The fourth USS Warren was a second-class sloop-of-war

Sloop-of-war

In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...

 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...

.

Warren was built at the Boston Navy Yard

Boston Navy Yard

The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...

 between 1825 and 1827 and was commissioned at her builders on 14 January 1827, Master Commandant Lawrence Kearny

Lawrence Kearny

Commodore Lawrence Kearny was an officer in the United States Navy during the early nineteenth century. In the early 1840s he began negotiations with China which opened that country to U.S. trade and pointed the way toward the American Open Door Policy a half century later...

 in command.

Mediterranean Squadron

Warren sailed for the Mediterranean on 22 February 1827 to stop Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

-flag pirates from victimizing American merchantmen. Unsettled conditions in the Near East and the Greek fight for independence

Greek War of Independence

The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...

 had resulted in some excesses against third parties, notably American flag merchantmen. The piracy caused the American Mediterranean Squadron to establish a regular convoy system from Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 to Smyrna

Izmir

Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...

.

Warren sailed with a convoy of American vessels on 25 September 1827 and separated from them some 200 miles west of Kythira

Kythira

Cythera is an island in Greece, once part of the Ionian Islands. It lies opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is administratively part of the Islands regional unit, which is part of the Attica region , Greece.For many centuries, while naval travel was the only means...

. On 4 October, Kearny's command bagged her first "piratical boat" and its crew of five. Later that same day, Warren captured a brig

Brig

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

 "peerced (sic) for 16 guns" flying the Greek flag. For the next three weeks, Warren cruised between Cape Matapan

Cape Matapan

Cape Tainaron , also known as Cape Matapan , is situated at the end of the Mani, Laconia, Greece. Cape Matapan is the southernmost point of mainland Greece. It separates the Messenian Gulf in the west from the Laconian Gulf in the east.-History:...

 and Carabusa, touching occasionally to contact outward-bound American merchantmen.

While off Milos

Milos

Milos , is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete...

 on 25 October, Kearny learned of recent pirate attacks on the American ships Cherub and Rob Roy. That same day, Warren chased a 10-gun pirate brig ashore at the island of Kimolos

Kimolos

Kimolos is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, belonging to the islands group of Cyclades, located on the SW tip of them, near the bigger island of Milos. It is considered as a middle class, rural island, not included in the tourist hotspots, thus, ferry connection is sometimes of bad quality...

; but the brigands escaped to the nearby hills. Warren's men cut away the masts of the erstwhile pirate ship and stripped them of their sails, leaving the rigging submerged in the waters offshore.

Three days later, Warren came across Cherub and took possession of her. That evening, the brig arrived and assumed protective guard over Cherub while Warren returned to the pirate-hunt. The next day, between Tinos

Tinos

Tinos is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. In antiquity, Tinos was also known as Ophiussa and Hydroessa . The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos...

 and Mykonos

Mykonos

Mykonos is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island spans an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. There are 9,320 inhabitants most of whom live in the largest town, Mykonos, which lies on the west coast. The town is also...

, Warren fell in with the Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n brig Silence "robbed of everything." The American sloop-of-war towed Silence to Syros

Syros

Syros , or Siros or Syra is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is located south-east of Athens. The area of the island is . The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano Syros, and Vari. Ermoupoli is the capital of the island and the Cyclades...

, where she left her in care of Lexington.

Cruising around the island of Mykonos, Warren captured a large tratta "capable of rowing 40 oars," before she put in to Mykonos harbor on 1 November. The following day, Kearny and his men recovered sails and some property taken from Cherub and two cases of opium

Opium

Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...

 taken from the brig Rob Roy, as well as the sails and rigging from Silence. The local inhabitants turned over four men accused of being pirates while a landing party of Warren men picked up a fifth man from the mountains. Kearny and his men also took possession of a boat belonging to pirates living at Mykonos and later burned it.

Returning to Syros

Syros

Syros , or Siros or Syra is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is located south-east of Athens. The area of the island is . The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano Syros, and Vari. Ermoupoli is the capital of the island and the Cyclades...

 on the 7th, Kearny restored the goods to Cherub and the sails and rigging from the Austrian ship. Cherub, escorted by Lexington, set sail for Smyrna. That evening, Warren put to sea, bound for the reputed pirate lair of the island of Andros

Andros

Andros, or Andro is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, approximately south east of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . Its surface is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and well-watered valleys. The area is...

.

A boat expedition, led by Lieutenant William L. Hudson

William L. Hudson

Captain William Levereth Hudson, USN was a United States Navy officer in the first half of the 19th century.-Career:Hudson was born 11 May 1794 in Brooklyn...

, departed the ship to circle Andros Island. While Hudson's party was thus engaged, a brig with a convoy of some 20 to 30 boats opened fire on them in the darkness. Although shot went through the sails of Warrens boats and through the clothing of some of her sailors, no one was hurt. After this action — which probably occurred because he and his expedition had been mistaken for pirates — Hudson continued on, undaunted. Near the south end of the town of Andros, Warrens men brought out one "piratical craft" and burned another in a small bay nearby. At the head of that bay, the American sailors blew up a house believed to have been owned by a pirate and raised and took possession of a boat which had been sunk by pirates to avoid detection by the Americans. Rob Roys master later identified the boat as the craft in which pirates had attacked his vessel.

Kearny, in Warren, remained in the vicinity of Andros

Andros

Andros, or Andro is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, approximately south east of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . Its surface is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and well-watered valleys. The area is...

 and Gioura

Gioura

Gioura is a Greek island and an abandoned settlement in the eastern part of the Sporades. It is administratively part of the municipality of Alonnisos. The island name dates back to the ancient times as Gerontia. The name was later altered to Gioura. The island also features a Neolithic settlement...

 until 14 November. The people of Andros again cooperated and produced a pirate boat which contained a 12-pounder carronade

Carronade

The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...

 and some tools from Cherub.

Four days later, Warren made port at Milos and tarried there into late November. On the 27th of that month, the American brig Sarah and Esther and six other vessels arrived. Three days later, that convoy sailed for Smyrna under Warren's protection. They arrived at their destination, without incident, on 6 December.

For the next two years, Warren remained in the western Mediterranean guarding American commerce.

Brazil Station

She returned to the United States in the summer of 1830, arriving at Norfolk, Virginia

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....

, on 30 August. Decommissioned for repairs, on 10 September, Warren was recommissioned on 2 September 1831, Master Commandant Benjamin Cooper in command, for service on the Brazil Station. After two years in the South Atlantic, the sloop-of-war headed northward and reached Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 on 31 October 1833.

Caribbean

Warren then made three successive tours in the West Indies, protecting American commerce in deployments that began in 1836 with 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...

 and with the Home Squadron

Home Squadron

The Home Squadron was part of the United States Navy in the mid-19th century. Organized as early as 1838, ships were assigned to protect coastal commerce, aid ships in distress, suppress piracy and the slave trade, make coastal surveys, and train ships to relieve others on distant stations...

 in 1839, and 1841. On 19 October 1843, Warren sailed for service with the Pacific Squadron

Pacific Squadron

The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...

 and remained on the western coast of the North American continent for the remainder of her naval career.

Pacific

During the war with Mexico, Warren acted as a guardship at Monterey, California

Monterey, California

The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...

 and eventually moved to San Francisco, for duty as a stores and receiving ship. On 13 November 1846, the former sloop-of-war's launch, in charge of Acting Master William H. Montgomery, departed the ship with $900.00 to pay bills accrued by the Navy for supplies, bound for Sutter's Fort

Sutter's Fort

Sutter's Fort State Historic Park is a state-protected park in Sacramento, California which includes Sutter's Fort and the California State Indian Museum. Begun in 1839 and originally called "New Helvetia" by its builder, John Sutter, the fort was a 19th century agricultural and trade colony in...

, up the Sacramento River

Sacramento River

The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...

. By the end of the month, when no word came from the launch's crew, Warren's commanding officer felt "great anxiety" and sent out a hired boat with some men from his ship to hunt for the missing craft and its crew. On 18 December, the search party — having combed the river and inlets as far as Fort Sacramento — returned and reported finding no sign of the launch or of the crew.

Eventually, the fate of Warren's launch came to light. The officers had been murdered — their throats cut — and their bodies thrown overboard. The men divided the money and split up, some returning overland across the North American continent to the east; others remained in California to pan for "washing gold." Records do not indicate whether or not the guilty men were ever found and brought to trial. However, they do show that orders were issued that valid discharges were to be shown by all naval personnel returning overland to prove that they were not deserters.

The log of the whaleship Niantic

Niantic

Niantic may refer to:* Niantic , tribe of native AmericansShips*Niantic , relic of San Francisco Gold Rush*USS Niantic Victory, Victory ship later renamed USNS Watertown...

 records that the "US Sloop of War Warren" rendered immediate assistance July 9, 1849 in San Francisco harbor, when two of Niantic's crew assaulted her captain with a knife.

Thereafter, Warren was solely a stores ship. She was sold at 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...

 on 1 January 1863. Her eventual fate is unrecorded, although records indicate that the erstwhile sloop-of-war was used as a coal hulk by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company

Pacific Mail Steamship Company

The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848 as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants, William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland...

as late as 1874.