USS California (1870-1875) Moored off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, circa 1871-1873 |
|
| Career | |
|---|---|
| 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.