The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-01-13
The Venerable Craft That Bears the
Name Of a Famous War
ship.
Some of the Notable Achieves
ments of the Original In
Many Seas.
Her Four Cruises In tho war With Eng
land-FinaI Capture by AN En-
tire Squadron.

lllyCA " ~
1910. transferred to Chicago for tho Column
ban exhibition il very generally approved
nv the officers Of the navy so far as its
sentiment goes, but the idea is hardly prao-
ticable. saws tho New York Times. The old
ship now lies in the West Indin dock, near
London, and, although abe makes an excel
liant shin for the nominal headquarters OF
British naval officers who are ASST gnea TO
dutv in London, and an excellent drill ahip
as wall. she is totally unable. because OF
her advanced age, to cross the Atlantic.
n has been urged that the President
could be 'sboxed," by some means not yet
described, and sent across in something
like the wsy the obelisk was shipped from
Eovpt. but this Done, she is far too large to
ha sent through tho Welland canal, so that
on the whole the echeme, although u grace
fn1 and becoming one, is thought to be I'M
practicable. .
Another reason why the proposed exhibit
of the old warship is objected to. is that
she il not the same President that was cap
tured of US by the British. but only a copy
of the original ship. The President. which
forms the basis of the present discussion,
twas built says the United Service Ga
zetts, lat Portsmouth in 1929, and could
not. therefore, have been taken from the
United States in January, 1915" 1t is diff
fcult to get at the records of the building
of the present President, but it is believed
that she contains many of the tlmbers OF
the original, and this is the basis OF the
p~roposal to transport the old hulk to Chi
cago.
The idea, in q general wav. meets with
the approval of the British officers, who see
in it a fitting opportunity to recognize the
generous conduct of the Americans IN re-
turning in the English government the
Resolute, which was recovered by American
officers after England had lost her IN the
Arctic. But the obstacles mentioned are
regarded as well-nigh insuperable, 80 1t IS
probable tnat the namssake of this one of
Americas nasst famous ships of war will re-
main whers she now lies.
The old ship President had q history SEC
ond to mono in her days. Even the Consti-
tution can not lay claim to as many Jap
tnres as those made by the President. III
the war of 1872, until her capture in 1916,
she vent everywhere and performed feats
Of the most extraordinary. yalor. There
was lots Of fighting then, and the Presldent;
with her forty-feur guns and 4oo men, was
the terror of the seas.
The old ship was built in this city in 1900
at q cost Of 1920, $40. Her tonnage was
1876. From the day she went into COM
mission until that unfortunate battle OF
Jan, Is, 1916, when 81 whole British squadron
forced her to lower her colors right off the
scene of her launching the President was
engaged in active service. Commodore
Stephen Decatur was in command when the
ship was captured. She had been cruising
upward from the Bermudas when the Brit
ish squadron sighted and bore down upon
her. There was a running light OF BIZ
hours. during which her Britannia majegty'a
ship Endymion, a forty-gun craft, was
obliged to drop out of action. The gallant
Decatur finally surrendered to the majestic
razee. Capt. Hayes, having had twenty-four
men killed and ffty-fve wounded. Both
the Endymion and the President were soon
after dismantled in a gale, and the com
plete demolition of the captive followed in
q few years.
The first active service of the President
was i'll the Mediterranean, where, in 1901
and 1902, she was the flagship of Commo-
dore Richard Gale. From 1904 to 1906 she
was the flagship of Commodore S. Barron
in the same waters, and from 1919 to the
she carried the flag of Commodore John
Rodgers along he. native coasts.
1t was while the President carried Com.
modore Barron's flag in the Mediterranear
that she fell in with a miserable little Tri-
politan mounting two guns, and the ami.
hilstion of the impudent African was &C.
complished in less time than it takes te
write it, September 10. 1904. When she
returned to 1ripolitan waters the following
year the President carried Consul Genera
William Eaton and relieved Commodor,
Preble in command of the squadron.
In the war with Great Britain the Presi.
dent made four remarkable cruises. Jun
81 1910 aha cuilaH mt pf thia hNrhnr with
colors flying. August 81 she put into
Boston, having captured one ship,
three briggs and two schooners
mounting sixteen guns and carry
ing ssventy-five men. This little expe
fence appears to have served only to whe
the appetite of the frigate, for OF Oct
8, having consumed only five weeks il
preparation. she again cleared outward
from Boston. When she returned to tina
port Dec. 81, after a cruise along the coast
she brought with her a captive packet, tn
Swallow. mounting twelve guns and havin
thirty men.
The Presidents next cruise, the third O
this war, began April 30, 1843, and Taste
until Sept. q. 1t was the largest and mos
successful cruise of her history, and it wa
full of some of the most glorious achieve
ments of the war. Early in June the shi
appeared off North cape, and for sixty day
her name and fame spread consternatio
throughout the Irish channel. Five brig
one packet, one bark and two schooner
mounting in all fifty-nine guns and carry
ing 300 men, were the result Of her depreda
tions. Some Of these prizes were sent |
France, some were burned and othel
were ransomed. A very remarkable IL
cident of this cruise was the cartul
by the President Of the BIRTHS
schooner High Flyer. Sept. %. Con
modore John Rodgers WIS in con
mand of the frigate. The President in ii
course of the day, hoisted Il signal for pr
vate purposes, and this signal. by u +.
markabie coincidence, was the English pr
yate signal for the day. The High Fly,
saw it and promptly came up, whereupo