USS Somers (1842)
The second USS "Somers" was a brig in the United States Navy during the John Tyler administration which became infamous for being the only U.S. Navy ship to undergo a mutiny which led to executions. "Somers" was launched by the New York Navy Yard on 16 April 1842 and commissioned on 12 May 1842, with Commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie in command. Initial cruise. After a shakedown cruise in June–July to the Spanish colony of Puerto Rico and back, the new brig sailed out of New York harbor on 13 September 1842 bound for the Atlantic coast  of Africa with dispatches for frigate . On this voyage, "Somers" was acting as an experimental schoolship for naval apprentices. After calls at Madeira, Tenerife, and Praia, looking for "Vandalia", "Somers" arrived at Monrovia, Liberia on 10 November and learned that the frigate had already sailed for home. The next day, Cdr. Mackenzie headed for the Virgin Islands hoping to meet "Vandalia" at St. Thomas before returning to New York. The ""Somers" Affair". On 25 November 1842, during the passage to the West Indies, Midshipman Philip Spencer, the son of Secretary of War John C. Spencer, allegedly told purser's steward  J.W. Wales of a planned mutiny by approximately 20 of "Somers" crew, who intended to use the ship for piracy from the Isle of Pines. Seaman Elisha Small was involved in the conversation, and Wales was threatened with death if he revealed Spencer's plan. On 26 November, Wales notified Captain Mackenzie of the plan through his chain of command via purser H.M. Heiskill and First Lieutenant Guert Gansevoort. Captain Mackenzie was not inclined to take the matter seriously, but instructed Lt. Gansevoort to watch Spencer and the crew for evidence of confirmation. Lt. Gansevoort learned from other members of  the crew that Spencer had been observed in secret nightly conferences with seaman Small and Boatswain's Mate Samuel Cromwell. Captain Mackenzie confronted Spencer with Wales' allegation that evening. Spencer replied that he told Wales the story as a joke. Spencer was arrested and put in irons on the quarterdeck. Papers written in Greek were discovered in a search of Spencer's locker and translated by Midshipman Henry Rodgers: The papers read: A mast failed and damaged some sail rigging on 27 November. The timing and circumstances were regarded as suspicious, and Cromwell, the largest man on the crew, was  questioned about his alleged meetings with Spencer. Cromwell said: "It was not me, sir – it was Small." Small was questioned and admitted meeting with Spencer. Both Cromwell and Small joined Spencer in irons on the quarterdeck. On 28 November wardroom steward Henry Waltham was flogged for having stolen brandy for Spencer, and, after the flogging, Captain Mackenzie informed the crew of a plot by Spencer to have them murdered. Waltham was flogged again on 29 November for suggesting theft of three bottles of wine to one of the apprentices. Sailmaker's mate Charles A. Wilson was detected attempting to obtain  a weapon that afternoon, and Landsman McKinley and Apprentice Green missed muster when their watch was called at midnight. Four more men were put in irons on the morning of 30 November: Wilson, McKinley, Green, and Cromwell's friend, Alexander McKie. Captain Mackenzie then addressed a letter to his four wardroom officers (First Lieutenant Gansevoort, Passed Assistant Surgeon L.W. Leecock, Purser Heiskill, and Acting Master M.C. Perry) and three oldest midshipmen (Henry Rodgers, Egbert Thompson, and Charles W. Hayes), asking their opinion as to the best course of action. The seven convened in the wardroom to interview members of the  crew. On 1 December, the officers reported that they had "come to a cool, decided, and unanimous opinion" that Spencer, Cromwell, and Small were "guilty of a full and determined intention to commit a mutiny," and they recommended that the three be put to death, despite Spencer's claim that the accused conspirators "had been pretending piracy". The plotters were hanged that day and buried at sea. Some have noted that the captain could have waited, since there were only thirteen days to home port. In response, the captain noted the fatigue of his officers, the smallness of the vessel , and the inadequacies of the confinement. "Somers" reached St. Thomas on 5 December and returned to New York on 14 December. She remained there during a naval court of inquiry that investigated the alleged mutiny and subsequent executions. The court exonerated Mackenzie, as did a subsequent court-martial that was held at his request to avoid a trial in civil court. Nevertheless, the general populace remained skeptical. In the Home Squadron. On 20 March 1843, Lt. John West assumed command of "Somers" and the brig was assigned to the Home Squadron. For the next few years, she served along the  Atlantic coast and in the West Indies. Mexican–American War. "Somers" was in the Gulf of Mexico off Veracruz at the opening of the Mexican–American War in the spring of 1846, and, except for runs to Pensacola, Florida, for logistics, remained in that area on blockade duty until the winter. On the evening of 26 November, the brig, commanded by Lt. Raphael Semmes (later the celebrated commanding officer of the Confederate commerce raider CSS "Alabama"), was blockading Veracruz when the Mexican schooner "Criolla" slipped into that port. "Somers" launched a boat party that boarded and captured the schooner. However , a calm wind prevented the Americans from getting their prize out to sea, so they set fire to the vessel and returned through gunfire from the shore to "Somers", bringing back seven prisoners. Unfortunately, "Criolla" proved to be a US spy ship operating for Commodore David Conner. On 8 December 1846, while chasing a blockade runner off Veracruz, "Somers" capsized and foundered in a sudden squall. Thirty-six of her 80 crew were lost. Eight survivors were rescued by . Eight more swam to shore and were taken prisoner. English and French vessels rescued the other survivors. On 3 March 1847 , Congress authorized gold and silver medals to the officers and men of French, British, and Spanish ships-of-war who aided in the rescue. Legacy and wreck. Herman Melville – whose first cousin, Lt. Guert Gansevoort, was an officer aboard the brig at the time of the "Somers" Affair – may have been influenced by the notorious events involving the "Somers" mutineers. Melville may have used elements of the story in his novella "Billy Budd". The incident is detailed in the novel "Voyage to the First of December" by Henry Carlisle, written from the viewpoint of the naval surgeon on duty (from  his old journals). It is also described in detail in the novel "The Big Family" by Vina Delmar. The story of the "Somers" Affair and the subsequent trial is dramatized in the penultimate episode of the sixth season of the television series "JAG". The presentation takes place as a dream by Lt. Col. Sarah MacKenzie, while she prepares to give a lecture at the United States Naval Academy, which came into existence as a result of the "Somers" Affair. The regular cast portrayed the people involved. Trevor Goddard played the role of Mackenzie, and Catherine Bell (in a play on  the identical surname of her usual role in JAG) played Mrs. Mackenzie. In 1986, an expedition led by George Belcher, an art dealer and explorer from San Francisco, California, discovered the wreck, and in 1987 archaeologists James Delgado and Mitchell Marken confirmed the identification of the wreck. In 1990, Delgado, along with Pilar Luna Erreguerena, co-directed a joint Mexican-US expedition, which involved archaeologists and divers from the US National Park Service, the Armada de Mexico, and the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. The project determined that unknown people had looted the wreck sometime after the 1987 expedition . The wreck remains as a site protected by legislation. The most notable legacy of the "Somers" Affair is the US Naval Academy which was founded as a direct result of the affair. Appalled that a midshipman would consider mutiny, senior naval officials ordered the creation of the academy so that midshipmen could receive a formal and supervised education in naval seamanship and related matters.