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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS JOHN P. KENNEDY

Sailing Ship:
  • Laid down as wooden sailing ship Sea Nymph
  • Acquired by US Navy in 1853 for North Pacific Ocean expedition to Bering Straits and China Seas
  • Departed New York 21 June 1853 and arrived Cape of Good Hope 10 September.
  • Departed Cape of Good Hope 9 November with the expedition and arrived Batavia, Java, the day after Christmas.
  • Took active part in surveying operations in Indonesian waters until putting in at Singapore 4 April 1854 en route to Hong Kong where she arrived 25 May for repairs.
  • High cost of repairs prompted the expedition commander to turn John P. Kennedy over to the East Indies Squadron as guard ship at the American Factory, Canton, China. The ship stood out of Hong Kong 20 August and arrived at her new station 2 days later.
  • After a violent storm 23 July 1855, John P. Kennedy assisted American ship Isabella Catana in getting afloat; and she aided survivors of a Chinese man-of-war after the ship caught fire and blew up 6 September.
  • Departed Canton 20 October in tow of USS Powhatan, arriving Hong Kong the next day.
  • Decommissioned In Hong King, 31 October and was sold in November 1855.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 350 tons
    Length unknown
    Beam unknown
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement 45
    Armament
    1 x 24 pound howitzer
    2 x 12 pound howitzer
    Propulsion
    Sail
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    JPKennedy
    098668601    		 177k John Pendleton Kennedy (October 25, 1795 – August 18, 1870) was an American novelist, lawyer and Whig politician who served as United States Secretary of the Navy from July 26, 1852, to March 4, 1853, during the administration of President Millard Fillmore, and as a U.S. Representative from Maryland's 4th congressional district, during which he encouraged the United States government's study, adoption and implementation of the telegraph. A lawyer who became a lobbyist for and director of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Kennedy also served several terms in the Maryland General Assembly, and became its Speaker in 1847.
    William Shew    		 Tommy Trampp
    USS JOHN P. KENNEDY
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
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    Last Updated 4 April 2023