Oregon I (Brigantine)
(Brig: t. 250; l. 84'9"; b. 22'3"; dr. 11'2"; 2 guns)
Oregon was admitted to the Union 14 February 1859 as the 33rd state.
I
American brig Thomas H. Perkins was purchased in August 1841 at Astoria, Oreg. by Lt. Charles Wilkes, commanding the U.S. Exploring Expedition, to accommodate the officers and crew of Peacock, which had been wrecked 18 July. Renamed Oregon, the acquisition was taken to Fort Vancouver for alterations and fitting out for service with the expedition.
Under the command of Lt. Overton Carr, Oregon sailed with the rest of the squadron 1 October for San Francisco, then on to Honolulu. On 27 November Oregon and Porpoise were detached to explore the shoals and reefs extending west-northwest of the Hawaiian Islands, intending to rejoin the rest of of the ships in Singapore. In need of general repairs, the two arrived there 19 January 1842, almost a month before the others. On the 26th, Oregon and Porpoise left with the squadron for Capetown and St. Helena, then departed on their own again for Rio de Janeiro, before arriving off Sandy Hook on 30 June.
Oregon was overhauled and repaired at New York, and fitted for surveying service in the Gulf of Mexico. She sailed 6 December via Charleston and Tampa, and conducted surveys in the Gulf until midsummer, returning to Norfolk 24 July. Used as a school ship there through October, she then carried condemned ordnance from Pensacola to New York until August 1844.
On 21 September Oregon sailed from Norfolk to New Granada with dispatches, returning 11 January 1845. Laid up in the Norfolk Navy Yard on 10 April of that year, she was sold soon thereafter.
Monitor Hercules, originally Quinsigamond (q.v.), was renamed Oregon 10 August 1869.
