Texan schooner Zavala The Texan steamship " Zavala " was a Texas Navy ship in Texas ' second Navy after the Texas Revolution . She was the first steamship - of - war in the Texas Navy . 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 who was recruited from the United States Navy . One of the ships of this second navy was the " Zavala " . History of the " Zavala " . The " Zavala " was built in 1836 as a passenger steamship named the " Charleston " serving the Philadelphia - Charleston route . In 1838 , when Lamar began rebuilding the Texan fleet , the navy purchased the " Charleston " for $ 120 , 000 and renamed it " Zavala " in honor of Lorenzo de Zavala , the first Vice President of the Republic of Texas . Capt . A . C . Hinton was her first commander in the Texas Navy . Capt . John T . K . Lothrop took command of the " Zavala " on 4 March 1840 and led her on her only campaign . After the successful Texas revolt , other parts of Mexico had rebelled against the regime of Santa Anna , including the Yucatan peninsula . President Lamar was determined to assist the rebels in their struggle with Mexico City . So , on 24 June 1840 , the " Zavala " accompanied by Commodore Moore ' s flagship , the sloop - of - war " Austin " , and three armed schooners , slipped out of Galveston Bay and turned south across the Gulf to the Bay of Campeche near the Yucatan Peninsula . During the cruise off the Yucatan , " Zavala " never engaged the enemy directly , but she proved invaluable in the only action that the flotilla saw . on 20 November 1840 , the steamship towed Moore ' s flagship , " Austin " and the schooner " San Bernard " 90 miles up the San Juan Bautista River to Villahermosa , the seat of government control in the state of Tabasco . The squadron had made a deal with federalist rebels to drive the centralistas out for $ 25 , 000 , the first $ 10 , 000 to be paid up front . The federalists agreed . Soon 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 his booty and used the money to repair and outfit his ships . Return to Galveston and the end . Returning to her homeport in Galveston , " Zavala " encountered a terrible storm and ran out of coal , forcing the crew to burn anything they could put their hands on to avoid losing her in the storm . Badly damaged , " Zavala " was laid up in Galveston harbor awaiting repairs , which due to the state of the Republic ' s finances were not forthcoming . With the election of Sam Houston in 1841 , the navy was no longer a priority and " Zavala " was allowed to deteriorate . In May 1842 , she was in such poor condition that " Zavala " was eventually scuttled to prevent her sinking and in 1844 she was broken up and sold for scrap . The wreck . Clive Cussler , founder of NUMA , located the hull of the " Zavala " ( archeological site 41GV95 ) beneath a parking lot in the former Bean ' s Wharf area of the harbor in 1986 .