USS Niagara

The USS Niagara was launched by the New York Navy Yard on February 23rd, 1855 and commissioned on April 6th, 1857 with Captain William L. Hudson in command. She sailed from New York to England on April 22nd, 1857 and arrived at Gravesend on May 14th, 1857. She was equipped to lay cable for the first transatlantic telegraph system, which was to follow the shallow ocean bed discovered between Newfoundland and Ireland by Matthew F. Maury. On August 11th, 1857, after laying hundreds of miles of telegraph cables off of Valentia Island, Ireland, a break in the cable was found and was declared unrecoverable, so the Niagara returned to New York and was decommissioned on December 2nd, 1857 to prepare for another try at laying a transatlantic telegraph cable. On February 24th, 1858, she was recommissioned, under the command of William L. Hudson, and sailed back to Plymouth, England for a second chance. The USS Niagara arrived in Plymouth on March 28th, 1858 and experimented with the HMS Agamemnon. They met in the middle of the ocean in July 1958 and began laying cables towards Newfoundland. On August 5th, 1858, the Niagara brought its cable ashore at Bay Bulls Arm, Newfoundland, with the HMS Agamemnon arriving later the same day. The first message wired across on August 16th, 1858, when Queen Victoria sent a message to President James Buchanan. The first cable only operated for three weeks but true success with a transatlantic cable system would arise in 1866. During the summer of 1858, the US Navy experienced heavy pressure to interdict slave traffic in the Caribbean Sea. On August 21st, 1858, the USS Dolphin captured the slave ship, Echo, off of the coast of Cuba with about 305 men, women, and children taken from Kabenda, Guinea. There were originally about 450 to 470 people until the number dwindled down before reaching South Carolina. Congressional law required the return of slaves to Monrovia, Liberia and the USS Niagara was well-suited for holding them. On September 20th, 1858, Captain John S. Chauncey boarded 271 enslaved Africans, suffering from scurvy and dysentery, onto the USS Niagara and expected to reach Africa within twenty days. Unfortunately, his guess changed when a heavy northwest wind swept the Niagara far off course. Before reaching Monrovia, Liberia on November 9th, 1858, 71 Africans passed away. He released over 200 Africans and reached New York Harbor on December 11th, 1858. The USS Niagara was decommissioned on December 17th. When she was recommissioned on May 14th, 1860, Captain William McKean was in command. A new unique quest awaited when he was to bring Japan’s first diplomatic mission to the U.S., from Washington, to New York, and then home again. The Niagara left New York on June 30th, 1860 and enter Tokyo Bay on November 8th, 1860 and returned to Boston Harbor on April 23rd, 1861: just in time for the outbreak of the Civil War. The USS Niagara was quickly prepared to blockade Southern ports and left for Charleston, South Carolina on May 10th, 1961 and successfully captured the Confederate blockade runner, CSS General Parkhill, on May 12th, which was trying to sneak into Charleston from Liverpool. On September 22nd, 1961, the Niagara took command of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron and was hulled twice by Confederate defenses. On June 5th, 1862, she sailed into the Boston Navy Yard for repairs where she was decommissioned on the 16th. The USS Niagara was recommissioned on October 14th, 1863 and steamed away from New York to keep watch on Confederate warships and get fitted out in Europe. She ended up patrolling the French Atlantic Coast and was able to capture the Confederate warship steamer, CSS Georgia, off of Portugal. In February and March 1865, the USS Niagara and the USS Sacramento stationed themselves at Ferrell, Spain to prevent the ironclad, CSS Stonewall from departing but, the CSS Stonewall was more powerful and was able to slip past the Niagara and USS Sacramento. The USS Niagara continued to patrol with the European Squadron until August 29th, 1865, when she left for Boston, arriving on September 20th, 1865. There she was decommissioned on the 28th and remained in the Boston Navy Yard until she was sold on May 6th, 1885.