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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Experiment (I)

Schooner:
  • Built in 1799 at Baltimore, MD.
  • USS Experiment first put to sea late in November 1799, LT. W. Maley in command
  • Experiment joined CAPT. Silas Talbot squadron on the Santo Domingo station
  • While assigned to the Squadron Experiment took a number of prizes while searching for French privateers
  • Becalmed, 1 January 1800, in the Bight of Leogane with a convoy of four merchantmen, Experiment was attacked by 11 armed pirate boats, manned by about four or five hundred buccaneers. In the ensuing seven hour battle the pirates took three of the merchantmen while Experiment sank two of the attacking craft, and killed and wounded many of the pirates, suffering only one man wounded
  • Arriving in the Delaware River early in July 1800, Experiment refitted, and returned to the West Indies
  • During this second patrol Experiment was again successful against the French, she captured several armed vessels and recaptured a number of American merchantmen
  • In January 1801 Experiment rescued 65 Spaniards from the ship Eliza, wrecked on a reef of the island of Saona
  • Returning to Norfolk early in February 1801, she was laid up there until August, when she sailed to Baltimore
  • Experiment was sold in October 1801 at Baltimore.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1353 t.
    Length 84'7"
    Beam 22'6"
    Draft unknown
    Depth of Hold 9'6"
    Speed unknown
    Complement 70
    Armament
    twelve 6-pdrs
    Propulsion sail
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Experiment 476k Biographical vignette featuring a portrait of David Porter USN and a view of USS Experiment in action with West Indian pirates in 1800.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 86521-KN, courtesy of the artist, 1978. Released by the artist for non-commercial use only.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Experiment 97k A sketch by William Bainbridge Hoff of the Schooner USS Experiment fighting off picaroons with her convoy off the island of Gonave near Haiti. Image created 1 January 1800.
    From "Memoir of Commodore David Porter: of the United States Navy" By David Dixon Porter, pg 28.    		 Robert Hurst
    Experiment 199k A sketch by William Bainbridge Hoff of USS Experiment, commanded by Lieutenant Stewart, capturing the French privateer Deux Amis off Barbuda, West Indies, 1 September 1800.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 2297.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Experiment 349k A sketch by William Bainbridge Hoff of USS Experiment capturing the French vessel Diana in Caribbean Sea, 1 October 1800.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 1754.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Experiment 246k A sketch by William Bainbridge Hoff of USS Experiment engaging the British schooner Louisa Bridger. On the night of 16 November 1800, Experiment fought a fierce battle with the British schooner Louisa Bridger, not discovering the fact that the British ship was neutral until she was forced to strike her colors.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 56712.    		 Tommy Trampp
    USS Experiment (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 26 July 2019