USS United States ( 1797 ) USS " United States " was a wooden - hulled , three - masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy and the first of the six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794 . Joshua Humphreys designed the frigates to be the young Navy ' s capital ship s , and so " United States " and her sisters were larger and more heavily armed and built than standard frigates of the period . She was built at Humphrey ' s shipyard in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania and launched on 10 May 1797 and immediately began duties with the newly formed United States Navy protecting American merchant shipping during the Quasi - War with France . In 1861 " United States " was in port at Norfolk and was seized and subsequently commissioned into the Confederate States Navy as CSS " United States " , but was later scuttled by Confederate forces . Union forces raised the scuttled ship , and retained control of the ship until it was broken up in 1865 . Design & construction . During the 1790s American merchant vessels began to fall prey to Barbary Pirates in the Mediterranean , most notably from Algiers . Congress ' s response was the Naval Act of 1794 . The Act provided funds for the construction of six frigates ; however , it included a clause stating that construction of the ships would cease if the United States agreed to peace terms with Algiers . Joshua Humphreys ' design was long on keel and narrow of beam ( width ) for mounting very heavy guns . The design incorporated a diagonal scantling ( rib ) scheme to limit hogging while giving the ships extremely heavy planking . This gave the hull greater strength than those of more lightly built frigates . Humphreys developed his design after realizing that the fledgling United States could not match the navy sizes of the European states . He therefore designed his frigates to be able to overpower other frigates , but with the speed to escape from a ship of the line . Originally designated as " Frigate A " and subsequently named " United States " by President George Washington , her keel was laid down in 1795 at Humphreys ' shipyard in Philadelphia Pennsylvania . Humphreys was assigned as her constructor and US Navy Captain John Barry as superintendent . As Philadelphia was at the time America ' s capital , many visitors walked through observing her construction as it progressed . Humphreys personally led President Washington and First Lady Martha on a tour . The President expressed his admiration of the great size of the ship . A less desirable visitor , Benjamin Franklin Bache ( grandson of Benjamin Franklin ) was physically assaulted by Clement Humphreys ( Joshua ' s son ) allegedly over Bache ' s opposition to the Federalist Party and his opposition newspaper , the " Philadelphia Aurora " . Fearing sabotage , Humphreys was concerned about the open nature of his ship yard which allowed anyone to wander in . He requested from the War Department a number of guards which were posted to keep out visitors but to little effect . Construction slowly continued until a peace treaty was announced between the United States and Algiers in March 1796 . In accordance with the clause in the Naval Act , construction of " United States " was discontinued . President Washington requested instructions from Congress on how to proceed . Several proposals circulated before a final decision was reached allowing Washington to complete the three frigates nearest to completion ; " United States " , " Constellation " and " Constitution " were chosen . On 10 May 1797 she was the first American warship to be launched under the Naval Act of 1794 , and the first ship of the United States Navy . She was fitted out at Philadelphia during the spring of 1798 and , on 3 July ordered to proceed to sea . Relations with the French government had deteriorated , starting the Quasi - War . Armament . " United States " s nominal rating was that of a 44 - gun ship . However , she usually carried over 50 guns . " United States " was originally armed with a battery of 55 guns : thirty - two 24 - pounder ( 10 . 9 kg ) cannon ; twenty - two 42 - pounder ( 19 kg ) carronade s ; and one 18 - pounder ( 8 kg ) long gun . Unlike modern Navy vessels , ships of this era had no permanent battery of guns . Guns were portable and often exchanged between ships as situations warranted . Each commanding officer modified his vessel ' s armaments to his liking , taking into consideration factors such as the overall tonnage of cargo , complement of personnel aboard , and planned routes to be sailed . Consequently , a vessel ' s armament would change often during its career ; records of the changes were not generally kept . Quasi - War . " United States " sailed with " Delaware " to Boston where they were to meet with " Herald " and " Pickering " to form a patrol squadron . Shortly afterward Barry sighted a frigate showing French colors . Raising his own French flag , Barry maneuvered closer and when reaching it , hoisted the American colors . As Barry was about to open fire on the frigate , she changed to the English flag and identified herself as , narrowly avoiding being fired upon . When reaching Boston , Barry learned that " Herald " and " Pickering " were not ready to sail and he decided to continue without them . " United States " and " Delaware " departed for the West Indies on 26 July In the ensuing two months two French privateers , " Sans Pareil " and " Jalouse " were captured and brought into New Castle , Delaware on 20 September . " United States " put to sea again on 17 October with orders to cruise along the New England coast and eastward . However , a severe gale arose the following day and " United States " was disabled with a sprung bowsprit and slackened rigging . Emergency repairs had to be made . After the storm passed , she made her way back to Delaware , arriving on 9 November . Barry received orders in December which returned " United States " to the West Indies , taking command of the American squadron there . This squadron , in addition to " United States " , would by early 1799 include : , , , , " Herald " and the revenue cutters " Pickering " , " Eagle " , " Scammel " , and " Diligence " . On 3 February 1799 , " United States " sighted a French ship and began a five - hour pursuit of the schooner " L ' Amour de la Patrie " . After coming in close to the vessel , " United States " opened fire ; the third shot went completely through " L ' Amour de la Patrie " , sinking her rapidly . Barry sent out his boats to collect survivors of the schooner and they were taken prisoner . " United States " then set a course for Guadaloupe to arrange a prisoner exchange with the French but Barry ' s flag of truce was ignored when shore batteries opened fire on the boat carrying Barry ' s envoy . Barry returned to " United States " and ordered his gun crews to bombard the batteries in return . On 26 February , " United States " pursued the French privateer " Democrat " which had recently taken prize of the English ship " Cicero " . " Cicero " was recaptured but the pursuit of " Democrat " ended when she escaped into shallow water . Returning to Guadaloupe , Barry made another attempt at a prisoner exchange . However , Governor Desfourneax told Barry he held no prisoners because there was no war with the United States . Though skeptical , Barry released his prisoners . On 26 March , " United States " took the French privateer " La Tartueffe " and its prize , the American ship " Vermont " southeast of Antigua . Also recorded is the capture of " Le Bonaparte " sometime in 1799 . In April , Barry turned over command of the squadron to Thomas Truxtun . " United States " sailed for home and arrived at New Castle , Delaware on 9 May . Barry recruited new crew members to replace the ones whose enlistments had expired while " United States " underwent refitting and repairs . She sailed again 1 July with orders to patrol the southern Atlantic coast of the United States . Encountering a storm on the 6th which sprung her bowsprit , she continued on to deliver an artillery company to Fort Moultrie and then put into the Gosport Navy Yard for repairs on the 22nd . Returning to patrols on 13 August , " United States " experienced an uneventful period and at times sailed in company with " George Washington " and . " United States " returned to Newport , Rhode Island in September and Barry waited for further orders . In October those orders were to deliver Oliver Ellsworth and William Davie as envoys to France to negotiate a settlement of the Quasi War . " United States " departed on 3 November and returned in April 1800 . She remained in port for needed repairs until December when Barry was ordered to return to the West Indies . The treaty of peace with France was ratified on 3 February 1801 and " United States " returned home in April . An act of Congress passed on 3 March 1801 and signed by President John Adams , retained thirteen frigates . Seven of those frigates , including " United States " , were to be placed in a reserve fleet . Ordered to the Washington Navy Yard , " United States " was decommissioned there along with and . War of 1812 . " United States " remained in the Washington Navy Yard throughout the First Barbary War of 1801 – 1805 and up until 1809 when orders were given to ready her for active service . On 10 June 1810 , now under the command of Stephen Decatur , she sailed to Norfolk , Virginia for refitting . While she was at Norfolk , Captain John S . Carden of the Royal Navy , commander of the new British frigate HMS " Macedonian " , wagered Captain Decatur a beaver hat that his vessel would take " United States " if the two should ever meet in battle . Ichabod B . Crane , whose name was appropriated for the main character in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow , served under Decatur as a lieutenant in the Marine detachment aboard ship . The United States declared war against Britain on 18 June 1812 . Three days later Decatur and " United States " sailed from New York City within a squadron under the command of Commodore John Rodgers in . Other ships of the squadron were , " Hornet " , and " Argus " ; departed on a seventy - day North Atlantic cruise . A passing American merchant ship informed Rodgers about a fleet of British merchantmen en route to Britain from Jamaica . Rodgers and his squadron sailed in pursuit , and on 23 June encountered what was later learned to be HMS " Belvidera " . " United States " and the squadron returned to pursuing the Jamaican fleet and on 1 July began to follow the trail of coconut shells and orange peels the Jamaicans had left behind them . " United States " sailed to within one day ' s journey of the English Channel but never sighted the convoy . Rodgers called off the pursuit on 13 July . During their return trip to Boston , the squadron captured seven merchant ships and recaptured one American vessel . After some refitting , " United States " , still under Decatur ' s command , sailed again 8 October with Rodgers but on the 12th parted from the squadron for her own patrol . Three days later , after capturing " Mandarin " , " United States " parted company and continued to cruise eastward . At dawn , on the 25th , five hundred miles south of the Azores , lookouts on board " United States " reported seeing a sail 12 miles ( 19 km ) to windward . As the ship rose over the horizon , Captain Decatur made out the familiar lines of HMS " Macedonian " . United States vs Macedonian . Both ships were immediately cleared for action and commenced maneuvers at 0900 . Captain Carden elected not to risk crossing the bows of " United States " to rake her , but chose instead to haul closer to the wind on a parallel course with the American vessel . For his part , Decatur intended to engage " Macedonian " from fairly long range , where his 24 pounders ( 11 kg ) would have the advantage over the 18 pounders ( 8 kg ) of the British . The actual battle developed according to Decatur ' s plan . " United States " began the action at 0920 by firing an inaccurate broadside at " Macedonian " . This was answered immediately by the British vessel , bringing down a small spar of " United States " . Decatur ' s next broadside destroyed " Macedonian " s mizzen top mast , letting her driver gaff fall and so giving the advantage in maneuver to the American frigate . " United States " next took up position off " Macedonian " s quarter and proceeded to riddle her with shot . By noon , " Macedonian " was a dismasted hulk and was forced to surrender . She had suffered 104 casualties against 12 in " United States " , which emerged from the battle relatively unscathed . The two ships lay alongside each other for over two weeks while " Macedonian " was repaired sufficiently to sail . " United States " and her prize entered New York Harbor on 4 December amid jubilation over the victory . Captain Decatur and his crew were received with praise from both Congress and President James Madison . Aftermath . " Macedonian " was subsequently purchased by the United States Navy , repaired , and placed in service . After repairs , " United States " — accompanied by USS " Macedonian " and the sloop " Hornet " — sailed from New York on 24 May 1813 . On 1 June , the three vessels were driven into New London , Connecticut , by a powerful British squadron , and " United States " and " Macedonian " were kept blocked there until the end of the war . Both ships were disarmed and their crews and weapons despatched to the squadrons on the Great Lakes " Hornet " managed to slip through the blockade on 14 November 1814 and escape to sea . Decatur was transferred to the frigate " President " in the spring of 1814 , and he took some of the officers and crew of " United States " with him to his new command . Second Barbary War . Soon after the United States declared war against Britain in 1812 , Algiers took advantage of the United States ' preoccupation with Britain and began intercepting American merchant ships in the Mediterranean . On 2 March 1815 , at the request of President James Madison , Congress declared war on Algiers . Work preparing two American squadrons promptly began — one at Boston under Commodore William Bainbridge , and one at New York under Commodore Steven Decatur . " United States " was assigned under Bainbridge but required repairs and refitting from her period in port for the latter part of the War of 1812 . She was not ready for sea when Bainbridge departed Boston on 3 July . " United States " finally departed for the Mediterranean two months later under the command of Captain John Shaw ; arriving at Gibraltar on 25 September . Soon after , Shaw learned that Commodore Decatur had already secured a peace treaty with Algiers . Now part of a large gathering of U . S . Navy ships , " United States " was chosen to remain behind with , , and . They were later joined by , and . The senior American naval officer in the region , Captain Shaw became commodore and commanded the squadron consisting of " Constellation " , " Java " , " Erie " and " Ontario " until Commodore Isaac Chauncey arrived 1 July 1816 and took overall command . Nevertheless , " United States " , despite losing her position as flagship , continued to serve in the Mediterranean until she sailed for home in the spring of 1819 and reached Hampton Roads on 18 May . The frigate was decommissioned on 9 June 1819 and laid up at Norfolk . Squadron duty . " United States " returned to duty in November 1823 under the command of Commodore Isaac Hull . After repairs and preparation she sailed on 5 January 1824 , to relieve Commodore Charles Stewart in the Pacific . Accompanying Hull was his wife and sister - in - law Jeanette Hart . " United States " made a stop en route to the Pacific at Rio de Janeiro and reached Valparaiso , Chile by 7 March . Commodore Hull found that Chile was now independent and had been acknowledged by Spain , though hostilities still continued with Peru ; Callao was held by the Spaniards and blockaded by the Peruvian fleet . The United States ' position was one of strict neutrality in the war and Hull ' s orders contained the main objective of overseeing and protecting American commerce . " United States " sailed for Callao , arriving on 4 April . Commodore Stewart , in command of was relieved by Hull and sailed for home . Under Hull ' s command , a squadron of US Navy ships consisted of , , and . " United States " remained in the vicinity of Peru and her duty there was mostly uneventful . In the autumn of 1825 , Hull placed Lieutenant John Percival in command of " Dolphin " and tasked him with searching for mutineers from the American whaling ship " Globe " . Percival found only two of the mutineers but discovered an uncharted island which he named " Hull ' s Island " ; now known as Îles Maria . Percival continued on to Hawaii and reportedly caused discontent with the tribal chiefs and missionaries . Hull placed Thomas ap Catesby Jones in command of " Peacock " and dispatched him to Hawaii to ascertain the behavior of Percival . However , upon Jones ' arrival , Percival had already departed . With Hull ' s tour of duty now expired , " United States " departed from Callao on 16 December 1826 and arrived at the New York Navy Yard on 24 April 1827 . She put into the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1828 for extensive repairs and remained there until 1830 when she was placed in reserve at the New York Navy Yard . The frigate remained at New York through 1832 and was thoroughly modernized . On 3 July 1832 , she sailed under Capt . J . B . Nicholson to join Commodore Patterson ' s squadron in the Mediterranean , returning to New York 11 December 1834 . From 1836 to 1838 , under Capt . J . Wilkinson , the United States was again in the Mediterranean , and from 1839 to 1840 she was in the Home Squadron under Captain Lawrence Kearney . Capture of Monterey . " United States " was repaired at Norfolk in 1841 and was designated the new flagship of the Pacific Squadron of Thomas ap Catesby Jones , now a Commodore . On 9 January 1842 she sailed from Norfolk via Cape Horn under Captain James Armstrong . On the night of 6 September 1842 , while lying in Callao , the British frigate , flagship of Rear Admiral Richard Darton Thomas , appeared off the port , and , seeing the American fleet , at once put to sea . The suspicions of Commodore Jones were immediately aroused , and , having heard that war was about to be declared between the United States and Mexico , the Commodore suspected " Dublin " intended to run up the coast and take possession of California , a country that England had long had her eye upon . " United States " got under way , and in company with Jones hastened north . They captured Monterey on 16 October when Jones demanded a surrender . The next day he realized that the United States and Mexico were still at peace , so tried to make amends for his action . While waiting for further orders , Jones heard British Captain Lord George Paulet had claimed the Hawaiian Islands . He sailed there , arriving on 22 July . Admiral Thomas arrived a few days later , and restored the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii . Herman Melville . Herman Melville , the future author of " Moby - Dick " , enlisted as an ordinary seaman on board " United States " at Honolulu , Hawaii , on 17 August 1843 . His novel " White - Jacket " , published in 1850 is a fictionalized account of his experiences on board , highly critical of the captain of the " United States " and of naval customs in general . Melville observed that Armstrong often appeared on deck intoxicated . From Hawaii , " United States " ( which Melville refers to as the " USS Neversink " ) proceeded to the Marquesas Islands and lost a man overboard en route . From the Marquesas she visited Valparaiso , Chile ; Lima and Callao Peru . " United States " remained at Callao for 10 weeks and the crew was denied shore leave while Commodore Jones was in port with his flagship . Jones inspected every ship under his command during the 10 weeks expecting formal ceremonies at each inspection . The only break in the crew ' s boredom came when " United States " challenged " Constellation " and the British ship to a race out of the harbor . " United States " handily defeated both of them . Setting a course back home in mid - 1844 , " United States " arrived at Rio de Janeiro , Brazil for resupply . Departing 24 August for Boston she challenged and won a race with the French sloop " Coquette " . " United States " arrived in Boston on 2 October and decommissioned there on the 14th . She was recommissioned there on 18 May 1846 and detailed to the African Squadron to suppress the illicit slave trade under command of Captain J . Smoot as the flagship of Commodore George C . Read . " United States " joined the Mediterranean Squadron in 1847 and served in European waters until ordered home late in 1848 . She returned to Norfolk on 17 February 1849 , was decommissioned on 24 February and placed again in ordinary . Civil War . " United States " rotted away at Norfolk until 20 April 1861 when the navy yard was captured by Confederate troops . Before leaving the yard , Union fire crews failed to burn the vessel along with other abandoned ships , thinking it unnecessary to destroy the decayed relic . The Confederates , pressed for vessels in any condition , thought otherwise . They pumped her out and commissioned the frigate CSS " United States " ( though they often called her " Confederate States " ) on 29 April . On 15 June , she was fitted out as a receiving ship with a deck battery of 19 guns for harbor defense . In this role , she served her new owners well but was ordered sunk in the Elizabeth River , Virginia , to form an obstruction to Union vessels when the Confederates abandoned the navy yard in May 1862 . The ancient timbers of the frigate were so strong and well - preserved they ruined one whole box of axes when attempts were made to scuttle her , and it was necessary to bore through the hull from inside before she settled to the muddy bottom of the river . Shortly after the destruction of ironclad ram " Virginia " on 11 May 1862 and the surrender of the Norfolk Navy Yard to Union troops , " United States " was raised and towed to the yard by federal authorities . She remained there until March 1864 , when the Bureau of Construction and Repair decided to break her up and sell the wood . This was delayed until the Bureau ordered on 18 December that the gallant old frigate be docked at Norfolk and finally broken up .