Onkahye, a schooner yacht of a radical design by Robert L. Stevens, was laid down in 1839 by William Capes, Williamsburg, New York, opposite the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

It remained on duty in those waters and along the northern coast of South America until it sailed from Mobile Bay on 8 November 1845 for Norfolk, where it arrived on 1 January 1846.

Cruising the West Indies and South American coast, the schooner put into Rio de Janeiro 22 November 1847 and stayed there until 29 January 1848.

Onkahye continued its patrols in the West Indies until it was lost off Caicos Reef on 21 June 1848 without loss of life.

In 2008, underwater archaeologists, sponsored by NOAA and the Museum of Turks & Caicos, added Onkahye to the list of ships they were searching for.