USS Cumberland (1842)  The first USS "Cumberland" was a 50-gun sailing frigate of the United States Navy. She was the first ship sunk by the ironclad CSS "Virginia". "Cumberland" began in the pages of a Congressional Act. Congress passed in 1816 "An act for the gradual increase of the Navy of the United States." The act called for the U.S. to build several ships-of-the-line and several new frigates, of which "Cumberland" was to be one. Money issues, however, prevented "Cumberland" from being finished in a timely manner. It was not until Secretary of the Navy Abel Parker Upshur came to office that the ship was finished. A war scare with Britain led Upshur to order the completion of several wooden sailing ships and for the construction of new steam powered ships. Designed by famed American designer William Doughty, "Cumberland" was one a series of frigates in a class called the "Raritan"-class. The design borrowed heavily from older American frigate designs such as "Constitution" and "Chesapeake". Specifically, Doughty liked the idea of giving a frigate more guns than European designs called for. As a result, he called for "Cumberland" and her sister ships to have a fully armed spar deck, along with guns on the gun deck. The result was a heavily armed, 50-gun warship. She was launched on 24 May 1842 by Boston Navy Yard. Her first commanding officer was Captain Samuel Livingston Breese, and her first service was as flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron from 1843 to 1845 where she had among her officers men like Foote (who served as executive officer) and Dahlgren (who served as a flag aide to Commodore Joseph Smith). The ship sailed to several parts of the Mediterranean including Port Mahon (homeport for U.S. Navy ships operating in the Mediterranean at this time), Genoa, Naples, Toulon, Jaffa, and Alexandria. The cruise was largely uneventful, though there was a diplomatic scuffle with the Sultan of Morocco who refused to recognize the newly appointed American ambassador. The incident possibly was the result of the Sultan being misled by the outgoing American ambassador who did not want to leave his post. Smith cleared up the misunderstanding and the new ambassador assumed his duties. The most notable event was Foote's successful effort to ban the grog ration. He believed it was a grand success in turning sailors into harder working, upstanding men.