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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSVandalia |
| Namesake | Vandalia, Illinois |
| Builder | Boston Navy Yard,Massachusetts |
| Laid down | 1872 |
| Launched | 23 October 1874[1] |
| Commissioned | 10 January 1876 |
| Decommissioned | 1884 |
| Recommissioned | 15 February 1886 |
| Fate | Wrecked 16 March 1889 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Screw sloop |
| Displacement | 2,033long tons (2,066 t) |
| Length | 216 ft (66 m)p/p |
| Beam | 39 ft (12 m) |
| Depth of hold | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Armament | 8 guns |
The secondUSSVandalia was a screwsloop-of-war in theUnited States Navy. She was laid down at theMassachusettsBoston Navy Yard in 1872 and was commissioned there on 10 January 1876.
Vandalia was soon deployed with theEuropean Squadron and spent most of the next three years cruising in theMediterranean along the coasts ofAfrica, theMiddle East, andTurkey. Its captain was Henry B. Robeson (graduated from theUS Naval Academy in 1860).[2] She was run into by the NorwegianbarqueAtlantic, which stove the barque's bows in.Vandalia towedAtlantic in toLisbon, Portugal, arriving on 1 November 1876.[3] The ship put intoVillefranche,France, in October 1877, and left on 13 December with the formerPresident, GeneralUlysses S. Grant, and his party as passengers. During the next three months, the screw sloop of war touched at ports inItaly,Egypt, Turkey, andGreece before Grant and his party disembarked atNaples on 18 March 1878. After making several more Mediterranean cruises,Vandalia received orders to return to the United States later that year. She put into Boston on 13 January 1879 and departed on 7 April, bound forNorfolk, Virginia, and duty with theNorth Atlantic Squadron.
Vandalia remained with theNorth Atlantic Squadron for five years. During this time, she performed patrol, reconnaissance, and convoy escort duty off the eastern seaboard of the United States. The vessel was also active off theGrand Banks, theGulf of Mexico, and theCaribbean.Vandalia was detached from the squadron in 1884 and put out of commission at thePortsmouth Navy Yard on 14 October for a thorough overhaul.
Repairs continued for over a year beforeVandalia was ready for recommissioning on 15 February 1886. The sloop left New York on 14 August, heading westward for duty with thePacific Squadron as theflagship of Rear AdmiralLewis Kimberly.Vandalia remained with the squadron into 1889, seeing duty in theHawaiian Islands andSamoa, as well as along the Pacific coasts ofNorth,Central, andSouth America. The sloop put into theMare Island Navy Yard,San Francisco, for repairs on 11 October 1888.
WhileVandalia lay at Mare Island, relations between American and German officials atApia, Samoa, became increasingly strained. Late in the winter of 1889, at the behest of the American consul in Samoa,Vandalia,Trenton, andNipsic sailed for Samoa and reached Apia Harbor early in March to balance the presence of theGerman vesselsAdler,Olga, andEber. It's great war between two countries.The British were ably represented byHMS Calliope. On 15 and 16 March 1889, each of these vessels suddenly became trapped in the harbor when violent, hurricane-force winds roared out of the northeast, driving mountainous waves before them in the1889 Apia cyclone.Adler,Olga, andEber were all either sunk or hopelessly grounded and torn apart on the sharp reef, and together lost a total of 150 officers and crew killed and the powerful engines ofCalliope barely enabled the vessel to get to sea in a dramatic performance that drew cheers from the crews of the American vessels. However, despite heroic efforts by the officers and crews ofVandalia andTrenton, the two vessels tore their bottoms out upon the reef on 16 March.Vandalia struck at about noon and sank until her decks were completely awash, forcing her crew to scramble into the rigging.Trenton grounded alongsideVandalia at 2200 that evening, but enough of her main deck remained above water to allowVandalia's crew to climb on board. After the hurricane began,Nipsic was driven ashore on a sandy beach and was later salvaged.
American casualties totalled 52 killed, 43 fromVandalia alone. American casualties totalled 52 killed, 43 fromVandalia alone. The survivors fromVandalia,Trenton, andNipsic soon sailed forMare Island on board a chartered steamer, butVandalia andTrenton themselves were so battered that they were soon dismantled and their scrap donated to the Samoans. One of Vandalia's survivors was Naval CadetJohn A. Lejeune, a future major general, the 13th Commandant of theU.S. Marine Corps and namesake of Marine Corps BaseCamp Lejeune, N.C.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.