The USS Macedonian was a three-masted, wooden-hulled sailing frigate of the U.S. Navy, armed with 36 guns. Rebuilt from the keel of the original Macedonian at the Gosport (later Norfolk) Navy Yard beginning in 1832, the vessel was launched and commissioned in 1836 under the command of Captain Thomas ap Catesby Jones. As a frigate of significant size and firepower for its time, Macedonian was primarily assigned to the West Indies Squadron, where it cruised from 1839 to 1847 to deter piracy along the Caribbean and the West African coasts. In 1847, Macedonian was transferred to civilian hands to deliver aid during the Irish Great Famine, carrying 12,000 barrels of donated provisions from New York to Ireland under Captain George C. De Kay. After this humanitarian mission, she resumed naval duties. In 1852, she was razeed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, converting from a frigate to a sloop-of-war in preparation for Commodore Matthew Perry’s expedition to Japan. During Perry’s second visit in 1854, Macedonian was part of the fleet that entered Edo Bay as a display of force, contributing to Japan’s opening to foreign trade under the Convention of Kanagawa. Following her Japan service, Macedonian patrolled the North Pacific until 1857, then served with the Home Squadron in the Mediterranean and Caribbean until 1861. Notably, she assisted in refloating the grounded HMS Curacoa near Smyrna in 1858. With the outbreak of the Civil War, she was dispatched to Pensacola and then patrolled along the Gulf Coast and South America, participating in blockades and reconnaissance. From 1863 onward, Macedonian served as a school and practice ship for midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, first at Newport and later at Annapolis. She was laid up in 1871 at Norfolk and sold for merchant service, though there is no record of her actually sailing commercially. By 1900, she was transformed into the Macedonia Hotel on City Island, Bronx, which later became the City Island Casino before burning down in 1922. Macedonian’s varied career highlights her importance in early U.S. naval history, from combat and diplomacy to humanitarian aid and training.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.