USS Minnetonka (1867)

	USS California (1870-1875) Moored off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, circa 1871-1873
History
Name	USS Minnetonka
Builder	Portsmouth Navy Yard
Launched	3 July 1867
Sponsored by	Miss Margaret Bailey
Commissioned	7 October 1870
Renamed	California, 15 May 1869
Fate	Sold, May 1875
General characteristics
Type	Java-class screw frigate
Tonnage	2,354 long tons (2,392 t)
Length	313 ft 6 in (95.55 m)
Beam	46 ft (14 m)
Depth of hold	17 ft 1 in (5.21 m)
Armament	18 × 9 in (230 mm) guns; 2 × 100-pounder Parrott rifles; 1 × 60-pounder gun; 2 × 20-pounder Dahlgren smoothbores; 1 × 12-pounder Dahlgren rifle; 5 × 12-pounder smoothbore guns;

USS Minnetonka was one of eight wooden steam frigates authorized by the United States Navy during the American Civil War to provide a postwar general purpose fleet.

She was launched on 3 July 1867 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine; and sponsored by Miss Margaret Bailey. Renamed USS California on 15 May 1869, she first went to sea on 7 October 1870, and served briefly in the Pacific. However, because she had been constructed of partially seasoned timber due to an unprecedented volume of shipbuilding during the war, her hull deteriorated rapidly and she was sold at Mare Island Navy Yard in May 1875.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

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See also

References