USS Marion

{{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=USS Marion 1839 U.S. Naval review at Hampton-Roads VA. in 1880 LCCN2004670676 (cropped).jpg |image_caption=''Marion'' in 1880 at Hampton Roads }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=United States |flag={{USN flag|1907}} |name=USS ''Marion'' |namesake= |ordered= |builder=[[Boston Navy Yard]] |laid_down= |launched=24 April 1839 |acquired= |commissioned=11 December 1839 |decommissioned=1871 |refit=Rebuilt as third-rate screw steamer }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=yes |recommissioned=12 January 1876 |decommissioned=11 December 1897 |in_service= |out_of_service= |struck=14 March 1907 |renamed= |homeport= |motto= |nickname= |honors= |fate=Sold, 24 July 1907 |notes= }}

|section4={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |type=[[Sloop-of-war]] |displacement={{convert|566|LT|t|lk=in|abbr=on}} |length={{convert|117|ft|m|abbr=on}} |beam={{convert|32|ft|m|abbr=on}} |draft={{convert|15|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}} |propulsion=Sail |sail_plan= |speed=11 kts (under steam) |range= |complement= |armament=16 × 32-pounder guns Rebuilt: 1 × 11 in Dahlgren gun (on public display at St. Joseph, Michigan, US), 6 × 9 in Dahlgren guns, 1 × 60-pounder, 1 × 12 lb howitzer, 1 × Gatling gun |notes= }} }}

'''USS ''Marion''''' was a [[sloop-of-war]] of the third rate in the [[Union Navy]] during the [[American Civil War]] launched at the [[Boston Navy Yard]] on 24 April 1839. On 10 November 1839, she departed Boston on her first cruise, to [[Brazil]]. Sunk when heaved down in the harbor at [[Rio de Janeiro]] early in 1842, she was raised and sailed back to Boston, arriving in May. She then set sail for the [[Caribbean]], returning in May 1843. For the next few years, she remained in ordinary at Boston and then cruised off the West Coast of Africa and in the [[Mediterranean]] until 1848. She captured the ''Casket'', a slaver, near [[Cabinda (city)|Cabinda]] on 2 August 1846. After a tour in the [[East Indies]] from 1850 to 1852, she resumed operations with the [[African Squadron]] from 1853 to 1855 and 1858-60, capturing three more slaving ships: ''Brothers'' off [[Mayumba, Gabon|Mayumba]] on 8 September 1858 and ''Orion'' and ''Ardennes'' in late April 1859 off the coast of [[Kingdom of Kongo|Kongo]]. 1856-57 was spent in ordinary at Norfolk.

''Marion'' was in ordinary service at [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]], when the Civil War broke out. She was recommissioned on 21 June 1861, and on 14 July sailed in search of the [[Confederate States of America]] cruiser [[CSS Jeff Davis|CSS ''Jeff Davis'']]. In September, she joined the [[Gulf Blockading Squadron]], participating in the capture of [[Ship Island]] on the 16th. In March–April 1862, she was just off [[Apalachicola, Florida]], in the West Pass when she was relieved by {{USS|Mercedita|1861|2}}.

In May 1862, ''Marion'' was ordered to Boston for repairs. Back in service by 24 July, she sailed south to [[Annapolis, Maryland]], where she was employed as a practice ship for [[Midshipman|midshipmen]] until 1870. In 1871, she entered the [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]], decommissioned and was rebuilt as a third-rate screw steamer. [[File:U.S. practice ship Marion Capt. S.B. Luce at anchor off Goat Island Newport, R.I LCCN2003664978.jpg|thumb|Practice ship ''Marion'', Capt. S.B. Luce at anchor off Goat Island Newport, R.I before 1871]] Recommissioned on 12 January 1876, she cruised on the [[European Squadron|European]] and [[South Atlantic Squadron]]s until December 1882, when she returned to Portsmouth. In 1885, she was ordered to the Pacific, where she was employed on the [[Asiatic Station]] until 1890. She then returned to the U.S., served briefly in the [[Bering Sea Squadron]] on duty connected with the seal fisheries, and, in late 1891, resumed operations with the [[Asiatic Squadron]]. Assigned to the [[Pacific Squadron]] in 1895, she cruised along the west coast of the Americas and amongst the [[Hawaiian Islands]] until 11 December 1897, when she decommissioned at [[Mare Island]], California.

Subsequently, transferred to the custody of the State of California, she was employed as a training ship and headquarters for the [[California State Naval Militia]]. She was docked at San Francisco, California, pier No. 10 until 1907. On 14 March 1907, she was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] and sold on 24 July to [[C. E. Boudrow]], San Francisco.

The 11 inch Dahlgren from the Marion is now a Civil War Memorial in St. Joseph, Michigan. It is on masonry mounting and points west over Lake Michigan.

==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|USS Marion (ship, 1839)}}

==See also== {{portal|American Civil War}} *[[List of sloops of war of the United States Navy]] *[[Bibliography of early United States naval history]]

==References== *{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/m5/marion.htm}} {{No footnotes|date=October 2011}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marion (1839)}} [[Category:Sloops of the United States Navy]] [[Category:Ships of the Union navy]] [[Category:Ships built in Boston]] [[Category:1839 ships]]