the expedition of five ships, led by uss "vincennes", sailed from hampton roads, virginia 11 june 1853 for the cape of good hope and the orient. "fenimore cooper" and two other ships charted archipelagos and passages between batavia and singapore and from java northward to the south china sea until june 1854, when she rejoined the flagship at hong kong. through that summer, the expedition cruised the coast of china, joining the east india squadron in protecting american interests.