USS St . Louis ( 1828 ) USS " St . Louis " was a sloop in the United States Navy through most of the 19th century . " St . Louis " was laid down on 12 February 1827 at the Washington Navy Yard ; launched on 18 August 1828 ; and commissioned on 20 December 1828 , Master Commandant John D . Sloat in command . On the day of her commissioning , " St . Louis " got underway and proceeded to Norfolk , Virginia , for final outfitting . She departed Hampton Roads on 14 February 1829 and headed for Havana , Cuba . Thence , she proceeded , via Rio de Janeiro and Cape Horn , to Callao , Peru . Arriving there on 20 June , the sloop of war joined the Pacific Squadron under Commodore Jacob Jones ; and , until 8 September 1831 , she cruised the coasts of the Americas to protect the trade and interests of the United States . On that day , she sailed for Cape Horn and the east coast ; and arrived off Sandy Hook , New Jersey , on 9 December . She was laid up in ordinary at New York on the 25th . Recommissioned on 19 September 1832 , " St . Louis " departed New York on 12 October to base at Pensacola , Florida , as a unit of the West Indies Squadron . She spent the following six years , largely as flagship for the squadron , cruising the Caribbean . On 28 May 1838 , she sailed from Havana for New York where she again was placed in ordinary on 1 July and laid up until 5 April 1839 . " St . Louis " sailed on 30 June to join the Pacific Squadron at Monterey , California . En route , she put in at San Francisco , California where her commanding officer interceded with the government of California for imprisoned foreign residents . She had the distinction of being the first American man - of - war to carry the flag into that port . Following operations off the coast of Peru , she returned to Norfolk on 15 September 1842 and was laid up in ordinary there the following day . " St . Louis " was recommissioned on 27 February 1843 and soon joined the East India Squadron as flagship . She was at Singapore early in 1844 while the first commercial treaty with China was being negotiated . She returned to Norfolk in September 1845 after participating in the evacuation of British colonists during the Battle of Kororareka , New Zealand in March . At Norfolk the ship underwent conversion to lengthen her hull by 13 feet . Departing from Norfolk on 11 August 1848 , she sailed to Rio de Janeiro , where she served on the South America Station until returning in July 1851 . " St . Louis " next departed from Norfolk on 24 August 1852 to cruise the Mediterranean . On 2 July 1853 , while she was at Smyrna , Turkey , her commanding officer , Captain Duncan Ingraham , demanded that the commander of the Austrian frigate , " Hussar " , release Hungarian refugee Martin Koszta . The revolutionary leader had emigrated to the United States and announced his intentions of becoming an American citizen . Subsequently , while in Smyrna on business , he had been arrested by Austrian officials . Mediation by the French Consul effected Koszta ' s release . " St . Louis " returned to New York on 8 May 1855 and sailed again in November to help suppress the slave trade along the western coast of Africa , returning to New York on 9 February 1858 . In September of that year , she joined the Home Squadron based at Pensacola , Florida . In January 1861 , while serving with the Home Squadron off Verz Cruz , Mexico , " St . Louis " was ordered to return to Pensacola to stand guard during the turmoil which preceded the outbreak of the American Civil War . In April , she aided in the reinforcement of Fort Pickens ; then joined in the massive blockade of southern ports . On 5 September , she assisted in the capture of blockade - running Confederate " brig " , " Macao " , at the mouth of the Mississippi River . After being rearmed during a brief period in the Philadelphia Navy Yard , now armed with four shell guns , twelve 32 - pounder guns , two 20 - pounder Parrott rifle s , and one 12 - pounder smoothbore , she sailed on 24 February 1862 for Cadiz , Spain . For the next two years , she criss - crossed the Atlantic , cruised the African coast , and patrolled the areas in and around the Canary Islands and the Azores in search of Confederate commerce raiders . Cadiz and Lisbon were her primary bases for such operations . She returned to Port Royal , South Carolina , on 26 November 1864 for service in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron . Three days later , sailors and marines from " St . Louis " went ashore at Boyd ' s Landing to participate in the combined Army - Navy thrust up the Broad River . Under the command of Comdr . George H . Preble , the expedition was designed to assist General William Tecumseh Sherman as he approached Savannah , Georgia at the end of his march across Georgia . This operation was completed on 29 December . " St . Louis " then briefly returned to blockade duty before finally sailing to the Philadelphia Navy Yard where she was decommissioned on 12 May 1865 . " St . Louis " spent the remainder of her career at Philadelphia . After being laid up in 1866 and declared unserviceable , she became a receiving ship at League Island as described by Fred J . Buenzle , who had served aboard the " St . Louis " , as noted in " Bluejacket ; An Autobiography " , a part of the " Classics Of Naval Literature " series and continued this duty until 1894 when she was loaned as a training vessel to the Naval Militia of the State of Pennsylvania . On 30 November 1904 , while she was engaged in this service , her name was changed to " Keystone State " . She was finally struck from the Navy list on 9 August 1906 and sold for scrapping , on 5 June 1907 , to Joseph G . Hitner of Philadelphia .