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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

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  • Mexican War 1846-1848
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Petrita (Screw Steamer)

1846-1848

The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at tyhe time of her capture. 

(Screw Steamer: displacement 200; armament 1 gun)

Early in the morning of 23 October 1846, a small squadron under Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry steamed into a sleepy Mexican town located seven miles up the Grijalva River. Frontera (now Alvaro Obregon) was caught by surprise. Leaving the steam frigate Mississippi at the mouth of the river because of her draft, the squadron captured two steamers and a number of coastal schooners.

The most important capture proved to be Petrita, a small but swift U.S.-built steamer. She was added to the squadron which was composed of the steamers McLane and Vixen, and schooners Bonita and Nonata. Early the next morning, Perry sailed farther up the Grijalva River to attack the town of San Juan Bautista (now Villa Hermosa). At 9:00  a.m. the Squadron passed the abandoned Fort Acacchappa, where it stopped long enough to spike the guns. It was 12:00 noon when the Vice Commodore arrived at his destination. Capturing five more vessels, the squadron bombarded San Juan Bautista. Not being able to garrison the town because of the lack of men, Perry withdrew to Anton Lizardo, an island just south of Vera Cruz.

Petrita lay inactive for the remainder of 1846 and the first part of 1847, due to a coal shortage and violent storms called "northers" which occur during the winter months. On 7 March 1847, Commodore David Conner and General Winfield Scott made a reconnaissance of Vera Cruz in Petrita. She ran close to Fort San Juan de Ulua and was straddled by gunfire, but received no damage.

Petrita participated in the Vera Cruz amphibious assault. Commodore Conner's plan was to have the large warships tow landing craft from Anton Lizardo to Isla Sacrificios, a distance of a few miles. The small steamers would then pick up the tow and run the landing craft in to shore. The sloop-of-war St. Mary's transferred her tow to Petrita, and she safely towed them in. By 10:00 p.m. more than 10,000 troops had been landed. The operation proved a complete success.

Suffering from engine defects, Petrita was inactive for the remainder of the war. In 1848 Petrita was lost off Alvarado. All hands were saved.

Updated, Robert J. Cressman

24 March 2023

Published: Sat Mar 25 20:44:04 EDT 2023