Skiddy, 1820-1859
Little information is available on this vessel while it was called the Skiddy, a New York pilot boat; however, it was purchased by the US Navy in January 1853 and renamed the Fennimore Cooper—it was used as a tender on a surveying expedition to the Bering Strait, North Pacific, and China Seas.1
According to this private correspondence, the Fennimore Cooper was a US surveying schooner, that was scheduled to make a stop in Japanese waters sometime in late 1858. The final destination for the Fennimore Cooper is not specified in the despatch, but its stop in Japan was for the purpose of delivering Joseph Hui, whom Rowlandson recommends as a prospective interpreter & to Lord Elgins Japan Expedition.
Mentions of this vessel in the documents