Texan sloop - of - war Austin The Texan sloop - of - war " Austin " was the flagship of the Second Texas Navy from 1840 - 1846 . Commanded by Commodore Edwin Ward Moore , she led a flotilla in the capture of Villahermosa in 1840 . After a period of inaction in port , " Austin " participated in the Naval Battle of Campeche in 1843 . " Austin " was transferred to the United States Navy when Texas joined the United States in 1845 , but was run aground and broken up in 1848 . Background of the Texas Navy . The Texas Navy was officially formed in January 1836 , with the purchase of four schooner s : " Invincible " , " Brutus " , " Independence " , and " Liberty " . These ships , under the command of Commodore Charles Hawkins , helped Texas win independence by preventing a Mexican blockade of the Texas coast , seizing Mexican ships carrying reinforcements and supplies to its army , and sending their cargoes to the Texas volunteer army . Nevertheless , Mexico refused to recognize Texas as an independent country . By the middle of 1837 , all of the ships had been lost at sea , run aground , captured , or sold . With no ships to impede a possible invasion by Mexico , Texas was vulnerable to attack . In 1838 , President Mirabeau B . Lamar responded to this threat by forming a second Texas Navy . Unlike Sam Houston , Lamar was an ardent supporter of the Texas Navy and saw the urgent need for its continuation . The second Texas Navy was placed under the command of Commodore Edwin Ward Moore , an Alexandria Academy graduate recruited from the United States Navy . One of the ships of this second navy was the " Austin " , which served as the flagship of the navy . History of the " Austin " . The " Austin " , named after Stephen F . Austin , was originally slated to be named the " Texas " . Built in the Baltimore shipyard of Shott and Whitney in 1839 , " Austin " was referred to as a sloop - of - war and had a full ship rig . " Austin " was 125 feet in length and 31 feet across the beam , with a displacement of 600 tons and a draft of 12½ feet . She carried a crew of twenty - three officers and warrant officers and 151 sailors and marines and was armed with sixteen medium twenty - four - pound cannons , two eighteen - pound medium cannons , and two eighteen - pound long cannons . Career . Upon arrival in Galveston , the " Austin " ' s crew underwent months of training before the ship was dispatched in June 1840 to the Yucatán Peninsula , where a rebellion had broken out by the short - lived Republic of Yucatán against the central government in Mexico City . Commodore Moore was ordered to confer with the rebel leaders , but not to commence hostilities against Mexico until a delegation of Texas diplomats had completed a mission to secure recognition of Texas ' independence . Thus " Austin " spent her time cruising around the gulf coast of Mexico and Yucatán gathering intelligence and investigating ports and suitable anchorages . When a large storm blew up near Lobos Island on 14 October 1840 , " Austin " came upon a Mexican ship in distress . " Austin " recovered all of the crew of the stricken ship " Fama " , delivering them to Tampico to great local acclaim . This did not deter a Mexican shore battery from opening fire a few days later on the flagship as she was close to the Mexican shore looking to replenish her water stores . Concluding that hostilities had recommenced , Commodore Moore hastened to rejoin his flotilla near Campeche . Tabasco attack . Upon reaching the Cayos Arcas , where the rest of his flotilla had remained , Moore found that the " San Jacinto " had run aground on a sand bar and the rest of the ships were not to be seen . " Austin " set out to find the rest of the ships , " Zavala " and " San Bernard " , touching at the port of Campeche on 8 November and Sisal on 10 November . The flagship finally caught up with the rest of the ships at Frontera on 14 November . In order to salvage the " San Jacinto " and provide fuel for the lone steamship , " Zavala " , Moore hatched a plan to gain money . The " Zavala " towed the other two ships 60 miles up the San Juan Bautista River to the capital of the Mexican state of Tabasco , Villahermosa . There the small flotilla pointed their guns at the city and then sent troops into the seemingly deserted capital . Commodore Moore encountered a man bearing a white flag on a tree branch , and when he ascertained that this was the Mayor , the Texas commodore demanded $ 25 , 000 or he would level the town . The Mayor asked if silver would be acceptable , and upon receiving an affirmative reply , delivered the ransom . The commodore set sail with the silver and used the money to repair and outfit his ships . Returning to the wreck of the " San Jacinto " , " Austin " picked up the sick sailors and returned to Galveston , crossing the bar on 1 February 1841 . During " Austin ' s " absence , Texas had achieved a hard - won recognition from the United Kingdom . Moore wanted to repair and recruit quickly in New Orleans and then continue to press Mexico by sea . But President Lamar decided instead to pull back and allow Britain to try to negotiate a settlement between Texas and Mexico . Moore was ordered to put most of his ships " in ordinary " in Galveston . " Austin " ' s crew were placed in reduced commission with most seamen discharged , and the ship only serving on harbor patrol . She remained there through most of 1841 before returning to full commission early in December 1841 . Second cruise . " Austin " once again sailed for Yucatán on 13 December 1841 , the day President Sam Houston was inaugurated for a second non - consecutive term . Houston ' s opposition to the navy may have played a role in the decision to sail that day . During this cruise , Yucatán rebels paid $ 8 , 000 a month toward the maintenance of the Texas Navy . After a re - provisioning stop in New Orleans , " Austin " arrived at Sisal on 6 January 1842 where she met up with " San Bernard " and the " San Antonio " . From there the flotilla , under the command of Commodore Moore , again cruised the Mexican coast in search of prizes . After a stop at the port of Campeche , they continued on to Veracruz where they took up station as close to shore as conditions permitted . On 6 February , " Austin " and " San Bernard " sighted , pursued , and captured the 180 - ton Mexican brig " Progreso " which was sent to Galveston with a small prize crew . Throughout the month of February , bad weather plagued the two Texas ships and they captured no more ships . On 17 February , " Austin " hoisted the United States flag and sailed into Veracruz harbor to get a first - hand look at the Mexican situation . In Veracruz , Moore saw with alarm an old commercial steamer undergoing naval conversion and a new schooner readying as well . " Austin " released her captives in Progreso ' s boats , exited the harbor , and set sail for Cayo Arcos and rendezvous with the " San Antonio " . Eventually , the three Texan ships reunited and stopped in Carmen for water and repairs , where they remained until 28 March 1842 . Upon departure , the flotilla under command of " Austin " made for Veracruz and instituted a blockade of the port . While conducting the blockade , " Austin " captured the Mexican ships " Dolorita " and " Dos Amigos " , sending prize crews with them to Galveston . After sending " Dos Amigos " to Galveston accompanied by " San Bernard " , " Austin " headed for Sisal , arriving on 18 April . The following day , " San Bernard " arrived off Sisal with orders for Commodore Moore to return to Texas to confer with President Houston . The Texas squadron departed the Yucatán coast on 26 April and set a direct course for Galveston , arriving at the beginning of May 1842 . A period of inactivity . In Galveston , " Austin " was at anchor while Commodore Moore met with President Houston and Secretary of War and Marine George Washington Hockley to make plans for the Texan fleet . Moore discovered that Houston would not release $ 20 , 000 in discretionary money recently appropriated by the Texas Congress for the navy , and thus the sailors and officers would not be paid for the second consecutive year ; many sailors deserted . Despite Houston ' s lack of support for the navy , he did not hesitate to use it when it suited his needs . He ordered a blockade of Mexico in July 1842 and released just over $ 18 , 000 for the repair and provisioning of the ships . However , the repairs took so long to complete that the blockade never materialized . Then , in September 1842 , General Adrian Woll led a large force of Mexican regulars in an invasion of Texas , capturing San Antonio in what has become known as the Woll Invasion . In response to public outrage at the capture of San Antonio , Houston ordered the " Austin " and the brig " Wharton " to sail to Mexico and engage a Mexican fleet that contained new and larger ships , the " Moctezuma " and the " Guadalupe " , and to support another rebellion in the Yucatán in order to force Mexico to the bargaining table . The flotilla would not leave New Orleans until 15 April 1843 . Naval Battle of Campeche . The Mexican fleet now possessed the steamers " Guadalupe " and " Moctezuma " . " Guadalupe " was a British - manned Laird - built iron - paddle frigate of 768 tons equipped with two 68 - pound pivot guns that fired exploding shells . Moore hoped to encounter the " Guadalupe " separate from her escort " Moctezuma " . " Austin " and " Wharton " made for the Yucatán coast and encountered the Mexican squadron on 30 April 1843 between Lerma and Campeche . " Moctezuma " and " Guadalupe " , along with four other smaller vessels , comprised the Mexican fleet . The Texans were augmented by two Yucatecan ships and five small gunboats , but were clearly the smaller fleet . Seeing the Mexican fleet , Moore , on board the flagship " Austin " exclaimed : " Damn them , give it to them ! " There was a two - hour running battle in which the " Austin " was struck once in the fighting and lost some of her mizzen rigging . The commander of the " Moctezuma " and twenty of his crew were killed . After a few hours , the Mexican sailing ships departed and only the two mammoth steamers remained . The Mexican blockade of the port of Campeche was lifted , however , and the Texan ships put into the port for repairs . Moore was determined to upgrade his guns in Campeche ; " Austin " received two long - range 18 - pounders from the Yucatecans ashore and " Wharton " took on board a single , long - range 12 - pounder . The Texas fleet waited for an opening to leave port and engage the Mexican ships again . Eventually the winds and the Mexican fleet , desiring a confrontation with the smaller Texan squadron , lured the " Austin " and " Wharton " out of port on 16 May 1843 . With the wind pushing them forward , the two Texan ships engaged the larger Mexican adversaries despite heavy damage to the " Austin " and three dead . The Mexicans fared worse losing 183 sailors and were forced to flee the battle . This battle would represent the only time that steam - driven warships would be defeated by sail powered ships . The scene was memorialized on the engraving on the cylinder of the famed Colt Navy Revolver . After Campeche . " Austin " under Moore returned victorious to Campeche only to discover that in March , President Houston had declared the ships and their men pirates . Moore wanted to return to Galveston and answer the charges , but hostile Mexican fleets delayed the " Austin " until 29 June 1843 . " Austin " and " Wharton " arrived in Galveston on 14 July 1843 to a tumultuous welcome . The sailors of " Austin " were never court - martial ed , but Moore and Lieutenant C . B . Snow were relieved of their commissions , and subsequently all but three officers of the Texas Navy resigned . With no officers or seamen , " Austin " remained in port in Galveston . USS " Austin " . After Texas was formally annexed into the United States in 1845 , " Austin " was inducted into the U . S . Navy on 11 May 1846 under the name USS " Austin " , the first ship of that name . She was in poor condition when towed to the Pensacola Navy Yard , where she was used as a receiving ship until , two years later in 1848 , USS " Austin " was run aground and broken up . According to the commandant of the Pensacola Navy Yard , she was " unworthy of repairs . "