Neptune's Needle

Frigate. One of "Humphreys' frigates"--the infant Navy's very first commissions, built in Philadelphia by Joshua Humphreys. During the Quasi-War with France, John Barry used her to capture five prizes over two voyages. Over a decade later, the United States was pulled out by Stephen Decatur as part of John Rodgers' North Atlantic Squadron. Decatur left the squadron and engaged the HMS Macedonia, making her an American Navy vessel after a fierce battle. Sent to Algeria after the war with Britain, the United States spent the next three decades as a member of several squadrons the world over, hosting a barrage of crew members, including Herman Melville, whose fourteen months aboard in 1843-44 became White-Jacket, or The World in a Man-of-War (1850). She was seized along with every ship in the navy yard at Norfolk, VA by Confederate soldiers and soon after sunk to block access to the Elizabeth River.

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Compiler

Peter Richards