USS United States

The most famous and gloried ship of the United States Navy is the sailing ship, USS Constitution, ‘Old Ironsides’.  However, on this 4^th of July, Independence Day celebration, what could be more appropriate than to take a look at one of Constitution’s sister ships, the aptly named USS United States.
 

USS United States

The USS United States was conceived in response to the actions of the Barbary pirates and the continued harassment of American ships by the British.  Congress passed the Naval Act of 1794 authorizing the construction of six frigates – four of 44 guns and two of 36 guns.  The Constitution was the most famous of the group but the United States was the first launched on 10-May-1797 and commissioned 11-Jul-1798.  The ship was built in Philadelphia to Joshua Humphreys’ plan.  The ship’s figurehead was the ‘Goddess of Liberty’.
 
She first sailed under Captain John Barry, performing trials and patrols before being laid up in 1801 during which her armament was upgraded along with other changes.
 
The ship reportedly sported two narrow red stripes, one each above and below the gunports, as opposed to the classic black and white scheme of the Constitution.
 
USS United States was activated for the War of 1812, captained by Stephen Decatur.  On 25-Jul-1812, she encountered the British frigate Macedonian and in a two and a half hour battle dismasted the British ship and took her as a prize.  Macedonian was eventually repaired and taken into the US Navy.
 
United States was later chased into  New London, Connecticut by a British squadron and sat out the remainder of the war.
 
Among other noteworthy post-war accomplishments, the USS United States saw the enlistment of Herman Melville (author of Moby-Dick) as an ordinary seaman on 18-Aug-1843.
 
The ship was decommissioned in Feb-1849 and lay in Norfolk until the Civil War when she was seized by Confederate forces and taken into service for harbor defense and training.  She was eventually scuttled when the Confederates abandoned Norfolk.  The Union raised the ship before finally breaking it up in 1864.
 
Though not as famous as her sister ship, Constitution, the United States still led a proud and productive naval service.  It is well that we remember her.

Book Review – "Target: Subic Bay"

Here’s a book review that gets my recommendation less for its story than for the niche subject, a Pegasus class hydrofoil, and the thought provoking usage of the vessel.[1]
 
Target: Subic Bay, by Mack Tanner, is a fictional story whose premise is a North Korean instigated overthrow of the Philippine government through the use of a few nuclear weapons and a rogue Philippine rebel acting as a front and an American admiral’s use of the Pegasus class vessel’s capabilities to attempt to thwart the coup.  Think about it … how would you go about thwarting a North Korean and nuclear weapons-backed coup with just a single Pegasus class hydrofoil? 
 

The storyline, to be honest, is solidly entertaining but nothing special.  What is special is the author’s descriptions of the many capabilities of the vessel (special ops landings, a UAV, the SLAM land attack version of the Harpoon, Harpoons, sonobuoys, the 76 mm gun, and the vessel’s extreme speed, etc.) and how a little unorthodox thinking can take advantage of those capabilities.  One’s thoughts can’t help but be drawn into the world of unconventional naval tactics and comparing those tactics against the unimaginative – and generally ineffective – actions of today’s risk averse Navy.
 
A very minor point is that the cover artwork does nothing for the book and is a disappointment.  One hopes it would have depicted a Pegasus vessel doing heroic things but such is not the case.  Of course, the cover artwork has no bearing on the value of the book, itself!
 
The Pegasus class hydrofoil was a fascinating and unique craft that stirs the imagination, even today.  The class was never given a chance to shine and that’s a shame.  This book offers a window into the possible uses of such a vessel and the book is worth the read for that, alone.
 
 
 
 
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[1]Tanner, Mack, Target: Subic Bay, Zebra Books/Kensington Publishing Co., 1992, ISBN: 0-8217-3936-0