USS Truxtun (1842) - Prewar History

Prewar History

On 16 June, Truxtun stood out of Hampton Roads for her first cruise. The brig reached Gibraltar on 9 July, received a visit from the American consul on the 16th, and sailed on the 18th to continue her cruise. On 26 July, she hove into sight of Majorca and, the following day, dropped anchor in Port Mahon. She remained there until 28 August when she resumed her cruise. During the ensuing month, the brig proceeded to the eastern Mediterranean Sea and visited several Aegean ports before putting into Constantinople on 29 September. There, she conducted several missions for the American chargé d'affaires before departing the Levant late in October. Sailing via Port Mahon again, Truxtun left the Mediterranean in mid-November and headed for Norfolk, Virginia where she arrived on 28 December. In mid-January 1844 she moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she was decommissioned on 6 February.

On 13 June 1844, Truxtun was placed back in commission, Commander Henry Bruce in command. Two weeks later, she sailed down the Delaware River and passed between the capes into the Atlantic. After visiting Funchal, Madeira, the warship joined the African patrol. She took up station off Tenerife in the Canary Islands to begin duty suppressing the slave trade. For 16 months, Truxtun patrolled off the Atlantic bulge of the African continent. During that time, she visited Monrovia, Liberia; and Sierra Leone as well as the islands of Maio, St. Jago, and St. Vincent. She also took at least one prize, a schooner which was outfitted and taken into the United States Navy as Spitfire. On 30 October 1845, the brig weighed anchor at Monrovia, and she headed west toward the United States. On 23 November, she arrived at the Gosport Navy Yard where she was decommissioned once again on 28 November 1845.