USS Somers (1842)

The second USS "Somers" was a brig in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War, infamous for being the only U.S. Navy ship to undergo a mutiny which led to executions.

"Somers" was launched by the New York Navy Yard on 16 April 1842 and commissioned on 12 May 1842, Commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie in command.

Initial cruise

After a shakedown cruise in June and July to Puerto Rico and back, the new brig sailed out of New York harbor on 13 September 1842 bound for the Atlantic coast of Africa with dispatches for frigate "Vandalia". On this voyage, "Somers" was acting as an experimental schoolship for naval apprentices.

After calls at Madeira, Tenerife, and Praia, looking for "Vandalia", Somers arrived at Monrovia, Liberia, on 10 November and learned that the frigate had already sailed for home. The next day, Commander Mackenzie headed for the Virgin Islands hoping to meet "Vandalia" at St. Thomas before returning to New York.

The "Somers" Affair"

On the passage to the West Indies, the officers noticed a steady worsening of morale. On 26 November 1842, Mackenzie arrested Midshipman Philip Spencer, the son of Secretary of War John C. Spencer, and accused him of inciting mutiny. The next day, Boatswain's Mate Samuel Cromwell and Seaman Elisha Small were also put in irons.

An investigation by the officers of the ship, including Lieutenant Guert Gansevoort, over the next few days indicated that these men were plotting to take over the ship, throw the officers and loyal members of the crew to the sharks, and then to use "Somers" for piracy. On 1 December, the officers reported that they had "come to a cool, decided, and unanimous opinion" that the prisoners were "guilty of a full and determined intention to commit a mutiny;" and they recommended that the three be put to death. The plotters were promptly hanged. Some have noted that the captain could have waited since there were only thirteen days to home port. In response, the captain noted the fatigue of his officers, the smallness of the vessel and the inadequacies of the confinement.

"Somers" reached St. Thomas on 5 December and returned to New York on 14 December. She remained there during a naval court of inquiry which investigated the mutiny and the subsequent court-martial and execution. Both proceedings exonerated Mackenzie, but the populace would never let him forget the situation. Spencer's defense was that they "had been pretending piracy".

The incident is detailed in the novel "Voyage to the First of December" by Henry Carlisle. The novel is written from the naval surgeon on duty's point of view - from old journals he had kept.

The story of the "Somers Affair" and the subsequent trial was dramatized in the penultimate episode of the sixth season of the television series JAG. The regular cast portrayed the individuals involved, with the role of Mackenzie played by Trevor Goddard.

In the Home Squadron

On 20 March 1843, Lt. John West assumed command of "Somers", and the brig was assigned to the Home Squadron. For the next few years, she served along the Atlantic coast and in the West Indies.

Mexican-American War

"Somers" was in the Gulf of Mexico off Vera Cruz at the opening of the Mexican-American War in the spring of 1846; and, but for runs to Pensacola, Florida, for logistics, she remained in that area on blockade duty until winter. On the evening of 26 November, the brig, commanded by Raphael Semmes (later commanding officer of CSS "Alabama"), was blockading Vera Cruz when Mexican schooner "Criolla" slipped into that port. "Somers" launched a boat party which boarded and captured the schooner. However, a calm wind prevented the Americans from getting their prize out to sea so they set fire to the vessel and returned through gunfire from the shore to "Somers", bringing back seven prisoners. Unfortunately, "Criolla" proved to be a US spy ship operating for Commodore David Conner.On 8 December 1846, while chasing a blockade runner off Vera Cruz, "Somers" capsized and foundered in a sudden squall. Thirty-two members of her crew drowned and seven were captured. Her commander at the time was Lt. Raphael Semmes who would survive the disaster and live to become the more celebrated commander of the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama.

Legacy and wreck

Herman Melville, whose first cousin, Lieutenant Guert Gansevoort, was an officer aboard the brig at the time of the "Somers Affair", may have been influenced by the notorious events of the "Somers" mutineers. Melville may have used elements of the story in his novella "Billy Budd".

In 1986, her wreck was discovered and later explored and confirmed by divers. Unfortunately, she has been looted by wreck divers.

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s15/somers-ii.htm history.navy.mil: USS "Somers"]
* [http://data2.itc.nps.gov/submerged/dispproj.cfm?projcode=SOMR National Parks Service: Wreck exploration]

Further reading

* McFarland, Philip "Sea Dangers: The Affair of the Somers" (New York: Schocken Books, 1985), 308p., illust. ISBN 0-8052-3990-1
* cite book
last = Melton
first = Buckner
title = A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers
publisher = Free Press
date= April 1, 2003
isbn = 0743232836