[U.S.S. Constellation]: Read, George:

$1,500 · Offered by William Reese Company

MONTHLY RETURN OF THE OFFICERS AND CREW OF THE UNITED STATES SHIP CONSTELLATION GEORGE C. READ, ESQ. COMMANDER [caption title]. A printed table, accomplished in manuscript, recording the full crew complement of the U.S.S. Constellation at the outset of its second Mediterranean tour in 1832. The Constellation was one of the first three ships in the United States Navy, authorized by the Naval Act of 1794. It patrolled the Caribbean to protect commercial interests during the Quasi-War in 1798 (where it won the first major victory by an American warship, over the French L'Insurgente), participated in both Barbary wars, and cruised the eastern seaboard during the War of 1812. In the late 1820s and early 1830s, the ship made two trips to the Mediterranean to protect American shipping interests and collect indemnities, also transporting American foreign ministers. The second voyage was forced to return home due to a cholera outbreak in Constantinople, exacerbated by quarantine breakers (including Captain George C. Read).This monthly return is for the second month of Constellation's second Mediterranean tour, which set out in April 1832. The document records the complement of sailors and marines of each rank present on the ship, the number sick or fit for duty, and the difference to the full complement intended for the ship. The crew of 357 lost only one of their number in May, a seaman, although they may have felt his loss more keenly as Read records that they were already seven sea

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