USS Albany ( 1846 ) USS " Albany " , the first ship with this name , was laid down at the New York Navy Yard sometime in 1843 ; launched on 27 June 1846 ; and commissioned on 6 November 1846 , Captain Samuel Livingston Breese in command . Service history . The sloop of war put to sea on her first cruise on 26 November 1846 and joined the Home Squadron — then engaged in operations against Mexican forces — on 8 January 1847 at Anton Lizardo . Soon thereafter , however , she departed the Mexican coast for an independent cruise to the vicinity of the Azores . Upon her return to the east coast of Mexico early in March " Albany " guarded the transport anchorage at Isla Verde in preparation for General Winfield Scott ' s operations against Veracruz . During the 9 March amphibious action , " Albany " carried and landed the reserve elements under Brigadier General David E . Twiggs . Since the Mexican leaders chose not to oppose the landings , " Albany " saw no combat . Later , on 22 March , the sloop of war sent one of her shell guns and its support personnel ashore to help in the siege of Veracruz . Veracruz surrendered formally on 29 March , and " Albany " then moved to the next objective — Alvarado . The Mexican forces , however , had already abandoned that port ; and Lieutenant Charles G . Hunter , commanding , arrived first and took possession of the town . " Albany " , therefore , soon headed for another target — Tuxpan . She and the other ships of the squadron arrived at the mouth of the Tuxpan River on the morning of 17 April . Capt . Breese — commanding " Albany " — then formed his landing party of over 1 , 500 sailors and marines drawn from all ships in the squadron . They embarked in the barges and the six ships chosen to ascend the river and capture Tuxpan . " Albany " herself did not participate in the action though her captain and some of her crewmen did . From 18 – 22 April , the force moved up the river , engaged and captured two artillery batteries , destroyed fortifications and military equipment at Tuxpan , and then retired down the river to rejoin the squadron . When the American warships dispersed to various blockade stations along the eastern coast of Mexico , " Albany " and remained off the mouth of the Tuxpan River . Then , after service on the blockade at various other points , Albany arrived off the mouth of the Tabasco River by 13 June . Once again , her deep draft precluded the ship ' s actual participation in the ascent of the river . However , as in the Tuxpan operation , members of her crew joined the expedition . The movement upriver began late in the first dog watch on 14 June . In two days , the American force ascended the river , disembarked the landing force , routed the defenders on the approaches to Tabasco , and captured the town . The Americans remained there until 22 July , when yellow fever and ever braver Mexican troops forced the evacuation of the town . In the meantime , " Albany " headed home for repairs . She departed the Mexican coast on 11 July and arrived in Hampton Roads , Virginia on 6 August . From there , she soon moved north to Boston where she completed her repairs on 27 September . On 10 October , the sloop of war put to sea to return to the Gulf of Mexico and served along the Mexican coast on blockade duty again until March 1848 , when she was detached and sent to Venezuela to protect American citizens there during a highly volatile constitutional crisis in that country . With the Mexican - American War at an end , " Albany " began cruising the Caribbean - West Indies region . That duty lasted until 12 September 1848 , when she returned to Norfolk . Between 15 November 1848 and the latter part of 1853 , the sloop of war made three more extended deployments in the Caribbean - West Indies area as a unit of the Home Squadron . On 12 December 1853 , " Albany " set sail from Boston , Massachusetts , on the final mission of her career . After several months sailing among the islands of the West Indies and along the coast of Central America , she departed Aspinwall , Colombia ( now Colón , Panama ) on 29 September 1854 . She was never heard from again and was listed as lost at sea with all hands .