Fleet Ledger

Naval wars from the age of sail to the present day

Mexican–American War
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First Battle of Tabasco

First Battle of Tabasco

24–26 October 1846, Frontera and San Juan Bautista (Villahermosa), Grijalva river

American raid; the town was not held

Commodore Perry took the steamer Vixen, towing schooner gunboats, over the bar of the Grijalva river. He seized the port of Frontera with the ships in it, and then steamed more than 70 miles upriver to San Juan Bautista, the capital of Tabasco. His ships shelled the town after its governor refused to surrender, but Perry had too few men to hold it and went back downriver with his prizes.

Read more on Wikipedia

Goleta "Mississipi" comandada por el Comodoro Matheew C. Perry durante la "Primera Batalla de Tabasco" la cual fue ganada por el ejército tabasqueño comandado por el gobernador del estado el Coronel Juan Bautista Traconis Rodríguez. el 25 y 26 de octubre de 1846. Museo de Historia de Tabasco. Image: no credited, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

United States Navy

1+ ships, none lost

ShipTypeOutcome
USS Vixen

Perry's flagship on the river

Gunboat

Survived
Flotillas and other craftNumberLost

Schooner gunboats and revenue cutters

Including McLane, Forward, Bonita, Reefer and Nonata.

Several?

Mexican Navy

Number of ships unknown, none lost

Flotillas and other craftNumberLost

Merchant ships and river craft

Captured at Frontera and on the river.

Several?

Map

  • Perry steams up the Grijalva October 1846