Meteor I (Sailing Ship)
The first Meteor retained her merchant name; the second is named for any of the small extraterrestrial bodies of solid cosmic matter which enter the atmosphere and pass through it with such speed that friction heats them to incandescence.
I
The first Meteor, a full‑rigged sailing ship, was built in Newburyport, Mass., in 1819. From 1822 to 1825, she was one of the ships of the New York to Liverpool Red Star Packet Line. In 1830 she became a whaler, her role until 1856. Purchased by the Navy at Mystic, Conn., 4 November 1861, she was sunk as part of the "Stone Fleet" to help obstruct blockade‑running commerce along the coasts of the Carolinas and Georgia 9 January 1862.
__________
Meteor, a side‑wheel steamer built in Newburgh, N.Y., in 1863, was purchased by the Navy 21 December 1863 and renamed Cowship (q.v.).
