Skip to main content
Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

The Navy Department Library

Related Content
Topic
  • Exploration, Expeditions and Voyages
Document Type
  • Bibliography
Wars & Conflicts
File Formats
Location of Archival Materials

Lieutenant William Francis Lynch and the US Navy Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea: A Select Bibliography

Brinckloe, William Draper. “Seamen and Ships of the Desert: Two Forgotten Bits of Our Naval History.” United States Naval Institute Proceedings 58, no.9 (Sep. 1932): 1333-1340. [Describes the Lynch and Porter expeditions.].

Cagle, Malcolm W. “Lieutenant David Dixon Porter and His Camels.” United States Naval Institute Proceedings 83, no.12 (Dec. 1957): 1327-1333. [Lynch’s use of camels during his 1848 expedition may have been the genesis of the subsequent concept for the US Army to employ camels in the American West. In 1856-1857, USS Supply returned to the Mediterranean on two voyages to bring 75 camels to Texas. The camels were then tested by the Army for field use in the West. The Civil War brought an end to the experiment.].


Cooney, David M. A Chronology of the U.S. Navy: 1775-1965. New York: Franklin Watts, 1965. [See page 67 for a brief mention of Lynch’s expedition. This chronology is useful for identifying numerous other 19th century US Navy expeditions.].

Hinds, John W. Invasion and Conquest of North Carolina: Anatomy of a Gunboat War. Shippensburg, PA: Burd Street Press, 1998. [For a biographical survey of Lynch see pages 50-55. See the index for other scattered references to Lynch’s service in the US Navy and the Confederate States Navy.].

Jampoler, Andrew C.A. “Burning With Brimstone.” Naval History 19, no.2 (Apr. 2005): 53-56.

____. Sailors in the Holy Land: The 1848 American Expedition to the Dead Sea and the Search for Sodom and Gomorrah. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2005.

Jenkins, John Stilwell. United States Exploring Expeditions. Voyage of the U.S. Exploring Squadron, Commanded by Captain Charles Wilkes of the United States Navy in 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, and 1842: Together with Explorations and Discoveries Made by Admiral D'Urville, Captain Ross, and Other Navigators and Travellers, and an Account of the Expedition to the Dead Sea, Under Lieutenant Lynch… Auburn, NY: Alden, Beardsley & Co., 1852.

Knox, Dudley W. A History of the United States Navy. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1936. [See page 182 for a brief mention of Lynch’s expedition. Pages 182-183 are useful for identifying several other 19th century US Navy expeditions.].

Levine, Emanuel. “The United States Navy Explores the Holy Land.” Biblical Archaeology Review (Dec. 1976): 9-18.

Luraghi, Raimondo. A History of the Confederate Navy. Trans. by Paolo E. Coletta. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1996. [See “Lynch, William F., CSN,” in the index on page 508, for pages mentioning Lynch’s service in the Confederate States Navy.].

Lynch, William Francis. Commerce and the Holy Land: A Lecture Delivered by Wm. F. Lynch, U.S.N., Before the N.Y. Kane Monument Association. Philadelphia, PA: King & Baird, Printers, 1860.

____. Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea, by W. F. Lynch, U. S. N., Commander of the Expedition. 7th ed., rev. Philadelphia, PA: Lee and Blanchard, 1850. [Reprinted by Arno Press in 1977.].

____. Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. New and condensed ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lea and Blanchard, 1850.

____. Naval Life, Or Observations Afloat and On Shore, The Midshipman: New York, Charles Scribner, 1851.

____. Official Report of the United States Expedition to Explore the Dead Sea and River Jordan. Baltimore, MD: John Murphy & Co., 1852.

____. Report of Commander W. F. Lynch, in Relation to His Mission to the Coast of Africa. [Washington, 1853] .

Montague, Edward P. Narrative of the Late Expedition to the Dead Sea. From a Diary by one of the Party, Edited by Edward P. Montague, With Incidents and Adventures From the Time of the Sailing of the Expedition in November, 1847, Till the Return of the Same in December, 1848. Philadelphia, PA: Carey and Hart, 1849.

The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. 13. New York: James T. White & Co., 1906. [See “Lynch, William Francis” on pages 172-173.].

Still, William N., Jr. ed. The Confederate Navy: The Ships, Men and Organization, 1861-65. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997. [See page 215 for the activities of the Confederate flotilla that Lynch commanded which defended eastern North Carolina.].

Sweetman, Jack. American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2002. [See page 52 for a brief mention of Lynch’s expedition. This chronology is useful for identifying numerous other 19th century US Navy expeditions.].

Thom, J.C. “The American Navy and the Dead Sea.” United States Naval Institute Proceedings 52, no.9 (Sep. 1926): 1689-1700.

US National Archives and Records Service. List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947. Washington: National Archives and Records Service, 1978. [The handwritten deck log for USS Supply during the entire period of Lynch’s expedition (November 1847 through mid-December 1848) is listed on page 266. The log is located in Record group (RG) 24 at the Old Military and Civil Branch, National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20408, telephone (202) 501-5385.].

US Naval Historical Center. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. 9 vols. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1959-1991. [See volume 6, page 679 for a history of USS Supply .].

US Navy. Register of the Commissioned and Warrant officers of the Navy of the United States, Including Officers of the Marine Corps, and Others, for the Year 1848. Washington, DC: C. Alexander, Printer, 1848. [On page 126 in the section on the Mediterranean Squadron, the following list of officers for “Store Ship Supply, 4” is provided: Lieutenant Commanding, William F. Lynch; Lieutenants Alexander M. Pennock and John B. Dale; Acting Master, Passed Midshipman Bayse N. Westcott; Purser John Y. Mason, Jr.; Passed Assistant Surgeon John Thornley; Passed Midshipmen William B. Fitzgerald, Stephen P. Quackenbush, and Richmond Aulick.].

Williams, Frances Leigh. Matthew Fontaine Maury: Scientist of the Sea. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1963. [See “Lynch, William Francis,” in the index on page 715.]. 

Published: Thu Dec 04 08:58:37 EST 2014