{{short description|Sloop-of-war of the United States Navy}} {{other ships|USS Preble}} {{Multiple issues| {{More footnotes needed|date=October 2011}} {{More citations needed|date=March 2022}} }} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image= USS Preble.jpg |image_caption=The sloop-of-war USS Preble }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |flag=[[Image:US Naval Jack 36 stars.svg|48px|Union Navy Jack]] {{USN flag|1861}} |name=USS ''Preble'' |ordered= |builder=[[Portsmouth Navy Yard]] |laid_down= |launched=13 June 1839 |acquired= |commissioned=1840 |decommissioned= |struck= |honors= |fate=Exploded and sunk, 27 April 1863 |notes= }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |type=[[Sloop-of-war]] |displacement= {{convert|556|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}} |length={{convert|117|ft|m|abbr=on}} |beam={{convert|32|ft|m|abbr=on}} |draft= |hold_depth={{convert|15|ft|m|abbr=on}} |decks= |deck_clearance= |propulsion=Sail |sail_plan= |speed= |range= |endurance= |boats= |complement= |armament=16 × 32-pounder guns |notes= }} }} '''USS ''Preble''''' was a [[United States Navy]] [[sloop-of-war]] with 16 guns, built by the [[Portsmouth Navy Yard]], [[Kittery]], Maine, launched June 13, 1839 and commissioned in 1840. She was named after Commodore [[Edward Preble]] (1761–1807).
==Early Service== {{Unreferenced section|date=March 2022}} ''Preble'' first sailed for [[Labrador]], and then went to cruise in the [[Mediterranean Sea]] in 1843. She was attached to the [[African Squadron]] in 1845. In 1846, ''Preble'' sailed for [[New York City|New York]] and joined the [[Pacific Squadron]] on the West Coast of the United States, where she participated in the [[Mexican–American War]].
==Sail to East Asia== In 1848, Captain [[James Glynn]] took her first to Hong Kong and then to [[Nagasaki]], Japan, where she picked up some fourteen American and Hawaiian seamen who had become castaways in that [[sakoku|"closed country"]].<ref name="Van Zandt">{{cite book|last=Van Zandt|first=Howard|title=Pioneer American Merchants in Japan|year=1984|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=9994648144|page=13}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Asiatic: Japan |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/38451939 |access-date=6 January 2020 |work=[[South Australian Register]] |date=13 July 1850 |location=Adelaide |page=4}}</ref>
On 1 November 1850, she set sail for the east coast of the United States, where she became a practice ship for [[midshipmen]] until 1857, when she was placed in ordinary service.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 August 2015 |title=Preble II (Sloop-of-war) |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/preble-ii.html |url-status=live |website=Naval History and Heritage Command}}</ref>
==Civil War Service== {{Unreferenced section|date=March 2022}} During the [[American Civil War]], in July 1861, ''Preble'' joined the [[Gulf Blockading Squadron]] and participated to the [[Union blockade|blockade]] of the [[Mississippi River]]. She was posted at [[Head of the Passes]] on the Mississippi River on 12 October 1861 when the blockading squadron there was attacked by a [[Confederate States Navy]] force that included the first [[ironclad warship]], [[CSS Manassas|CSS ''Manassas'']]. Being a [[sail]]-powered ship, she did not join the battle but rather made a swift retreat out the [[Southwest Pass (Mississippi River)|Southwest Pass]] to safety in the [[Gulf of Mexico]].
''Preble'' was serving as a [[guard ship]] when, on 27 April 1863, while moored in Pensacola Bay off [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]], [[Florida]], she caught fire due to the carelessness of a crewman. She was abandoned and exploded.
==References== {{Reflist}} {{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/preble-ii.html}} *{ORN, volume 16}
==Further reading== *Arnold, Bruce Makoto. [https://www.academia.edu/5461862/Diplomacy_Far_Removed_A_Reinterpretation_of_the_U.S._Decision_to_Open_Diplomatic_Relations_with_Japan Diplomacy Far Removed: A Reinterpretation of the U.S. Decision to Open Diplomatic Relations with Japan]. Unpublished Thesis. University of Arizona, May 2005. *{{cite book|author=United States Navy|author-link=United States Navy|title=Deposition of Ranald MacDonald regarding his imprisonment in Japan, made to Commander James Glynn, USS Preble|publisher=G.P.O.|year=1850}}[http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications_detail.aspx?p=95 Available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection] Senate executive document, 31st Congress, 1st session, no. 84
==External links== {{portal|American Civil War}} * {{navsource|09/86/86498}}
{{Dale class sloop-of-war}} {{1863 shipwrecks}} {{Coor|30.3847|-87.1989|display=title}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preble}} [[Category:Sloops of the United States Navy]] [[Category:Ships built in Kittery, Maine]] [[Category:Ships of the Union navy]] [[Category:Mexican–American War ships of the United States]] [[Category:American Civil War patrol boats of the United States]] [[Category:Shipwrecks of the Florida coast]] [[Category:Shipwrecks of the American Civil War]] [[Category:1839 ships]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1863]] [[Category:Ship fires]] [[Category:Naval magazine explosions]]