USS Relief ( 1836 ) The first USS " Relief " was a supply ship in the United States Navy . " Relief " was laid down in 1835 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and launched on 14 September 1836 . Designed by Samuel Humphreys , she was built along merchant vessel lines and included trysail mast and gaffsail on all three masts to enable her to work to windward in strong winds . Her hull was pierced for 16 small guns , but she usually carried only four to six 18 - pounder and two 12 - pounders . Service history . United States Exploring Expedition . In early December 1836 , " Relief " , commanded by Lieutenant Thomas A . Dornin , left Philadelphia , Pennsylvania for Norfolk , Virginia to join the ships assigned to the United States South Sea Surveying and Exploring Expedition . However , that expedition , held up by lack of money , ships , equipment , and trained personnel - and by administrative feuding since its first authorization in 1828 - continued to be delayed until the summer of 1838 . During her 19 - month wait , " Relief " remained at Norfolk or engaged in runs along the east coast . On 19 August 1838 , the squadron , commanded by Lt . Charles Wilkes , cleared Hampton Roads and set a course for Rio de Janeiro . Sailing with the prevailing winds - westerlies and northeast trades - their planned course took them across the Atlantic to Madeira ; then straight to Brazil . However , " Relief " , under Lt . A . K . Long , proved to be a slow sailer . She soon fell behind and was detached with orders to rejoin the other five vessels in the Cape Verde Islands . The rendezvous was accomplished in early October and the squadron sailed for Brazil . " Relief " , the last to arrive , reached Rio on 26 November . On 6 January 1839 , the squadron sailed for the Río Negro and Cape Horn . " Relief " , bypassing the former where surveys were conducted , rounded the Cape and reached Orange Harbor , on the Hardy Peninsula , Hoste Island , on the 30th . There for almost three weeks , her crew kept hourly registers of the tides , placed navigation lights , and cut wood . On 18 February , the others arrived and toward the end of the month they were dispersed on various missions . Two followed James Weddell ' s course to Antarctica ; others traced James Cook ' s path . " Relief " was ordered north to the Straits of Magellan , via the Cockburn Channel , to survey harbors in the straits . Caught in storms , however , she was unable to penetrate the channel and , in mid - March , was almost wrecked off Noir Island . The loss of her anchor during her battle with the sea off Noir , prohibited further attempts to enter the channel and she headed for Valparaíso . On 15 April she entered the anchorage to make repairs and await the remainder of the squadron which by mid - May was reunited . In June , they moved on to Callao , where the ships were refitted and replenished . When " Relief " was unloaded and smoked , her dead rats filled three barrels . Because of her slowness , " Relief " was ordered to proceed from Callao to Sydney , then sail home - carrying the sick and malcontents with her . Sailing in mid - July , she spent two weeks in the Sandwich Islands ( Hawaiian Islands ) and three months after leaving Peru , put into Sydney . She discharged her remaining cargo , took on water , wood , and rock ballast and headed east . En route home , she again doubled Cape Horn and on 28 March 1840 she reached New York . Further service . At the end of the year , " Relief " , repaired and overhauled , sailed again for the Pacific , where she remained for five years operating primarily off the west coast of South America . She returned to New York in April 1846 . In May , war with Mexico broke out ; and , in July , " Relief " joined the Home Squadron . From then until June 1848 , she cruised in the Gulf of Mexico , attempting to maintain a steady supply line to the ships engaged in the blockade of the Mexican coast despite the distance to supply bases and the scarcity of ships of her type . In July 1848 , " Relief " returned to New York and in the fall sailed from Norfolk for the Brazil Station . The following spring , she was back at Norfolk , but , with the autumn , she headed east . She operated in the Mediterranean Sea until she returned to the United States in July 1850 , and engaged in resupply runs to Brazil until placed out of commission for overhaul 20 November 1855 . She recommissioned 19 February 1856 and resumed her runs to the Brazil Station and continued them through 1857 . In late 1858 she rejoined the Home Squadron and cruised in the Gulf of Mexico . In 1861 , she crossed the Atlantic again , resupplied the African Squadron and , with the outbreak of the American Civil War , returned to the United States to resupply the ships of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron . In July 1862 , she returned to the Gulf of Mexico and , until the fall of 1863 , served primarily as station store ship at Ship Island in Mississippi Sound . Then ordered to Boston , Massachusetts for overhaul , she was decommissioned 5 December 1863 . Recommissioned 29 April 1864 , she was ordered back to the Pacific . In July she delivered supplies at Rio de Janeiro , whence she continued on to China , arriving at the Portuguese colony of Macau in December . After service on the Asiatic Station , she returned to New York in late 1866 and was placed in ordinary . In 1871 she was ordered to Washington , D . C . , where she served as receiving ship until 1877 . The following year she was laid up , at Washington , and on 27 September 1883 she was sold to J . B . Agnew .