USS Vandalia (1828)

The first Vandalia was an 18-gun sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the Second Seminole War and the American Civil War. She was named for the city of Vandalia, Illinois.

Service history

Vandalia was laid down at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1825; launched in 1828; and commissioned on 6 November of that year, Commander John Gallagher in command.

Brazil Squadron, 1828–1831

Vandalia left Philadelphia on 16 December 1828, bound for duty with the Brazil Squadron off the eastern seaboard of South America. She remained off the coasts of Brazil and Argentina for the next three years, during a period of political unrest on the continent of South America. She returned to Norfolk, Virginia, on 18 December 1831; was decommissioned the next day.

West Indies Squadron, 1832–1839

Vandalia remained inactive until 4 October 1832 when she was recommissioned for service with the West Indies Squadron. Vandalia again put into Norfolk in August 1834 and was decommissioned there on the 24th for major repairs. Recommissioned on the last day of the year, she joined the West Indies Squadron in January 1835 and served with that organization into the summer of 1838; cooperating with land forces in Florida during the Second Seminole War; and helping to suppress piracy and the slave trade. After almost three months laid up undergoing repairs from 30 August to 24 November, the ship was reactivated and returned to duty for a year in the Caribbean. Nearing five years in its current service, and now being unseaworthy, it returned to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where her commissioning pennant was again hauled down at Norfolk on 23 November 1839.

USS Vandalia

USS Vandalia has been the name of four ships in the service of the United States Navy. All of the ships are named for Vandalia, Illinois.

USS Vandalia (1876)

The second USS Vandalia was a screw sloop in the United States Navy. She was laid down at the Massachusetts Boston Navy Yard in 1872 and was commissioned there on 10 January 1876.

Service history

European Squadron, 1876–1878

Vandalia was soon deployed with the European Squadron and spent most of the next three years cruising in the Mediterranean along the coasts of Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey. The ship put into Villefranche, France, in October 1877, and left on 13 December with the former President, General Ulysses S. Grant, and his party as passengers. During the next three months, the screw sloop of war touched at ports in Italy, Egypt, Turkey, and Greece before Grant and his party 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, Virginia, and duty with the North Atlantic Squadron.

USS Vandalia (IX-191)

USS Vandalia (IX-191), a twin-screw, steel-hulled tanker, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Vandalia, the name of three cities in the United States that is also used poetically for various regions.

As Walter Jennings, her construction was completed in 1921 by the Federal Shipbuilding Company of Newark, New Jersey, for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and she served under the aegis of Standard Oil through the 1920s and 1930s. Allocated to the Navy by the Maritime Commission's War Shipping Administration in late 1944, the ship was renamed Vandalia on 18 October 1944, being designated as unclassified miscellaneous vessel IX-191. She was accordingly taken over from the War Shipping Administration on 23 December 1944 and was commissioned on the same day, Lieutenant R. P. Morrison, USNR, in command, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Vandalia departed Pearl Harbor on 27 February 1945 for Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands and made port on 11 March. Routed to Saipan with a Mariana Islands-bound convoy, Vandalia developed an engine casualty and was forced to reverse course and turn back to Eniwetok for repairs. The vessel got underway on 18 March but was rerouted on 23 March to Ulithi in the Carolina Islands. Entering the harbor at her destination two days later, she proceeded to her assigned berth, remaining there into the summer as station tanker at Ulithi.