View source for USS Marion

{{short description|Sloops-of-war of the United States Navy}}
{{For|ships with a similar name|USS Marion County}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Marion 1839 U.S. Naval review at Hampton-Roads VA. in 1880 LCCN2004670676 (cropped).jpg
|Ship caption=''Marion'' in 1880 at Hampton Roads
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1907}}
|Ship name=USS ''Marion''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Boston Navy Yard]]
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=24 April 1839
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=11 December 1839
|Ship decommissioned=1871
|Ship refit=Rebuilt as third-rate screw steamer 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=12 January 1876
|Ship decommissioned=11 December 1897
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=14 March 1907
|Ship renamed=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sold, 24 July 1907
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=[[Sloop-of-war]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|566|LT|t|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|117|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|32|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|15|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=Sail
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed=11 kts (under steam)
|Ship range=
|Ship complement= 
|Ship armament=16 × 32-pounder guns
Rebuilt: 1 × 11&nbsp;in Dahlgren gun (on public display at St. Joseph, Michigan, US), 6 × 9&nbsp;in Dahlgren guns, 1 × 60-pounder, 1 × 12&nbsp;lb howitzer, 1 × Gatling gun
|Ship 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}}

{{Dale class sloop-of-war}}

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