USS Cyane: Workhorse of the Pacific Squadron

The USS Cyane was a 22-gun sloop-of-war with a complement of 200 crew that joined the US Navy in May 1838.  In 1845, the Cyane was dispatched to the Pacific Squadron.  At the time, this was a monumental voyage around South America.  It was not until January 1846 that she arrived at Mazatlan.  In February, Lt. Archibald Gillespie of the US Marines came aboard; he had secret messages to deliver to Commodore Sloat, US Consul Thomas O. Larkin, and John C. Fremont.  The Cyane departed Mazatlan and sailed to Monterey, California, by way of the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands.  Gillespie was left in Monterey in April.  By the end of the month, the Cyane was back in Mazatlan where it found an English rear admiral commanding a line-of-battle-ship and two additional ships of the British fleet.  Were the British keeping tabs on the Americans in this tense period between Mexico and the United States?

The Cyane again set out for Monterey in May and arrived in June.  On the 2nd of July, Commodore Sloat arrived on the flagship Savannah, a 54-gun frigate with a complement of 480 men.  Sloat had received word of the battles in Texas but dallied.  Finally, on July 7th, he ordered the capture of Monterey, the capital of Alta California.  Captain Mervine of the Cyane led the landing party that raised the US Flag over California.  The Pacific Squadron was officially in the war.

On July 14th, the USS Congress arrived in Mazatlan with Commodore Robert 'Fighting Bob' Stockton.  He replaced Commodore Sloat in command of the Pacific Squadron.  The following day, the HMS Collingwood, an 80-gun ship-of-the-line, arrived in Monterey.   Would the American capture of California have been so easy if the Collingwood had arrived a week earlier?

Captain Mervine was transferred to the Savannah and Captain Samuel Du Pont took command of the Cyane.  The Cyane also took aboard Lt. Col. John C. Fremont's California Battalion, providing transport to San Diego.  The Cyane captured a Mexican brig, the Juanita, before it could leave the harbor.  Fremont was let off at San Diego where that port was captured with similar efficiency as Monterey.  Alta California apparently settled, the Cyane set out for a cruise along the west coast of Mexico.

In August, she captured the Primavera.  In September, she blockaded the port of San Blas where she captured two additional ships: Solita and Susana.  Crossing to Baja California and the port of La Paz, the Cyane took control of 7 ships from the harbor, including the Baltimore-built Julia.  The Julia was quickly added to the Pacific Squadron.  Sailing further into the Gulf of California, she captured the Libertad and the Fortuna on the 1st of October.  The following day, she seized the Rosita.  Two days later, she captured the Chapita and the Alerto.  A raid on Guaymas destroyed three additional ships.

In November, the Cyane blockaded Mazatlan, but the ship ran out of supplies.  As the US had no Pacific ports, it depended on friendly ports or supply ships.  Sailing north once again, the Cyane found orders in San Francisco to join the squadron in retaking California; there had been a rebellion during the Cyane's absence.

In January 1847, she provided men for the recapture of Los Angeles, joining in the Battles of San Gabriel (Jan 8) and La Mesa (Jan 9).  Lost Angeles was occupied the following day.  But the Cyane was not done with the war yet.

The Pacific Squadron had other duties than just the war and the Cyane went looking for pirates and protecting the US whaling fleet.  In November 1847, the Cyane joined the Congress and the Independence in the capture of Mazatlan.

The Cyane's final operation during the war was to relieve the siege at San Jose del Cabo (Baja California) in February 1848.  The Cyane remained in the region, relocating to Mazatlan.  On June 7th, while at the port of San Blas, the ship recieved word that the peace treaty was signed and the war was over.

No other ship in the US fleet on either coast saw so much action as the USS Cyane.  The ship remained active on the coasts of North and South America until she was decommissioned in 1871.