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USS ''Congress'' was a nominally rated 38-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She was named by George Washington to reflect a principal of the United States Constitution. James Hackett built her in Portsmouth New Hampshire and she was launched on 15 August 1799. She was one of the original six frigates whose construction the Naval Act of 1794 had authorized. Joshua Humphreys designed these frigates to be the young Navy's capital ships, and so ''Congress'' and her sisters were larger and more heavily armed and built than the standard frigates of the period. Her first duties with the newly formed United States Navy were to provide protection for American merchant shipping during the Quasi War with France and to defeat the Barbary pirates in the First Barbary War. During the War of 1812 she made several extended length cruises in company with her sister ship and captured, or assisted in the capture of twenty British merchant ships. At the end of 1813, due to a lack of materials to repair her, she was placed in ordinary for the remainder of the war. In 1815 she returned to service for the Second Barbary War and made patrols through 1816. In the 1820s she helped suppress piracy in the West Indies, made several voyages to South America, and was the first U.S. warship to visit China. ''Congress'' spent her last ten years of service as a receiving ship until ordered broken up in 1834. ==Construction== (詳細はBarbary pirates, most notably from Algiers, began to seize American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean. In 1793 alone, eleven American ships were captured and their crews and stores held for ransom. To combat this problem, proposals were made for warships to protect American shipping, resulting in the Naval Act of 1794.〔Allen (1909), pp. 41–42.〕〔Beach (1986), pp. 26–27.〕 The act provided funds to construct six frigates, but included a clause that if peace terms were agreed to with Algiers, the construction of the ships would be halted.〔Beach (1986), p. 29.〕〔''An Act to provide a Naval Armament''. (1794). Library of Congress. Retrieved 17 December 2010.〕 Joshua Humphreys' design was unusual for the time, being long on keel and narrow of beam (width) and mounting very heavy guns. The design called for a diagonal scantling (rib) scheme intended to restrict hogging while giving the ships extremely heavy planking. This design gave the hull a greater strength than a more lightly built frigate. Humphreys' design was based on his realization that the fledgling United States of the period could not match the European states in the size of their navies. This being so, the frigates were designed to overpower other frigates with the ability to escape from a ship of the line.〔Toll (2006), pp. 49–53.〕〔Beach (1986), pp. 29–30, 33.〕〔Allen (1909), pp. 42–45.〕 ''Congress'' was given her name by President George Washington after a principle of the United States Constitution.〔〔Toll (2006), p. 61.〕 Her keel was reportedly laid down late in 1795〔Allen (1909), p. 47.〕 at a shipyard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. James Hackett was charged with her construction and Captain James Sever served as a superintendent. Her construction proceeded slowly and was completely suspended when in March 1796, a peace treaty was signed with Algiers.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Naval History & Heritage Command )〕〔''An Act to provide a Naval Armament''. (1794). Library of Congress. Retrieved 17 December 2010.〕 ''Congress'' remained at the shipyard, incomplete, until relations with France deteriorated in 1798 with the start of the Quasi-War. At the request of then President John Adams, funds were approved on 16 July to complete her construction.〔Allen (1909), p. 56.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Congress (1799)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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