USS Yorktown ( 1839 ) The first USS Yorktown was a 16 - gun sloop - of - war of the United States Navy . Used mostly for patrolling in the Pacific and anti - slave trade duties in African waters , the vessel was wrecked off Maio , Cape Verde in 1850 . Ship history . She was laid down in 1838 by the Norfolk Navy Yard , launched in 1839 , and commissioned on 15 November 1840 , Commander John H . Aulick in command . " Yorktown " departed Hampton Roads on 13 December , bound for the Pacific . After calling at Rio de Janeiro from 23 January - 5 February 1841 , the sloop rounded Cape Horn and arrived at Valparaíso , Chile on 20 March . The ship operated along the Pacific coast of South America until 26 May , when she sailed from Callao , Peru , bound for the Pacific isles . Looking after the interests of the American whaling industry and of the nation ' s ocean commerce , she called at the Marquesas , the Society Islands , New Zealand , and the Hawaiian Islands . After completing her mission in the South and Central Pacific , she departed Honolulu on 6 November and headed for the coast of Mexico . " Yorktown " called at Mazatlán before heading south to resume operations along the coast of South America . She continued her cruising – primarily out of Callao and Valparaíso – through the early fall of 1842 , when she departed Callao on 23 September , bound for San Francisco , where she arrived on 27 October . Shifting to Monterey on 11 November , the sloop called again at Mazatlán on the 22nd before she proceeded to Valparaiso . " Yorktown " remained at that port until she got underway on 2 May 1843 for the east coast of the United States . After rounding Cape Horn and calling at Rio de Janeiro , she arrived at New York on 5 August . Six days later , the sloop was decommissioned . Placed in active service once more , on 7 August 1844 , with Cdr . Charles H . Bell in command , " Yorktown " departed New York on 11 October , bound for Funchal , Madeira . After proceeding thence to Porto Praya , the sloop joined the Africa Squadron on 27 November . " Yorktown " ranged up and down the west coast of Africa , going as far south as Cape Town , Cape Colony , as she labored to curtail the slave trade . In the course of her patrols , the vigilant sloop captured slave - ships " Pons " , " Panther " , and " Patuxent " . On 2 May 1846 , Yorktown departed Porto Praya and returned to the east coast of the United States , reaching Boston on the 29th . There , on 9 June , the sloop was once again decommissioned . Subsequently recommissioned at Boston , she sailed on 22 November 1848 for her second deployment with the African Squadron . On board at this time as acting Master was future Confederate Navy commander William Harwar Parker . Still engaged in hunting down slave ships , " Yorktown " cruised along the African coast , carefully observing each ship she encountered for any sign of the illicit traffic in human flesh . On 6 September 1850 , she struck an uncharted reef about a mile off the northern coast of Maio Island in the Cape Verde Islands . Although the ship broke up in a very short time , not a life was lost in the wreck . The crew of " Yorktown " lived on Maio Island for over a month which , according to Parker , relaxation was the norm and the crew did little more than " relax and play in donkey races . " On 8 October , the arrived to pick up the crew and they were transferred to the which sailed for Norfolk , arriving in December 1850 . Discovery . In 1999 , the Portuguese company " Arqueonautas Worldwide S . A . " recovered various articles from the wreck of the " Yorktown " , which were subsequently auctioned at Sothebys in London . In early 2001 , the U . S . Department of Justice informed Sothebys that under United States law ( principally the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 , and subsequently the 2005 Sunken Military Craft Act ) all wrecks of ships and aircraft remain the property of the U . S . Government . Sothebys returned the objects ; which included cutlery , coins , sword hilts and scabbards , a powder flask , and various ship fittings .