JAMESTOWN

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Jamestown Class Wooden Sloop-of-war Launched 1844 USS JAMESTOWN (Sloop of War) Commissioned December 12 1844 - Decommissioned at Philadelphia May 11 1854 Recommissioned February 22 1855 - Decommissioned June 2 1857 Recommissioned December 15 1857 - Decommissioned February 14 1860 Recommissioned June 5 1861 - Decommissioned September 17 1865 Converted to a transport and store ship Recommissioned September 3 1866 - Decommissioned August 13 1868 Recommissioned January 25 1869 - Decommissioned October 7 1871 Placed in ordinary at Mare Island Recommissioned March 16 1876 Served as a State Public Marine School, in the Hawaiian Islands Returned to US Navy Department Decommissioned March 3 1879 Recommissioned May 8 1879 - Decommissioned September 21 1881 Recommissioned February 14 1882 Served as apprentice training ship at Norfolk VA Decommissioned August 31 1888 Recommissioned April 13 1889 - Decommissioned September 6 1892 Transferred September 9 1892 to Treasury Department Served as Marine Hospital Service for quarantine purposes in Hampton Roads VA Destroyed by fire January 3 1913 at Norfolk Navy Yard

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. Covers Page 1     (DATE RANGE)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Ollon Switzerland CDS London England "PAID"

1887-08-18 to 1887-08-30

Incoming mail to ship at Madeira Azores - Forwarded to New York
Back Ollon Switzerland and Funchal Azores transit marks

 

Southampton England Squared circle postmark

1889-07-22

Addressed to Commander Benjamin P. Lamberton, USN
Mail from Sailor aboard USS Enterprise

 

Other Information

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
Civil War Medal

Africa, Ireland, 1845–1850
    She departed Hampton Roads on 25 June 1845 as flagship of Commodore Charles W. Skinner in command of United States naval vessels operating off the western coast of Africa to suppress the slave trade. At the end of her first deployment the sloop arrived at Boston, Massachusetts on 6 August 1846.
    While she was moored at the Boston Navy Yard word reached the United States that for the second consecutive year blight had ruined the potato crop of Ireland, depriving the people of that country of their chief means of subsistence. A joint resolution of Congress approved 3 March 1847 authorized the Secretary of the Navy to place JAMESTOWN and Macedonian at the disposal of Captains Robert Bennet Forbes and George C. DeKay to carry food to the starving poor of Ireland. JAMESTOWN sailed from Boston on 28 March and arrived at Cork, Ireland on 12 April. After unloading her life-saving cargo, the sloop returned to Boston on 17 May.
    As flagship of Commodore William Compton Bolton, JAMESTOWN again stood out of Boston on 22 July to operate on the west coast of Africa. A year later she was transferred to the Mediterranean Squadron to assist in protecting American citizens and interests during the epidemic of revolutions which convulsed Europe in 1848. After political conditions became more stable, JAMESTOWN returned to Norfolk, Virginia on 4 May 1850.
    South America, Africa, West Indies, 1851–1860
    After a year at home, she was assigned to the Brazil Squadron departing Norfolk on 1 June 1851 to begin operations off South America lasting until her return to Philadelphia Navy Yard on 2 May 1854. She decommissioned there nine days later.
    Recommissioning on 22 February 1855, JAMESTOWN sailed as flagship of the African Squadron under Commodore Thomas Crabbe, departing Key West on 9 June and returning to Philadelphia on 2 June 1857 and decommissioning. She re-commissioned on 16 December and cruised the West Indies with the Home Squadron until decommissioning at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 14 February 1860.
    Civil War, 1861–1865
    After the outbreak of the Civil War, JAMESTOWN re-commissioned on 5 June 1861 and was assigned to the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, where she compiled a record of outstanding efficiency. The sloop chased the bark ALVORADO ashore off Fernandina, Florida and set her on fire on 5 August, and captured the schooner AIGBURTH off the coast of Florida on 31 August 1861. Four days later she captured, dismantled, and scuttled the schooner COLONEL LONG. Next she captured the schooner HAVELOCK on 15 December. Her final prize was the brig INTENDED, taken off Wilmington, North Carolina on 1 May 1862.
    JAMESTOWN departed for the Pacific on 12 October to protect American commerce from Confederate privateers; and she remained on that duty until after the end of the war, decommissioning at Mare Island on 17 September 1865.
    Pacific, 1866–1881
    Having been converted to a transport and store ship, she recommissioned on 3 September 1866 to serve at Panama as a store and hospital ship. Because of fever on board, JAMESTOWN was ordered north on 2 April 1867 and was disinfected at San Francisco, California. Joining the North Pacific Squadron, she served as guard and storeship at Sitka, Alaska, from 11 September 1867 until 30 May 1868. JAMESTOWN was present at the hoisting of the U.S. Flag at Sitka on 18 October 1867 after Alaska was purchased from Russia.
    JAMESTOWN arrived at Mare Island on 23 July 1868; decommissioned there on 13 August; and recommissioned on 25 January 1869, following repairs. For almost three years, JAMESTOWN cruised the Pacific on the west coasts of North and South America, and as far west as Tahiti and the Fiji and Hawaiian Islands.
    Decommissioning on 7 October 1871, JAMESTOWN was placed in ordinary at Mare Island until 16 March 1876 when she recommissioned for use as a State Public Marine School. She operated at the Hawaiian Islands in this capacity until she was returned to the Navy Department and decommissioned on 3 March 1879.
    She was recommissioned on 8 May and sailed for Sitka, Alaska, where she surveyed the harbor and protected American interests. In 1881, she sailed the Pacific until decommissioning at San Francisco on 21 September.
    Training & Hospital Ship, 1882–1913
    Having been fitted out as an apprentice training ship, JAMESTOWN recommissioned on 14 February 1882 and proceeded to the Atlantic coast via Cape Horn. In her new capacity, she sailed the Atlantic Ocean, voyaging to the West Indies, Spain, and as far north as the State of Maine. On 31 August 1888, she decommissioned at Norfolk.
    Recommissioning 13 April 1889, JAMESTOWN cruised to France and to the West Indies with apprentices, and decommissioned again on 6 September 1892 at Norfolk.
    On 9 September she was transferred to the Treasury Department for Marine Hospital Service for quarantine purposes in Hampton Roads. She was destroyed by fire at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 3 January 1913, after being returned to the Navy Department." {DANFS}

 

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