ivA\ry DEPANTMEIYTOTT'ISE OF THE CUIEF' OF NAVAT OPERAfIONSDrvrsrow'or nnvm Hrsteny (or ogsg)SHIPIg HISTORY SECgION

HISS0RY 0$' U, S. SLoOP-0F-hIAR LAI{CASmR

USS I.,ANCASTERwas the largest of,Congress, apprnoved,was launched on 20(ltr". Ilarrlet l.aneUnlted. States.

was nsned. for the clty of tancester, PenneyJ.vanla. Sbefive wooilen screr sloops-of-war authorized by Act of3 lrlarch ).8rT, ButLt by the Phtladelphta Navy Yard, sheOctober 1858 under the sponsorshlp of Mlss lrarrlet l"aneJohason) 1 niece of Jarnee Buchenan, Presid.ent of the

LAt{CAgtER's J.ength vae 235 feet, I inctres; beam I+5 feet; deptb in hoJ.,it,lp feet, 2 inclres; d.ioplacement, 3250 toas; and, draft, 18 feet, 5 inches.$he hed a complement of 350 offlcers and, men and her original arnament r,nastwo ll-lnch hhlgrea guns and. twenty p-lnch Dahtgren guns. In $53 she vasarrned, v'ith two ll"-lnch Dahlgren guns, tnenty-four p-inch Dahlgren guns, andlqo 3O-porinder Par:'ott rlfles. ftre totaL coat of the sloop-of -rrarwas$60?, 5a3,32.

LAI{CASTER was placed, in cormlsslon et Fbllad.elphla J2 ltlay L859, underconrnend of Captaln ilohu Rudd. She vas asslgned to the Pacifle Statlon asflaE;shtp and. after completing trlals departed Delavare Bay on 27 JvLy,Stopplng at Rlo d.e Jaaelro and. Valparalso enroute, she amived ln PanamaBay 6 December end on tbe 8th FIae 0fflcer J. B. li,Ioatgomery hoisted his flagaboard, her. LAIICASTER served as flagship of tbe Paclflc Squadron uatll L866.fhls d.uty precludect any BartlcutarJ.y outstanding service in the Civll War,but she crulsed ectiveS.trr on the coast d.south and Central Amertca, Mexico andCalif,ornla, protectlng Anerlcan cosmeree and tbe Paeifle naiL steamers. OnlI $ovenber 1854, by ord,er of aeting Rear Adntral George F, Pearson, a secretexpedttlon of boats ra6 sent fron the ship and captured a party of Confeder&offlcers on board the passenger steaner SALVADOR, outslde of tbe Bay ofPanana, who had, plarned, to selze that ship for the use of the CoafederateGovernneat. Durlng l,larch - rlune 1856 IAIIC,ASTER received extenslve repairsat the l{are Island Nalry Yard. and, on.Z'l June salled fron Saa Franclsco for tbeeast coast, vla Paaama Bay, Callao, Valpareleol Barbad.os and lfassau. Shearrlved. at the NorfolJc Navy lard, B Uarch 1B6J and vas placed out of co&mleslonon the 19th.

Reeonmissloned.25 August L869, LAI{CASIER departed. Norfolk 21 0ctoberfor the South AtLantlc Statloa, via Funchal, ldadelra. She amlved at Rlod'e JaneLro 5 January t8?0 and served as flagsht,p of the sguadron unttJ- L875,vtsltlng varlous ports and exchanglng courtesles wlth str-lps of othereor:ntries. 0a lB.rury 1872 she took part ln the cerebaa[ion of thecoronetton anntversary of the Emperor of Braztl at Rlo de Janelro andrecetved, the snperor and Em;rress on board. Durlng January-May l8flt sbetook part ln fLeet drll].e on the l{ortb AtLantlc Statlon and was one of theforee concentrsted. at Key West in anticlpatlon of war w:tth Spain over the

U. .S. SIOOP.OF-I,IAR i,AI{CASIER

"VIRGINIUS" affalr. The Aoerican fiLlbusterlng steanred. VIRGIMUS had. beenselzed and a part of her crew exesuted by Spanlsh autb,oritles at Santiago cleCuba. .After a }oug diplonatlc controversy the Spanlsb gcve::nnent proved toour satlsfactlon that the VIRGIIVIUS had. been fraud.ulentJ-y regi.stered. as anAnertcan vesoe!, but agreeil to pay an indernntty to the families of thepersons executeC" the fleet at Key West uas d.enobtlized and IAIICAStERreturned. to ituty on tF.ie South Atlantlc Statloa. She 'nns detached asftagshtp 21 Aprll f8?5 aad departed. Rto de Jaaelro the fo'llouing day for theUnlted Sta'bes, arrlvlng at Portsmouth, I{ew liaropshlre, on }2 iuly. the shlpvas placed. out of corunlsEion 31 July 1875 and, Ialcl up for repalrs at thePortsilouth Yard.

LANCASTEB vas agal.n placed 1n cornnlsston 25 August 188i. end on L2September salled from Portffiputb, vta l{er York, for the European Statlon.Arulvlng at OlbraltEr 9 l$ovember, she sssuned. ituty as flagship of thesquad.ron and. durtqg tbe foLlowlng years crulsed. exteaeJ.vely in theMed.lt'erranean, norihern European natere and on tlre coast of Africa,proteetlng Anerlcan cltizens and comerce and, prcanottng frlendly relationsvLtlr other countrles. Fron 2J .Iune to 20 July f8B2 the f,lagship nas atAlexandrla, Eg;4pt1 durlng a eerles of rlots and was prese:rt r+hen the Brltiehfleet bonbard^ed. the forts on LL JuIy. Rear Arl'niral J. I,l. Nicholson,conmandlng the U. S. sguadron, took aboarcl refugees, both Amertcan andpersons of other natLonallttes, for protecti.on, and, land.eil a force of 100men to guard the Consul.ate and assLst ln extinguislring fires, ln burytng thed.ead, and, ln preservlng order. Rear Adniral Charies H, Baldwin reLlevedRear" Admiral Nlchol.soa of cornmand of the squad.ron 10 }hrch f883. Acttngunder lnstructlons fron the lVavy Departuent, Adnl:.al Baldwln proceeded'1nLANCASIER to Cronstadt, Russla, and on 2l I'lay he trnd hte staff attend,ecl thecoronatLsa of tbe Emperor at Moscow. Early in fB85 LAIICASTER cruised. dor,nothe west coast of Afrl,ca and. arrived, ln the Congo River on 2B April. 0n tbe30tb Slr Francts de Winton, ArlmLplstrator Generat of Co:rgo laternatlcnaLAssoclatloo, was received on boardp the flag of the Congo Stafe was holstedat the fore and a sal.ute of 21 guns was fired. When tbe Adnlnj-stratorGeneral left the slrlp; he was salut,ed wlth lJ guns.

LANCASIER, having been ordered to th South Atlantlc Statlon, departedthe Congo 2 May 1885 and arrived at Rlo de Janelro 1 ,.Iuly, havlng stopped atLoenda, Angora, asd. st. Helena enroute. sbe served as flagshlp of thesquadron until 18B8, cru:islng on the eoasts of Soutb Amerlca and, Afrlca fortire Brotectloa of Anerlcan lnterests and conductl.ng squadron drll,Ls andexerelses. During the perlod January - ful,y I8B5 she cruised to tbe Capeof Good Sope aad. up the east coast of Afrlca, vlstting the Conoro Islands,Zaazlbar, l'factragascer and, Mozambique, to lnvestlgate conditions in thoseIocall-ttes.

LANCASfER was d.eteched, from the $outh Atlantlc Squadron IB January 18BBand seiled that clay fron Montevldeo for the European Station, arrJ.viag atGlbraltar 6 Aprll. As f,J.agship of the squed.ron ihe cruised iu tbeMed"l-te-:ruanean, @51ng the usuaL porlp of eall, r.rntll ,Iufy of the follow'ingyear. Dep,artr"ng Glbrettar A Ju-t-y 1989, LAIvC,AsTEfi returned to the Ualteit

U. S. STOOP-CF'-WAR I,ANCASTER

$tateE via Funchal, llndelra, arrlvlng at New York on B August. She vasplaceal out of camnlsston at tbe New lork lrlavy Yard, ? $eptember 1889 anal 1trNovember (B-U) ras towed to the Portsmou"Lh, ltew Eanpshlre Yarcl for repaLrs.

Reco&mlselonecl Ip l,larcb L89L, I,AI{CASTER proceed.ecl to Neu York on 21April and. on 23 ,Iune Bear Adnlral" D. B. Harmony hoisted hls flag aboard her.She departeci Nev York 13 July eanrute to the Aslatic Statlon, vla li[adelra,Cape Bpml South Afrtca, and $ingapore. She arrlved at Eong Koog, Chlng,l+ .Innuery- L8rge and serrred ee fLagsblp of the Aslatlc Sguad,rou until 1894,cruislng exteaetvely on the coest of Ohlna aad ln rTapaneoe weters for theproteetion of Anerlcan lnterests and engaglng tn terget praetlce and tralnlngexerclses' sbe sail-ed' froat song Kong 15 February r89l+ ror the uaiteil states,vla the $uez Canal, and, arrlved at l{ew York B June. ftre shlp vas placect outof conniseton at the l{eu York l{avy Yard on 30 rltrne 1894.

After repatrlng, LAI{CASXF,R h€s reconmLsstoned 12 September 1895 andeasfgned to tbe Soutb Atlantlc Statlou. OL 22 October sbe proceeded toSewport, Bbode Island, aad on 4 Isovenber stood. out for the South Atl.antic,vla liledelra aad Cape Verd,e Island.s, Ihe shtp arrlved at' Ilontevid,eo, Uruguay,on 13 I'ebruary 1ffl6, She operatecl on tbe coast of South Anerica untlL thefotlowlog year, based at Montevldeo and servlng part tlne as flagshlp of thesguadron. 0n 5 September f89? sfre stooil out fron base earoute to the UnitedSbates, vta Rlo de Jenelrop Bahla, and St. Lucla, aad arrlved at Boston onl8 November. 'Ihe sblp vas pS.aceC out of connlsslon at Boston JJ. December1897.

Recomrnlesloned 5 }4ay 18pB aad asslgued, to the trfortb At].antic Fleet,LANCASIEB sal}ed fron Boston the lpth end. on the Jlst amtved at the NavalStatlon, Key West, FJ.orLcta, where ehe eerved aE statloa shlp during the

_ iflpanlsh-AmerLcan wer. Departtng Key West 18 August the ehlp arrlved etI Portsnouth, New fianpsblrer o! 3 Septenber. AssLgned to iluty as a gunnery

\ tralnlng shlp, IAI{CASIFA d.eparted Portsnouth I January LB99 and. crul.sed onI tbe Atlantlc coaet ancl tn the West Indies for the purpose of tratnlng Landsmen-I Durtng the perlod 3 Jr.rne 1900 - h lt{arch IgOL she nade a trainlng cruise toJ{uropean waters, returnlng to the Unlted. States by the way of the West Indies

and La Gualra, Venezuela. She continued. crulslng in tbe AtLantlc for tbetralnlng of landsnen untll 1903. Arrtvlag at PhlLadelpbia lp Aprll 19O3,she ltas pleced out of co ission at the l{arry Yard on I lrlay. LAI,ICASSER served,as recelvlng shlp at the PhlJ.adelphla lVavy Yard, 15 i{ovember 1903 to 3tMarch L9l€t and vas transferrecl to tbe Bureau of Public Eeal.th Servl.ce,Treasury Departnent, oa I February 1913. IIer name wae etricken fron tbeIkvy Llst on 3L Deeember L9L5,

IANCASIER senred, the Public lleaLth Servlce as a quara[tlne detentlonhulk at Reedy Island, Delaware Qxrarantlne Statlon untll L92O, then nastraaefeme,i to the $ev lork Quarantlne Statlon for slnil^ar use. Ilavlng beendecLared unftt for furtber use for guerantlne purJro6e6, her bulk vas brokenup arrd removed. fron tbe north end of Soffnen IsLand at the l$ew York QuarantlneStatton fn f933. ftrts work conmeneed 2 Juae ]933 uader terms of a contractbetweea tbe Merrttt-Chalman and Scott Corporatlon and the U. S. EreasuryDepartment