USS Levant (1837)

The first "Levant" was a second-class sloop-of-war in the United States Navy.

"Levant" was launched 28 December 1837 by New York Navy Yard; and commissioned 17 March 1838, Commander Hiram Paulding in command.

"Levant" sailed from New York 1 April 1838 for 4 years’ service in the West Indies Squadron protecting American interests in the Caribbean and South Atlantic. Returning to Norfolk, Virginia, the sloop-of-war decommissioned 26 June 1842.

She recommissioned 27 March 1843, Comdr. Hugh N. Page in command, and departed Norfolk to join the Pacific Squadron under Commodore John D. Sloat. From 1843 to 1845 "Levant" cruised between Panama and Latin American ports carrying diplomats and dispatches and generally furthering American national policy.

With the Mexican-American War impending in 1845, "Levant" was, ordered to the California coast to protect American citizens and property, and was en route when Mexico declared war 12 May. The sloop arrived off Monterey, California 1 July, and 6 days later a landing force from "Levant", "Savannah", and "Cyane" took possession of the recently proclaimed Republic of California.

On 23 July, Commodore Sloat relinquished command of the Pacific Squadron because of illness, and sailed 29 July in "Levant" for the east coast. Upon arriving at Norfolk 28 April 1847, the sloop was placed in ordinary. She recommissioned 12 July 1852, Comdr. George R. Upshur in command, and sailed for the Mediterranean. When Commander Upshur died on board "Levant" off Spezia, Italy, 3 November, Comdr. Louis M. Goldsborough, later to win fame in the American Civil War, took command. On 7 April 1853 at Leghorn, Italy, "Levant" loaded statues by American sculptor Horatio Greenough, including one of George Washington, destined for the Capitol at Washington, D.C. After embarking the U.S. Minister to Turkey and his family at Piraeus, Greece, 24 June, "Levant" sailed to Constantinople, arriving 5 July. Returning to Hampton Roads, Virginia, 29 April 1855, "Levant" decommissioned at New York Navy Yard 4 May.

Recommissioned 31 October, Comdr. William N. Smith in command, "Levant" sailed 13 November for Rio de Janeiro, the Cape of Good Hope, and Hong Kong, where she arrived to join the East India Squadron 12 May 1856. On 1 July she embarked the U.S. Commissioner to China for transportation to Shanghai, arriving 1 August. At the outbreak of hostilities between the British and the Chinese, "Levant" arrived Whampoa 28 October. Comdr. Andrew H. Foote then sent a landing party from "Levant" and his own ship, "Portsmouth", to Canton to protect American lives and property there. On 15 November, while in the process of withdrawing this force, Commander Foote was fired on while passing in a small boat by the “Barrier Forts” on the Pearl River below Canton. On the 16th "Levant" was towed upriver to join "Portsmouth" and "San Jacinto" in keeping the Pearl open to American shipping. As the forts were being strengthened in disregard of American neutrality, Foote was ordered by Commodore James Armstrong, commanding the squadron, “to take such measures as his judgment would dictate...even the capture of the forts.”

Commander Foote complied with all the dash and courage for which he became famous during the Civil War. On 20 November he took the first fort by leading an amphibious assault with 300 men, then silenced the second with cannon captured from the first. Next day he took the third, and by the 24th all four were in American hands and the Pearl once again safe for American shipping.

"Levant", close in through most of the action, received the major part of the Chinese bombardment, with 22 shot holes in her hull and rigging, one man dead, and six injured. Destruction of the earthworks was completed by 5 December, and "Levant" cruised between Hong Kong and Shanghai until she departed Hong Kong 7 December 1857 for home, arriving at the Boston Navy Yard 6 April 1858.

After repairs into 1859, "Levant", Comdr. William E. Hunt in command, sailed 15 June for the Pacific, arriving at Valparaíso, Chile, 11 October, to serve as Pacific Squadron flagship, wearing Commodore John B. Montgomery’s broad pennant, through December. In January 1860 "Levant" sailed for the coast of Nicaragua, where she relieved "Saranca" and began 5 months of showing the flag off the coasts of Central and South America.

In May 1860, "Levant" was ordered to the Hawaiian Islands at the request of the Secretary of State to investigate the disbursement of relief funds to American merchant seamen. After receiving a state visit by King Kamehameha IV at Honolulu 7 May, and investigating at Lahaina, Maui, and Hilo, Hawaii, "Levant" sailed for Panama 18 September, but never made port.

All ships that vanish at sea gather rumors in death as they collect barnacles afloat. But since "Levant" disappeared just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, an unusual number of intriguing yarns surround her last voyage. Bits of evidence, too scanty to solve her mystery, have multiplied the myths.

Commodore Montgomery reported that a violent hurricane had occurred in September in a part of the Pacific Ocean which "Levant" was to cross. In June 1861, a mast and a part of a lower yardarm believed to be from "Levant" were found near Hilo. Spikes had been driven into the mast as if a form a raft. Some rumors had her running aground on an uncharted reef off California; others had her defecting to the Confederacy. Whatever her real fate, this ghostly heroine of colorful episodes in American naval history still sails the seas of imagination and legend.

In July 1861, a small bottle was found at Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia. It was corked and contained a card that read in part: "Pacific Ocean" "Levant" "Written by the last remaining" "three" "in a boat" "God forgive us". Unfortunately, the card was damaged when it was removed from the bottle and parts of the message were unreadable. This card was in the possession of Thomas Willett of Pubnico, Nova Scotia, in 1862, who lost a son aboard this vessel. [Yarmouth Herald 30-1-1862 p.3 col.2 courtesy Yarmouth Co. Museum & Archives] .

References

*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l5/levant.htm