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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Hecla (I)

Bomb Brig:
  • Built, date and location unknown
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Purchased at New York in 1846
  • Commissioned USS Hecla, 9 March 1847, at New York, LT. Archibald B. Fairfax commanding
  • USS Hecla sailed, 10 March for the Gulf of Mexico to support American actions during the Mexican War
  • She arrived off the island of Sacrificio, near Vera Cruz, on the morning of 29 March, just in time to see the Mexican city fall to American forces that evening
  • From Vera Cruz Hecla was dispatched with other ships of the American squadron to patrol the Gulf of Mexico along the Mexican coast, stopping and searching all ships encountered
  • On 18 April, during her first patrol, she contributed 25 men and 4 officers to a successful amphibious expedition against the Mexican city of Tuxpan
  • Her first patrol in the Gulf ended on 24 April as she came to anchor off the Bar of Santander
  • Hecla made three more similar patrols in the summer of 1847, frequently stopping at various Mexican ports and sending men ashore for water and provisions
  • On 15 August Hecla shifted upriver to anchor in the harbor of Alvardo, where she served as a harbor patrol vessel until the end of the Mexican War
  • She was especially vigilant for small canoes attempting to smuggle illegal supplies and ammunition up the river, seizing several
  • With the end of the war, Hecla sailed for the United States, 20 July 1848, arriving in Norfolk, 15 August and continuing to New York, 4 September
  • She decommissioned, 9 September 1848 at New York,
  • Sold, date unknown
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement unknown
    Length unknown
    Beam unknown
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown
    Armament unknown
    Propulsion sail
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    Hecla (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
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    Last Updated 12 August 2022