recaptured the American ship Eliza of Charleston. The French privateer
Telemaque, Captain Arnault, had captured her and she was sailing under a prize crew. Ganges sent the two vessels together to Philadelphia.
On 16 June, Ganges, with Norfolk, captured the 8-gun French privateer Vainquere (formerly British Harlequin) off Saint Bartholomews after a 90-mile chase lasting more than eight hours and requiring the expenditure of some 40 cannon shot. The privateer's crew numbered some 85 men. The prize sailed to Norfolk
under Captain Pitcher.
The hurricane season approached and it was thought Ganges should return to the United States
, but Tingey proudly reported his ship could withstand the Caribbean storms:
On 5 August, Ganges captured the 6-gun schooner
La Rabateuse after a 12 hour chase in which the privateer threw overboard all her guns and endured 13 cannon shot before surrendering. On 16 August Ganges retook the American schooner John, laden with sugar and cotton, from the French. Three days later, Ganges captured a small French "letter of marque
" off St. Thomas. She later captured L'Eugene with 28 men and on 2 October recaptured the American schooner
Laurel, which the French had renamed L'Esperance.
Ganges returned to Philadelphia in the fall and Captain John Mullowny relieved Captain Tingey on 16 November. That December, she sailed for the West Indies, again convoying American merchantmen until May 1800, when she returned to the States.
Dispatch; and the 21st, the third successful day in a row, took schooner Phoebe. On 28 July, Ganges captured French privateer La Fortune et Louis. In September, her crew ridden with fever, she returned to the United States.
The Phoebe and the Prudent were two illegal U.S. slave schooners. Ganges brought them to Fort Mifflin
in Philadelphia as prizes. Mullowny chose Philadelphia because of the city's strong anti-slavery sentiments. The 135 Africans on board were detained at the Lazaretto
for 31 days while their legal status was established. During their stay, the staff of the Lazaretto nursed the emaciated and diseased slaves back to health. The Pennsylvania Abolition Society took guardianship of the Africans, gave them the last name "Ganges" and dispersed them locally via indentures. Apparently most eventually became part of Pennsylvania's population of free blacks.
, St. Christopher. Here, Commodore John Barry surveyed the ship on 2 March and found her "unfit for sea." Being unable to continue her voyage, Ganges remained on the Guadeloupe station until May, then proceeded north with a convoy that reached Philadelphia early in June. On 10 June 1801, under provision of the Peace Establishment Act, the Navy agent at Philadelphia prepared Ganges for sale. She was sold prior to 8 December for $21,000. The Navy was reduced to thirteen vessels and the Ganges again became a merchant ship.
Officers and midshipmen of Ganges included several future heroes such as Thomas Macdonough
, James Lawrence
, Jacob Jones
, and Daniel Carmick
.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during the Quasi-War
Quasi-War
The Quasi-War was an undeclared war fought mostly at sea between the United States and French Republic from 1798 to 1800. In the United States, the conflict was sometimes also referred to as the Franco-American War, the Pirate Wars, or the Half-War.-Background:The Kingdom of France had been a...
with France.
She was originally a fast sailing merchantman, built in Philadelphia in 1794 for the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
trade and named for the Ganges, India's principal river, which flows into the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
. Ganges regularly sailed to Calcutta and Canton. Apparently she returned to civilian service after serving in the U.S. Navy between 1798 and 1801.
Service history
She retained her merchant name when the U.S. Navy purchased her from the firm of Willing and Francis of Philadelphia on 3 May 1798. She cost $58,000 or $80,665, depending on the source. With hostilities with France imminent, the Navy hastily fitted her out, making her the first man-of-war to fit out and get to sea under the second organization of the Navy. In Navy service she is described as being of 504 tons, and carrying 24 guns and a crew of 220 men. Her first captain was Captain Richard DaleRichard Dale
Richard Dale fought in the Continental Navy under John Barry and was first lieutenant for John Paul Jones during the naval battle off of Flamborough Head, England against the HMS Serapis in the celebrated engagement of...
, who had returned in her from a voyage to China.
1798
Ganges sailed from Philadelphia on 24 May 1798 under Richard Dale, whose orders directed him to "seize, take and bring into a port of the United States" French armed ships "committing depredations" within one marine league of the coast between the Capes of VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. On 13 July, further orders authorized her to take any French armed ship wherever found, but she continued patrol between Cape Henry
Cape Henry
Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia north of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Charles...
and Long Island for the protection of the large seaport cities. On 30 July, Ganges was directed to return to Philadelphia for refitting, but put into New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
instead because of fever and plague at Philadelphia.
In mid-September 1798, Captain Thomas Tingey
Thomas Tingey
Thomas Tingey was a Commodore of the United States Navy.-History:Tingey was born in London on 11 September 1750. As a youth, he served in the British Navy commanding a blockhouse at Chateaux Bay on the Labrador coast. He later commanded merchant vessels in the West Indies before coming to the...
relieved Captain Dale and, on 7 December, his ship was ordered to the Windward Passage
Windward Passage
The Windward Passage is a strait in the Caribbean Sea, between the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. The strait specifically lies between the easternmost region of Cuba and the northwest of Haiti.80km wide, the Windward Passage has a threshold depth of 1,700m...
between Cuba and Hispaniola to join the squadron protecting the Jamaican trade. Cruising in these waters with General Pinkney and South Carolina, she guarded American merchantmen from seizure by French naval vessels, privateers, and "all armed vessels acting without commission."
1799
On 6 January 1799, off the Island of Tortuga, Ganges fell in with the sloop Ceres, off her course for no apparent reason and suspected of heading for illegal trade at Cap FrançaisCap-Haïtien
Cap-Haïtien is a city of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Department of Nord...
. Tingey detained the captain of Ceres, questioned him, and reported to intelligence. The incident occasioned the following passage from Tingey's letter of concern to Benjamin Stoddert
Benjamin Stoddert
Benjamin Stoddert was the first United States Secretary of the Navy from May 1, 1798 to March 31, 1801.-Early life:...
, the Secretary of the Navy:
On 21 February, officers of the 28-gun English frigate boarded Ganges off Cape Nichola Mole
Môle Saint-Nicolas
Môle-Saint-Nicolas is a town in the Republic of Haiti. It is the chief town of the Môle-Saint-Nicolas Arrondissement in the department of Nord-Ouest...
, Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
, and demanded all Englishmen aboard. Tingey firmly replied:
The crew gave three cheers, ran to quarters, and called for "Yankee Doodle
Yankee Doodle
"Yankee Doodle" is a well-known Anglo-American song, the origin of which dates back to the Seven Years' War. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today and is the state anthem of Connecticut...
". Surprise departed.
Having returned home for repairs in March, Ganges convoyed Kingston, carrying American Consul General Dr. Edward Stevens, to talk with Toussaint Louverture in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
. She then cruised the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
from Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
to Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, St. Thomas, St. Kitts, St. Bartholomew's
Saint Barthélemy
Saint Barthélemy , officially the Territorial collectivity of Saint Barthélemy , is an overseas collectivity of France. Often abbreviated to Saint-Barth in French, or St. Barts in English, the indigenous people called the island Ouanalao...
, Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
, Barbuda
Barbuda
Barbuda is an island in the Eastern Caribbean, and forms part of the state of Antigua and Barbuda. It has a population of about 1,500, most of whom live in the town of Codrington.-Location:...
, and Jamaica.
On 21 April off Cape Isabella she seized the American sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
Mary, of Norwich, for illegal trading. That same day she recaptured the American ship Eliza of Charleston. The French privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
Telemaque, Captain Arnault, had captured her and she was sailing under a prize crew. Ganges sent the two vessels together to Philadelphia.
On 16 June, Ganges, with Norfolk, captured the 8-gun French privateer Vainquere (formerly British Harlequin) off Saint Bartholomews after a 90-mile chase lasting more than eight hours and requiring the expenditure of some 40 cannon shot. The privateer's crew numbered some 85 men. The prize sailed to Norfolk
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
under Captain Pitcher.
The hurricane season approached and it was thought Ganges should return to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but Tingey proudly reported his ship could withstand the Caribbean storms:
On 5 August, Ganges captured the 6-gun schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
La Rabateuse after a 12 hour chase in which the privateer threw overboard all her guns and endured 13 cannon shot before surrendering. On 16 August Ganges retook the American schooner John, laden with sugar and cotton, from the French. Three days later, Ganges captured a small 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...
" off St. Thomas. She later captured L'Eugene with 28 men and on 2 October recaptured the American schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Laurel, which the French had renamed L'Esperance.
Ganges returned to Philadelphia in the fall and Captain John Mullowny relieved Captain Tingey on 16 November. That December, she sailed for the West Indies, again convoying American merchantmen until May 1800, when she returned to the States.
1800
On 25 May 1800, Captain Mullowny received orders to proceed to Havana, and Ganges shortly departed Philadelphia for another eventful cruise. On 19 July, she captured the schooner Prudent off the coast of Cuba; on the 20th recaptured American brigantineBrigantine
In sailing, a brigantine or hermaphrodite brig is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.-Origins of the term:...
Dispatch; and the 21st, the third successful day in a row, took schooner Phoebe. On 28 July, Ganges captured French privateer La Fortune et Louis. In September, her crew ridden with fever, she returned to the United States.
The Phoebe and the Prudent were two illegal U.S. slave schooners. Ganges brought them to Fort Mifflin
Fort Mifflin
Fort Mifflin, originally called Fort Island Battery and also known as Mud Island Fort, was commissioned in 1771 and sits on Mud Island on the Delaware River below Philadelphia, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia International Airport...
in Philadelphia as prizes. Mullowny chose Philadelphia because of the city's strong anti-slavery sentiments. The 135 Africans on board were detained at the Lazaretto
Lazaretto
A lazaretto or lazaret is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings. Until 1908, lazarets were also used for disinfecting postal items, usually by fumigation...
for 31 days while their legal status was established. During their stay, the staff of the Lazaretto nursed the emaciated and diseased slaves back to health. The Pennsylvania Abolition Society took guardianship of the Africans, gave them the last name "Ganges" and dispersed them locally via indentures. Apparently most eventually became part of Pennsylvania's population of free blacks.
1801
Sailing again 31 January 1801, Ganges proceeded with a convoy for Havana. En route she was severely damaged by a storm and put into BasseterreBasseterre
Basseterre , estimated population 15,500 in 2000, is the capital of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south western coast of Saint Kitts Island, and it is one of the chief commercial depots of the Leeward Islands...
, St. Christopher. Here, Commodore John Barry surveyed the ship on 2 March and found her "unfit for sea." Being unable to continue her voyage, Ganges remained on the Guadeloupe station until May, then proceeded north with a convoy that reached Philadelphia early in June. On 10 June 1801, under provision of the Peace Establishment Act, the Navy agent at Philadelphia prepared Ganges for sale. She was sold prior to 8 December for $21,000. The Navy was reduced to thirteen vessels and the Ganges again became a merchant ship.
People associated with Ganges
One of the passengers abroad the Ganges when it arrived at Philadelphia on 31 March 1806 had an Indian surname, Singh.Officers and midshipmen of Ganges included several future heroes such as Thomas Macdonough
Thomas MacDonough
Thomas Macdonough was an early-19th-century American naval officer noted for his roles in the first Barbary War, and the War of 1812. He was the son of a revolutionary officer, Thomas Sr. who lived close to Middleton, Delaware. Being the sixth child born, he came from a large family of ten...
, James Lawrence
James Lawrence
James Lawrence was an American naval officer. During the War of 1812, he commanded the USS Chesapeake in a single-ship action against HMS Shannon...
, Jacob Jones
Jacob Jones
Commodore Jacob Nicholas Jones was an officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the Barbary Wars, and the War of 1812.-Biography:...
, and Daniel Carmick
Daniel Carmick
Daniel Carmick, born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1772, was appointed a lieutenant of Marines on USS Ganges on May 5, 1798, and entered the newly formed United States Marine Corps as a captain on July 11, 1798...
.