USS Ohio ( 1820 ) The second USS " Ohio " was a ship of the line of the United States Navy . She was designed by Henry Eckford , laid down at Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1817 , and launched on 30 May 1820 . She went into ordinary and in the ensuing years decayed badly . Refitted for service in 1838 , " Ohio " sailed on 16 October 1838 to join the Mediterranean Squadron under Commodore Isaac Hull . Acting as flagship for two years , she protected commerce and suppressed the slave trade off the African coast . " Ohio " proved to have excellent performance under sail , repeatedly making more than . One of her officers stated , " I never supposed such a ship could be built — a ship possessing in so great a degree all the qualifications of a perfect vessel . " In 1840 , " Ohio " returned to Boston where she again went into ordinary . From 1841 - 1846 , " Ohio " served as receiving ship . To meet the needs of the Mexican - American War , " Ohio " was recommissioned on 7 December 1846 , and sailed on 4 January 1847 for the Gulf of Mexico , arriving off Veracruz on 22 March . " Ohio " landed 10 guns on 27 March to help in the siege of Veracruz ; but the city soon surrendered . " Ohio " drew too much water for coastal operations in the gulf . However , 336 of her crew participated in the Tuxpan River Expedition . In 1847 , the entire distance from the mouth of the river to the town was covered with thick jungle growth . The enemy had constructed three well - positioned forts on bluffs overlooking bends in the river . On 18 April , Commodore . Matthew Perry arrived off the mouth of the river with 15 vessels . At 22 : 00 , light - draft steamers " Scourge " , " Spitfire " , and " Vixen " , each towing a schooner , moved up stream . Bombship s , , and followed closely while 30 surf boats containing 1 , 500 men brought up the rear . Approaching the town , the squadron came under hot fire from Fort LaPena . Cmdre . Perry ordered Commander Franklin Buchanan to disembark the surf boats and storm the fort . As the landing party swept ashore , the Mexicans abandoned their position . The other two forts fell in a like manner , with only light casualties substained by the squadron . Men from " Ohio " retrieved the guns of brig " Truxtun " which had foundered in a storm near Tuxpan on 16 September 1846 . The town was occupied and all military stores destroyed . Following Tuxpan , " Ohio " sailed from Veracruz and arrived in New York on 9 May . On 26 June , she sailed to bolster the Pacific Squadron , first carrying the U . S . minister to Brazil and operating off the east coast of South America until December . In Valparaíso on 21 January 1848 , Cmdre . Thomas ap Catesby Jones took her as the flagship of the Pacific Squadron , intending to blockade the western Mexico ports . " Ohio " arrived at Mazatlán on 6 May , shortly after the Mexican - American War ended . Jones used the fleet to help transport to Monterey , California , those that had aided the United States in the war , arriving there on 9 October . " Ohio " then sailed to Sausalito , in San Francisco Bay . " Ohio " spent the next two years in the Pacific protecting commerce and policing the newly acquired California Territory during the chaotic early months of the gold rush . Scurvy struck the crew in the spring of 1849 in San Francisco Bay so Jones sent " Ohio " to the Sandwich Islands for fresh food . In 1850 , she returned to Boston where she again went into ordinary . In 1851 , " Ohio " became a receiving ship and continued this duty until again placed in ordinary in 1875 . " Ohio " was sold at Boston to J . L . Snow of Rockland , Maine on 27 September 1883 . She was burned in the following year , in Greenport Harbor , New York ; the remains are still accessible to scuba divers . The wreck is off Fanning Point , in about of water .