The first USS Columbia of the United States Navy to be commissioned was a three-masted, wooden-hulled sailing frigate, built at the Washington Navy Yard and carrying 54 guns (an earlier Columbia was destroyed during the burning of Washington in 1814 whilst it was still under construction). Her keel was laid in 1825, but as was typical of much Navy construction during this period, she was not launched until much later, on 9 March 1836.
The Navy Department previous experience in 1822 with an outbreak of Yellow Fever aboard the frigate USS Macedonian (1810) that killed 74 of the frigates officers and crew, revealed how quickly they devastated morale and operational efficiency. Secretary Dobbin notated his approval of Newton's request and had the sick crew men moved to the naval hospital Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.
thumb|Crew of USS Columbia to James Dobbin requesting discharge after 1 yr on one of the most sickly stations in world, concerend about Yellow Fever, in West Indies Station also smallpox, and cholera Following the close of the war she was raised and sold at Norfolk on 10 October 1867.