USS Allegheny – the first United States Navy ship to be so named – was a large (989 long tons (1,005 t)) iron-hulled steamer that served as an American gunboat in the South Atlantic Ocean as well as in the European area.

She served along the Atlantic Coast of South America until early autumn when the sloop of war St. Louis arrived with orders sending the steamer to the Mediterranean Sea.

However, repeated problems with her engines caused her to head home in June 1849; and she reached the Washington Navy Yard on 1 August.

In 1851, Allegheny was towed to Portsmouth, Virginia, where the firm of Mehaffy and Company removed her Hunter Wheels and rebuilt her as a screw steamer.

This move alienated many undecided citizens of the border states, prompting Virginia to secede from the Union and pushing Maryland dangerously close to withdrawing.

These developments left both Washington, D.C., the Federal capital, and Norfolk, Virginia, the home of the Nation's most important naval base, isolated and all but defenseless.

Wishing to withdraw these men-of-war to safer waters, the Navy Department scoured Northern coastal cities for seamen to reactivate and to man them so that they might be moved out of immediate danger of falling into Confederate hands.

The situation in Baltimore was so unstable that, on the 22nd, Welles ordered Hunter to hire a tugboat to assist Allegheny across the harbor to Fort McHenry where she would be moored under the protection of Federal guns.

According to the Naval Academy historian, "Old Ironsides", as the veteran man-of-war was affectionately called, ... was fast aground at high water, the only channel through which she could be taken was narrow and difficult, and she was in easy range of any battery which might be installed on the neighboring height.To make matters worse, almost no seamen were on board to man and refloat the frigate or to defend the ship from pro-Southern attackers, if it proved impossible to work her free.

George S. Blake.On 1 May, Ridgely attempted to have Allegheny towed to Annapolis in compliance with his orders, but rough water and a useless rudder frustrated his plans.

Allegheny herself finally reached Annapolis on 3 May to be in position to help to protect that city which had become the principal port of debarkation for troops sent from the North to defend Washington.

Late in the year, after conditions in Maryland had stabilized, Allegheny returned to Baltimore where she resumed her duty as receiving ship.