People, Locations, Episodes

Sat, 07.28.1855

The USS Constellation, a story

*On this date, in 1855, the USS Constellation was commissioned. Now housed in Baltimore Harbor, it is the last surviving battleship of the American Civil War and was instrumental in fighting the African slave trade.

Designed by John Lenthall, Chief Constructor of the Navy, as a "sloop-of-war,"  the Constellation was much larger than most other ships of that category.  This enabled the Constellation to carry a heavier battery of guns than conventional sloops.  Historically, its namesake, the first U.S. Navy ship to bear the name Constellation for the "new constellation of stars" on the American flag, was launched in 1797.

This was the first frigate commissioned in the U.S. Navy and served a long life.  After several overhauls and repairs, this frigate was decommissioned and broken up at the Gosport Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia. Its successor was launched from the same port on August 26, 1854.

On April 20, 1859, the USS Constellation began its duty to fight slavery in America. The Secretary of the Navy designated the USS Constellation as the flagship of the U.S. African Squadron.  The Constellation was under the command of Flag Officer William Inman.  The ship took up station off the mouth of the Congo River on November 21, 1859.  In 1860, several ships registered in New York City were seized by the African Squadron along the coastal waters of West Africa.

(The African Squadron, established in 1843, intercepted slave ships leaving the Congo River delta area for the Western Hemisphere) The seized ships included the Clara Windsor with 677 slaves; the Nancy with 690 slaves; the Lyra with 890 slaves; the Ardennes with 488 slaves; the Cora with 705 slaves; the Nightingale with 800 slaves; the Buckeye with 500 slaves; and the Erie with 897 slaves. While the effectiveness of the overall operation may be debated, Office Inman proudly reported to the Secretary of the Navy that during its twenty-two months under his command, the squadron rescued 3,754 slaves.