The European Squadron (or Station) was the name of a fleet of US Naval ships in the 19th century that was sent out to Europe as an American presence of gunboat diplomacy. The fleet, originally named the Mediterranean Squadron, was created in response to the First and Second Barbary Wars. In the 1820s and 1860s the fleet was sent to suppress piracy in Greece, and in 1865, the force was renamed the European Squadron. They were sent out again in the Second Anglo-Egyptian war in 1882 to guard the American consulate. The ships depicted in this photograph include: the flagship 'Wabash,' 'Brooklyn,' 'Juniata,' 'Shennandoah,' 'Wachuset,' and 'Plymouth.'
A publication label on the verso notes the photograph was purchased at Obrig Camera and Co. in New York.
