USS John Adams (1799) - Venezuela

Venezuela

In the spring of 1819 Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson selected Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry for the mission of establishing friendly relations with the government of newly independent Venezuela and negotiating to obtain restitution for United States vessels that the Venezuelans had illegally taken during the revolution. Perry boarded his flagship John Adams at Annapolis and sailed in company with schooner USS Nonsuch on 7 June. A month later he reached the mouth of the Orinoco, which he ascended to Angostura in Nonsuch while John Adams sailed on to Trinidad to await his return at Port of Spain. After protracted negotiation, the government of Venezuela granted all the demands of the United States on 11 August. However, during the passage down the river, Perry was stricken with yellow fever and died before he could return to his flagship. Commodore Charles Morris succeeded Perry in command of the squadron and John Adams accompanied his flagship Constellation on a voyage to the Plata River to continue the negotiations inaugurated by Perry to establish friendly relations with the new Latin American republics and to protect American commerce from South American privateers. After visiting Montevideo and Buenos Aires, both ships returned to the United States, arriving Hampton Roads on 24 April 1820.