The first USS Fairfield was a sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

-of-war in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Fairfield was launched 28 June 1828 by New York Navy Yard; and first put to sea 20 August 1828, Commander Foxhall A. Parker in command.

Reaching Port Mahon

Mahon

Mahón is a municipality and the capital city of the Balearic Island of Minorca , located in the eastern part of the island. Mahon has the second deepest natural harbor in the world: 5 km long and up to 900m. wide...

 in the Balearic Islands

Balearic Islands

The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...

 25 September 1828, Fairfield cruised the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 until returning to Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

 5 May 1831. Among her crewmembers was midshipman George W. Taylor

George W. Taylor (general)

George William Taylor was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He commanded a brigade in the Army of the Potomac before being mortally wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run in Northern Virginia.-Early life and career:Taylor was born at "Solitude," the family's mansion near...

, later an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 general in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Her second cruise, from 15 November 1831 to 23 July 1832, was in the West Indies as flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 for Commodore Jesse Elliott

Jesse Elliott

Jesse Duncan Elliot was a United States naval officer and commander of American naval forces in Lake Erie during the War of 1812, especially noted for his controversial actions during the Battle of Lake Erie.-Early life:...

. During much of this time she patrolled off the coast of Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 to protect Americans and their property during political disturbances.

On 30 May 1833 Fairfield sailed from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 for duty in the Pacific Squadron

Pacific Squadron

The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...

, arriving at Valparaiso

Valparaíso

Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

, Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, 25 September. During this cruise, she supervised the disarmament and dismantling of a group of ships belonging to an Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

ian revolutionary force after American mediation had ended a civil war. Fairfield sailed for Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

 26 September 1835, arriving in Hampton Roads 1 December. She lay in ordinary at Norfolk until 25 April 1837, when she departed for the Brazil Station, the first 4 months of which her commanding officer (Commodore Isaac Mayo

Isaac Mayo

Commodore Isaac Mayo was a United States naval officer who served in the War of 1812, Second Seminole War, and Mexican War. He is credited with influencing the location of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis...

) was senior officer of the squadron. As a protector for American commerce and interests, she guarded against a blockade of Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 set by French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 warships.

Returning to New York 1 April 1840, Fairfield was again in ordinary until 10 May 1841, when she was recommissioned. She sailed to Hampton Roads, from which she took departure 28 July for the Mediterranean, carrying Commodore Charles W. Morgan

Charles W. Morgan (naval officer)

Commodore Charles W. Morgan was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812.-Biography:Born in Virginia, Morgan served during the War of 1812 as a lieutenant on the Constitution during her battle with the and also served aboard the Franklin...

 to take command of the squadron based on Port Mahon. She served as his flagship from April to July 1842 while he conducted negotiations with the Emperor of Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 to obtain redress for the arrest and detention of the United States Consul at Tangier

Tangier

Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...

.

Fairfield returned to Hampton Roads from this, her last cruise, 17 January 1845, and on 3 February 1845 was decommissioned at Norfolk. Later that year she served briefly as receiving ship, then lay at Norfolk until 1852, when she was broken up.