Lot 392: Raffael Corsini (act. c.1828-1880)

The American sloop-of-war Lexington off Smyrna, 1828
inscribed and dated 'U.S. Ship Lexington Benjamin W. Booth Esq. r Commander, passing S t. Sa i s. Castle/Gulf of Smyrna 1828' (centre)
bodycolour
17 x 22 1/2 in. (43.2 x 57.2 cm.)

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

Named for the famous opening skirmish of the American War of Independence, the second Lexington to serve in the United States' Navy was built in the New York Navy Yard in 1825. Rated as a sloop-of-War and measured at 691 tons, she was 127 feet in length with a 33 1/2 foot beam and was armed with 24-24 pounder guns. Commissioned on 11 t h June 1826 under Commander Shurdrick and a crew of 190 officers and men, her first operational tour took her to Labrador as a fishery protection vessel but she was soon afterwards sent on a mission to Trinidad to bring home the body of Commodore Oliver Perry who had died whilst on an official visit to Venezuela.

In 1827, she was sent to the Mediterranean where she cruised for a further three years during which time the work offered in this catalogue was commissioned from the artist, probably by Lexington's commander Captain Benjamin Booth. Returning to Norfolk, Virginia, in the autumn of 1830, the following year she sailed for Brazil from whence, after six years with the South Atlantic Squadron, she rounded Cape Horn for duty in the South Pacific until 1840 when she was recalled. After three years as a storeship followed by another tour to the Mediterranean, she came home to take part in the Mexican War of 1846-47 and then remained on the west coast of America to provide stability during the opening months of the Californian 'gold rush' in 1849. Back on the east coast in 1850, she was one of the ships selected to join Commodore Matthew Perry's historic mission to Japan in 1853 after which she came home to New York for the last time. Decommissioned on 26 t h February 1855, she was sold out of the service in 1860.

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