Painting of the Assembly of the West India Squadron
date: label: date made
content: 1824
name: label: maker
content: Schetky, John Christian
notes: label: Description
content: This painting shows the assembly of the West India Squadron of 14 vessels under American Commodore James Biddle in April 1822 to combat Caribbean piracy.
label: Description
content: HMS <i>Macedonian</i> (1810) measured 161 ft 6 in and weighed 1,325 tons. The United States captured the ship September 25, 1812, off the Canary Islands. The <i>Macedonian</i> served in anti-piracy campaigns and in 1828 was broken up.
label: Description
content: <i>Congress</i>, built in Portsmouth, NH, measured 164 ft and weighed 1,266 tons. It served in the War of 1812 and in the West India Squadron. In 1834 it was broken up.
label: Description
content: HMS <i>Cyane</i> (1796) measured 110 ft and weighed 539 tons; <i>Constitution</i> captured the ship in February, 1815. <i>Cyane</i> combated piracy and slavery off the African West coast and the West Indies. The ship sank in 1835 in the Philadelphia Naval Yard.
label: Description
content: Built in Charleston, SC, <i>John Adams</i> (1799) measured 139 ft and weighed 544 tons. It served in the War of 1812, in the West India Squadron and the Civil War. The ship was sold in 1867.
label: Description
content: <i>Hornet</i>, launched in 1805, measured 106 ft 9 in and weighed 440 tons. It served in campaigns against piracy and the War of 1812 and sank in a storm off Tampico, Mexico in September, 1829.
label: Description
content: <i>Peacock</i> (1813), built in the NY Navy Yard, measured 117 ft 11 in and weighed 509 tons. It fought in the War of 1812 and sailed the West Indies. In 1828, the ship was broken up and rebuilt.
label: Description
content: <i>Spark</i> (1813) was built in Sag Harbor, New York. Although, purchased by the U. S. Navy in Baltimore in 1814 for use in the War of 1812, it never served. The ship was sold in 1826.
label: Description
content: <i>Enterprise</i> (1799) measured 83 ft 6 in and weighed 165 tons. It served in the Mediterranean, sailed the Caribbean suppressing piracy and slaves and wrecked in the West Indies in July, 1823.
label: Description
content: Built in the Boston Navy Yard, <i>Alligator</i> (1820) measured 86 ft and weighed 198 tons. It sailed the African west coast and the West Indies. In November, 1822 the ship wrecked off Florida.
label: Description
content: <i>Grampus</i>, built in Wash. Naval Yard in 1820, measured 97 ft and weighed 171.5 tons. It served against piracy and is presumed sunk in a storm off Charleston, South Carolina in 1843.
label: Description
content: <i>Shark</i>, built in the Wash. Navy Yard, was launched in May, 1821. It measured 86 ft and weighed 198 tons. Active against slavery and piracy in the West Indies, in 1846 it wrecked off the Columbia River.
label: Description
content: The <i>Porpoise</i> (1820), built in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, measured 86 ft and weighed 177 tons. It cruised in the West Indies and the West African coast. In 1833 it wrecked off Point Lizardo.
label: Description
content: Gunboat <i>No. 158</i> (1808) measured 60 ft and weighed 90 tons. It combated piracy in the Wests Indies and was later renamed <i>Revenge</i>.
label: Description
content: Gunboat <i>No. 168</i> fought the British ship <i>Erebus</i> near the Florida and Georgia border on March 16, 1815 during the War of 1812.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Maritime
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Cigna Maritime Collection
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content: Transportation
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content: Art
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0279.049
label: accession number
content: 2005.0279
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0279.049
objectType: label: Object Name
content: painting
label: Object Name
content: painting, oil
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: oil on canvas (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: without frame: 49 1/2 in x 41 1/2 in; 125.73 cm x 105.41 cm
label: Measurements
content: with frame: 39 in x 51 1/2 in; 99.06 cm x 130.81 cm