USS Ferret was a two masted schooner, the third U.S. Navy vessel to bear this name, and was purchased 20 December 1822 at Baltimore, Maryland and commissioned early in 1823, with Lieutenant R. Henley in command.

[2][3] USS Ferret was part of a naval fleet that sailed to the Caribbean to subdue the occurrence of pirate raids on merchant ships that had increased to almost 3,000 by the early 1820s.

[6][7] Response was quick and by 22 December President James Monroe authorized the creation of the West Indies squadron[note 1] for purposes of seeking and routing out pirates and their numerous strongholds about the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

[8] Following Monroe's authorization the Secretary of the Navy, Smith Thompson, promoted David Porter to commodore, allocated $500,000 to him and appointed him to take commanded of and outfit the squadron for war against the pirates.

The Ferret returned the next day with a boat loaned by a nearby British ship, only to find that the governor of the Spanish province had already confronted and dispersed the pirates.

[13][14][15] During a stopover at Nassau one of his crewmembers, a deserter from the Royal Navy, hitherto unknown by Farragut, hailed a British ship asking to be removed from the Ferret.

After Ferret departed Nassau Farragut soon received orders to sail north to Navy yard in Washington for repairs, supplies, sailors and new crew members.