BRANDYWINE

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.

Potomac Class Frigate Laid down September 20 1821 as "SUSQUEHANNA" - Launched June 16 1825 Renamed 1825 USS BRANDYWINE Commissioned August 25 1825 - Decommissioned October 1829 Recommissioned January 10 1830 - Decommissioned July 11 1833 Recommissioned 4 April 1834 - Placed In Ordinary April 22 1837 Recommissioned August 2 1839 - Decommissioned July 30 1842 Recommissioned February 16 1843 - Decommissioned September 17 1845 Recommissioned August 30 1847 - Decommissioned December 14 1850 Recommissioned October 27 1861 Destroyed by fire September 3 1864 Raised and sold March 26 1867 to Maltby & Co., of Norfolk Fate unknown

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

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1st Commissioning August 25 1825 to October 1829

 

Philadelphia PA

1829-05-08 (pencil notation)

No Image

Posted to U.S.S. BRANDYWINE at New York

 

Philadelphia PA

1829-08 to 1829-10

No Image

Note:

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4th Commissioning August 2 1839 to July 30 1842

 

N/A

1841-03-12

This is a hand carried letter from Midshipman T. G. Corbin to his brother in Paris. USS Brandywine was laying at Mahon, the capital of the Spanish island of Minorca at the time. The letter introduces one of Corbin's messmates, Midshipman Randolph, to Corbin's brother.

 

N/A

1841-03-12

No Image

Front side of the letter. History and piece courtesy of Glenn Smith.

 

Other Information

44-gun frigate laid down Washington Navy Yard as "Susquehanna", before completion name changed to "Brandywine" at direction of President John Quincy Adams. Change was to honor Marquis de Lafayette, wounded in the Revolutionary War battle fought along Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Creek. President Adams assigned Brandywine the high honor of taking Lafayette home to France. Commissioned in August 1825, Brandywine embarked her distinguished passenger in September and made Le Havre, France October 5th, 1825. Brandywine served the nation with distinction in the Med, Pacific, Chinese and Brazilian waters. By 1861, virtually obsolete, she was converted to a covered store ship to support the fleet in Civil War operations. As a side-light, during transit to France, Brandywine was commanded by Captain (later Commodore) Charles Morris, a distinguished naval officer. Lafayette’s escort officer was 24 year-old LT David Glasgow Farragut, who would lead the U.S. Navy Civil War operations against New Orleans and Mobile Bay. Also aboard was then Midshipman Matthew Fontaine Maury, future great oceanographer.

 

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If you have images to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add them. See Editing Ship Cover Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

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