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First American Warship Visit to China

When
1819
Where
Lintin Island, off Canton
Part of
USS Congress first American warship to visit China

Captain Henley commanded the USS Congress to China, becoming the first American warship to visit the country.

In early 1819, Captain John Dandridge Henley commanded the U.S. man-of-war Congress to China. This voyage marked the first time an American warship visited the country. The ship landed at Lintin Island, off the coast of Canton, during the period of the Canton System.

Sources

  1. John D. Henley Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-30
  2. Canton System Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-29

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.