The fourth USS Spitfire was a sidewheel gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

 in the United States Navy

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 Mexican-American War.

On 19 May 1846, only six days after President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 James Polk signed the Declaration of War with Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Secretary of the Navy

United States Secretary of the Navy

The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...

 George Bancroft

George Bancroft

George Bancroft was an American historian and statesman who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state and at the national level. During his tenure as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, he established the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1845...

 authorized the purchase of Spitfire and , two light draft steamers being built for the Mexican Navy

Mexican Navy

The Mexican Navy is the naval branch of the Mexican military responsible for conducting naval operations. Its stated mission is "to use the naval force of the federation for the exterior defense, and to help with internal order". The Navy consists of about 56,000 men and women plus reserves, over...

. The ships were delivered to the United States Navy on 14 July 1846, and Spitfire was commissioned on 21 August 1846, Commander Josiah Tattnall

Josiah Tattnall

Commodore Josiah Tattnall, Jr. was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812, the Second Barbary War, and the Mexican-American War. He later served in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War....

 in command.

Service history

After carrying dispatches for United States forces in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 to Chagres

Chagres

Chagres, a village of the Republic of Panama in the Colón Province. It has a harbour from 10 to I ~ ft. deep, which is difficult to enter. The port was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502, and was opened for traffic with Panama, on the Pacific coast, by way of the Chagres River, in the 16th...

, Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, Spitfire joined the American blockading force off Vera Cruz

Veracruz, Veracruz

Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...

 on 10 November; and, as she was a new and efficient vessel designed specifically for service on Mexico's Gulf Coast, she significantly strengthened Commodore David Conner

David Conner (naval officer)

Commodore David Conner was an officer of the United States Navy, whose service included the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War. During the 1840s, he served on the Board of Navy Commissioners and as the first Chief of the Bureau of Construction, Equipment, and Repair.Conner was born in...

's squadron.

Occupation of Tampico

On the 12th, the small side wheel gunboat got underway with the squadron for an expedition against Tampico. The American ships gathered off Tampico bar on the morning of the 14th. At 10:45, Conner boarded Spitfire and used her as his flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 during the attack which they opened at about 11:00 by firing a gun.

Spitfire joined other light draft vessels of the squadron and boats from the heavier American warships in moving across the bar and up the Pánuco River

Pánuco River

The Pánuco River is a river in Mexico that flows from the River Moctezuma in the Valley of Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico.At its source, it serves as a channel for water-drainage for Mexico City. From there, it becomes the state border between Hidalgo and Querétaro as it moves towards San Luis...

 and past the fort which guarded the stream. In the early afternoon, a delegation from the city boarded Spitfire to discuss surrender. No agreement was reached; but, after a landing party had occupied the town, Conner decided that no formal capitulation was necessary.

Two days later, boats from Spitfire and Vixen ascended the Panuco and captured three small Mexican gunboats. On the 18th, Spitfire and 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....

  went further up the river and captured the town of Pánuco

Pánuco, Veracruz

Pánuco is a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz, located in the state's Huasteca Alta region. It serves as the municipal seat of the surrounding Pánuco Municipality...

 the next morning. They also destroyed nine Mexican 18-pounders, threw a large supply of 18-pound shot in the river, and burned military stores before heading downstream on the 21st.

On 25 November, after a "norther" sank Neptune at Tampico, Spitfire rescued that steamer's crew without loss of life. On 13 December, Conner departed Tampico in Princeton and left Commander Tattnall in charge there until enough Army troops arrived to hold the town. Thus, Spitfire did not return to Vera Cruz until 3 January 1847.

Siege of Veracruz

Preparations were soon underway for operations against that important port city. On 9 March, Spitfire led a flotilla of gunboats and other light draft naval vessels close to the shore to support the landing of Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 troops who began to invest the city.

Just after dawn the following day, Spitfire anchored east of the fortress at San Juan de Ulúa

San Juan de Ulúa

San Juan de Ulúa, also known as Castle of San Juan de Ulúa is a large complex of fortresses, prisons and one former palace on an island overlooking the seaport of Veracruz, Mexico.-History:...

 and opened fire on the castle to divert the attention of the Mexicans from General Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....

 who shifted his headquarters ashore that morning. After an engagement lasting about 30 minutes, Spitfire withdrew out of range of the Mexican cannon.

The days that followed were devoted to preparations for a siege of the city. At mid-afternoon on the 22nd, when the cannonading began, Spitfire led Josiah Tattnall

Josiah Tattnall

Commodore Josiah Tattnall, Jr. was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812, the Second Barbary War, and the Mexican-American War. He later served in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War....

's flotilla in an attack on the shore end of the city walls and maintained the bombardment until dark. The steamer's fire was praised as being especially accurate and effective. During the action, the batteries in the fortress fired on the flotilla, but its ships were undamaged.

That night, Spitfire's executive officer, Lt. David Dixon Porter

David Dixon Porter

David Dixon Porter was a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the United States Navy. Promoted as the second man to the rank of admiral, after his adoptive brother David G...

, made a daring boat reconnaissance of the harbor at Vera Cruz to locate the best position for the flotilla when it resumed its shelling.

The next morning, Tattnall sailed his gunboats within grape-shot range of Fort Santiago and opened fire on both the town and the fort. The Mexican guns replied but were unable to depress their pieces sufficiently to hit the fearless American gunboats.

Further operations

After the surrender of Vera Cruz, Spitfire participated in the expedition against Alvarado

Alvarado, Veracruz

Alvarado is a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city also serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is located 64 km from the city of Veracruz, Veracruz, on Federal Highways 180 and 125...

 and the capture of Tuxpan as Commodore Matthew C. Perry's flagship.

On 14 June, she was part of the force which took Frontera at the mouth of the Tabasco River. The American ships then ascended the river, engaged Mexican batteries at three points on the Tabasco, and occupied the city of the same name on the 16th. The American warships remained until 22 July when they headed down river toward the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

.

But, by this time most of the fighting of the Navy in the Gulf of Mexico had ceased. After routine duties protecting Army supply lines and communication, Spitfire returned home and was sold at Norfolk in 1848.