The U. S. Steam Frigate Mississippi, comre M. C. Perry. Going out to the relief of the American Steamer Hunter a French Bark (her prize) and an American Pilot Boat wrecked on Green Island reef near Vera Cruize March 21st 1947

On the 21st of March 1847, word reached Commodore Matthew C. Perry that the SS 'Hunter' together with a French blockade runner that she had captured, and a pilot schooner were wrecked on Green Island reef a few miles offshore from Sacrificios near Vera Cruz. Some sixty people were said to be in need to help, so Perry got up steam and bore out to assist the vessels in distress. Captain Isaac Mayo, four officers and a number of seamen volunteered to man 'Mississippi's' barge, and through several trips through the rough water they brought everyone to safety. Lieutenant Walke depicts the frigate on her way to the rescue. She drags a barge filled with the volunteers.

See Samuel Eliot Morison, "Old Bruin": Commodore Matthew C. Perry, 1794-1858: The American Naval Officer Who Helped Found Liberia, Hunted Pirates in the West Indies, Practised Diplomacy with the Sultan of Turkey and the King of the Two Sicilies; Commanded the Gulf Squadron in the Mexican War, Promoted the Steam Navy and the Shell Gun, and Conducted the Naval Expedition Which Opened Japan (Boston: Little, Brown and Co, 1967), 215.