was devoted to a cruise eastward along the coast to the Bight of Biafra. Yellow fever plagued the crew during the summer. The ship sailed for the Cape Verdes on 8 July and reached Porto Praia on 21 July. The ship returned to Liberia in September for a last visit before leaving the African coast in mid-October and heading home. She reached Norfolk, Virginia, on 22 November and decommissioned there on 10 December 1844. Mexican–American War Recommissioned on 15 March 1845 with Commander Irving Shubrich in command, Saratoga was assigned to a squadron commanded by Commodore Robert F. Stockton and originally intended for duty in European waters. However, on 22 April, because of tension between the United States and Mexico over an impending annexation of Texas, this naval force was ordered to the Gulf of Mexico. Saratoga departed Norfolk on 27 April and proceeded to the Texas coast. She remained at Galveston, Texas, with Stockton for the remainder of spring. The Commodore sailed for Washington, DC, on 23 June after ordering Saratoga and the rest of his squadron to Pensacola, Florida, to replenish their stores. On 3 July, Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft transferred Saratoga to Commodore David Conner's Home Squadron which was then operating "... in such a manner as will be most likely to disincline Mexico to acts of hostility ..." Saratoga operated in the Gulf attempting to help Conner carry out this mission until she sailed from Pensacola on 4 December for Rio de Janeiro to join the Brazil Squadron. The sloop-of-war cruised along the South American coast until mid-summer. Then, under orders to the Pacific for service under Commodore John D. Sloat on the California coast, she got underway on 24 August and headed south along the coast. However, after rounding Cape Horn, the sloop-of-war ran into a fierce storm which caused severe damage and forced her to turn back toward home. She reached Hampton Roads on 29 December and decommissioned on 9 January 1847. Repaired at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Saratoga was recommissioned in 1847, Commander David G. Farragut in command. Assigned to the Home Squadron, she rounded Cape Henry on 29 March, sailed south along the coast, entered the Gulf of Mexico, and joined Commodore Perry's Home Squadron off Veracruz, on 26 April. Three days later, the sloop-of-war was ordered to proceed some 150 miles up the coast to blockade Tuxpan. She reached