USS Congress (1799) - Later Career

Later Career

In June 1816 Charles Morris again commanded Congress and began preparations for a cruise to the Pacific Coast of the United States. His objective was taking possession of Fort Astoria from the British and conducting inquiries at various ports along the coast to further improve commercial trade. These plans were canceled, however, when a U.S. Navy ship collided with a Spanish Navy vessel in the Gulf of Mexico. Consequently, Morris commanded a squadron of ships in the Gulf to ensure that American merchant commerce in the area would continue unmolested.

Congress arrived in the Gulf of Mexico in December 1816 and made patrols through July 1817 performing duties that Morris described as "tedious and uninteresting". From there she sailed for Haiti where Morris and an agent of the United States negotiated a settlement with Henri Christophe over the case of a captured vessel. Afterward, Congress sailed for Venezuela to observe and gather information regarding the ongoing Venezuelan War of Independence. She arrived about 21 August and visited the Venezuelan city of Barcelona soon after.

Upon return to the Norfolk Navy Yard later the same year, Morris requested relief as commander due to failing health and Arthur Sinclair assumed command. Sinclair began preparing for a return voyage to South America carrying a diplomatic contingent to assure various South American countries of the United States' intention to remain neutral in their conflicts with Spain for independence. The diplomats included Caesar A. Rodney, John Graham, Theodorick Bland, Henry Brackenridge, William Reed, and Thomas Rodney. Congress departed on 4 December and returned to Norfolk in July 1818.

Early in 1819 Congress made a voyage under the command of Captain John D. Henley to China, becoming the first U.S. warship to visit that country. She returned to the United States in May 1821. Shortly afterward, pirates in the West Indies began seizing American merchant ships and in early 1822, she served as the flagship of Commodore James Biddle. She is recorded as collecting prisoners from the captured pirate ship Bandara D'Sangare on 24 July of that year. Her next recorded activity is returning to Norfolk in April 1823 where Biddle immediately prepared for a voyage to Spain and Argentina to deliver the newly appointed Ministers, Hugh Nelson and Caesar A. Rodney respectively.

Extensive modifications were required to the berth deck of Congress in order to accommodate Rodney's wife and eleven children. Additionally, Rodney's household goods and furniture, described by Biddle as "enough to fill a large merchant ship," were loaded into her hold that required much of the ships stores to be relocated. She departed from Wilmington, Delaware on 8 June and arrived at Gibraltar where Hugh Nelson disembarked for Spain. On 18 September Congress arrived at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Rodney hired his own merchant ship to carry his family the rest of the distance to Buenos Aires. Congress subsequently returned to Norfolk on 17 December.

After her return, Congress served as a receiving ship; being moved between the Norfolk and Washington Navy Yards under tow as needed. She remained on this duty for the next ten years until a survey of her condition was performed in 1834, and found unfit for repair, she was broken up the same year.