View source for U.S.S. Vandalia (1874)

<div name=fredbot:career>{{ShipCareer|fullname=U.S.S. ''Vandalia'' (1874)|hullno=
|prefix=U.S.S.  
|name=Vandalia
|cat=Sloop
|chain=NONE
|type=screw sloop
|nat=US
|order=
|builder=[[Boston Navy Yard]]{{BauerRobertsRegister|p. 70}}
|laid=1872{{BauerRobertsRegister|p. 70}}
|launch=23 October, 1874{{BauerRobertsRegister|p. 70}}
|comm=10 January, 1876{{BauerRobertsRegister|p. 70}}
|fatedate=16 March, 1889{{BauerRobertsRegister|p. 70}}
|fate=Wrecked
|fate2=at Apia, Samoa
|fg=gold|bg=navy}}</div name=fredbot:career>'''U.S.S. Vandalia''' was a [[sloop|screw sloop]] completed for the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] in 1876.

==Construction==
''Vandalia''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> hull was designed by Naval Constructor [[William Leighton Hanscom|William L. Hanscom]], and her engines were a set left over from an earlier sloop from the cancelled ''Algoma'' class of 1864, converted from horizontal to compound layout.{{BauerRobertsRegister|pp. 69-70}}

==Service==
{{UsesDANFSText}}
After commissioning ''Vandalia'' deployed with the [[European Station (U.S. Navy)|European Squadron]] and spent most of the next three years cruising in the Mediterranean along the coasts of Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey.  She put into Villefranche, France, in October 1877, and left on 13 December former President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] as a passenger.  During the next three months ''Vandalia'' visited ports in Italy, Egypt, Turkey, and Greece before President Grant disembarked at Naples on 18 March, 1878.  After making several more Mediterranean cruises, Vandalia received orders to return to the United States later that year.  She put into Boston on 13 January, 1879 and departed on 7 April, bound for Norfolk and duty with the [[North Atlantic Station (U.S. Navy)|North Atlantic Squadron]].

''Vandalia'' remained with the North Atlantic Squadron for five years.  During this time, she performed patrol, reconnaissance, and convoy escort duty off the eastern seaboard of the United States.  The vessel was also active off the Grand Banks and in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.  ''Vandalia'' was detached from the squadron in 1884 and put out of commission at [[Portsmouth Navy Yard]] on 14 October for a thorough overhaul.

Repairs continued for over a year before ''Vandalia'' was ready for recommissioning on 15 February, 1886.  The sloop left New York on 14 August for duty with the [[Pacific Station (U.S. Navy)|Pacific Squadron]] as the flagship of {{RearUS}} [[Lewis Ashfield Kimberly|Lewis A. Kimberly]]. ''Vandalia'' remained with the squadron into 1889, seeing duty in the Hawaiian Islands and Samoa, as well as along the Pacific coasts of both American continents.  The sloop put into the [[Mare Island Navy Yard]] for repairs on 11 October, 1888.

While ''Vandalia'' lay at Mare Island, relations between American and German officials at Apia, Samoa, became increasingly strained.  Late in the winter of 1889, at the behest of the American consul in Samoa, the ''Vandalia'', {{US-1Trenton}}, and {{US-Nipsic}} sailed for Samoa.  The ships reached Apia Harbor early in March to balance the presence of the German vessels S.M.S. ''Adler'', ''Olga'', and ''Eber''.  The British, meanwhile, were ably represented by the H.M.S. {{UK-1Calliope}}.

On 15/16 March, 1889 the ships suddenly became trapped in the harbor when violent, hurricane-force winds roared out of the northeast, driving mountainous waves before them.  The three German ships were all either sunk or hopelessly grounded and torn apart on the sharp reef, and together lost a total of 150 officers and crew killed.  The powerful engines and the supreme efforts of all hands aboard the {{UK-1Calliope}} enabled the vessel to force her way out to the open sea in a dramatic performance that drew cheers from the crews of the American vessels.  However, despite heroic efforts by the officers and crews of ''Vandalia'' and ''Trenton'', the two vessels tore their bottoms out upon the reef on 16 March.  ''Vandalia'' struck at about noon and sank until her decks were completely awash, forcing her crew to scramble into the rigging.  ''Trenton'' grounded alongside ''Vandalia'' at 2200 that evening, but enough of her main deck remained above water to allow ''Vandalia''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> crew to climb on board.  After the hurricane began, ''Nipsic'' was driven ashore on a sandy beach and was later salvaged.

American casualties totalled 49 killed.  43 were from ''Vandalia'', including her Commanding Officer {{CaptUS}} [[Cornelius Marius Schoonmaker|Cornelius M. Schoonmaker]].  The American survivors soon sailed for Mare Island on board a chartered steamer, but the ''Vandalia'' and ''Trenton'' were so battered that they were soon dismantled and their scrap donated to the Samoans.

==Captains==
Dates of appointment are provided when known.
<div name=fredbot:officeCapt otitle="Captain of U.S.S. ''Vandalia''">
{{Tenure|rank={{CaptUS}}|name=Rush Richard Wallace|nick=Rush R. Wallace|appt=2 May, 1882{{USOfficerReg1882|p. 9}}}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CaptUS}}|name=Henry Lycurgus Howison|nick=Henry L. Howison|appt=10 February, 1886{{USOfficerReg1887|p. 6}}|end=April 1888{{USOfficerReg1889|p. 6}}}}
{{Tenure|rank={{CaptUS}}|name=Cornelius Marius Schoonmaker|nick=Cornelius M. Schoonmaker|appt=5 April, 1888{{USOfficerReg1889|p. 6}}|end=16 March, 1889{{USOfficerReg1890|p. 136}}|succBy=Vessel Lost}}
</div name=fredbot:officeCapt>

==Armament==
{{BauerRobertsRegister|p. 70}}
===As Completed===
* one 11-inch smoothbore
* six 9-inch smoothbores
* one 60-pounder muzzle-loading rifle
===1881===
* one 8-inch muzzle-loading rifle
* six 9-inch smoothbores
* one 60-pounder breech-loading rifle

==See Also==
{{refbegin}}
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq102-3.htm Typhoons and Hurricanes: The Storm at Apia, Samoa, 15-16 March 1889]
{{WP|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Vandalia_(1874)}}
{{refend}}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{BauerRobertsRegister}}
* {{Conways1860}}
* {{KimberlyHurricane}}
* {{SilverstoneCivilWar}}
* {{SilverstoneNewNavy}}
{{refend}}

{{Footer U.S.S. Vandalia (1874)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandalia}}

{{CatClassSloop|US}}
{{CatShipSloop|US}}



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