USS Reefer

USS Reefer, was a pilot schooner purchased by the United States Navy at New York City on May 25, 1846 from shipbuilders Brown & Bell for service as a dispatch boat in Commodore David Conner's Home Squadron during the Mexican–American War.

History
United States
Name	USS Reefer
Builder	Brown and Bell New York, New York
Acquired	May 25, 1846
Commissioned	June 19, 1846
Decommissioned	1848
Fate	Sold at New York in 1848
General characteristics
Type	Schooner
Displacement	76.5 short tons (69.4 t)
Length	59 ft (18 m)
Beam	19 ft (5.8 m)
Draft	6 ft (1.8 m)
Propulsion	Sail
Complement	40 officers and enlisted
Armament	1 × 18 pdr (8.2 kg) or 1 × 32 pdr (15 kg) gun

Service history

The Reefer was commissioned on June 19, 1846, Lieutenant Isaac Sterrett in command.

The schooner reached Veracruz on July 10, 1846 and began blockade duty south of that port. Early in August, she participated in an expedition against Alvarado, a river port some 30 miles from Veracruz, which sheltered a number of Mexican gunboats. However, the strong current prevented the American vessels from effecting the planned landing. Another attempt was made against Alvarado on October 15, 1846 but was again abortive. In this second attack upon the Mexican port a shell hit Reefer near her rudder head but did not damage her seriously.

On October 16, 1846, Reefer got underway with a task force commanded by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, but, on the 17th, she was separated from her consorts in a severe storm and missed participating in the expedition up the Tabasco River. The occupation of Tampico came in mid-November for the schooner as she became station ship at that port. In March 1847, she was part of the force which captured Veracruz.

After the fall of that important port, the American squadron occupied other Mexican ports along the gulf coast. Alvarado and Tuxpan fell in April, and in June Frontera and Tabasco came into American hands ending the fighting on the Mexican east coast. Thereafter, Reefer and her sister ships settled down to blockade duty and maintained both water lines of supply and communication for the Army.^[1]: 58

Post war

After the war ended, the Reefer was sold at New York in 1848.