USS United States (1797)
First of the six original frigates of the U.S. Navy / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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USS United States was a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy and the first of the six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794. The name "United States" was among ten names submitted to President George Washington by Secretary of War Timothy Pickering in March of 1795 for the frigates that were to be constructed.[6][7] Joshua Humphreys designed the frigates to be the young Navy's capital ships, and so United States and her sisters were larger and more heavily armed and built than standard frigates of the period. She was built at Humphrey's shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and launched on 10 May 1797[8] and immediately began duties with the newly formed United States Navy protecting American merchant shipping during the Quasi-War with France.
USS United States by 1852 | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS United States |
Namesake | United States[1] |
Ordered | 27 March 1794[1] |
Builder | Joshua Humphreys[2] |
Cost | $299,336[3] |
Launched | 10 May 1797 |
Nickname(s) | "Old Wagon"[4] |
Fate | Abandoned 20 April 1861 |
Confederate States | |
Name | CSS United States |
Acquired | 20 April 1861[1] |
Fate | Abandoned May 1862[1] |
United States | |
Name | USS United States |
Acquired | May 1862[1] |
Fate | Broken up December 1865[1] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | First class frigate[5] |
Tons burthen | 1576 tons[1] |
Length |
|
Beam | 43 ft 6 in (13.26 m)[1] |
Draft | 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) aft[1] |
Decks | Orlop, Berth, Gun, Spar |
Propulsion | Sail |
Speed | 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph)[1] |
Complement | 400 to 600 officers, enlisted personnel and 50 Marines |
Armament | 32 × long 24-pounders (11 kg), 24 × 42-pounder (19 kg) carronades (War of 1812) |
In 1861, United States was in port at Norfolk when she was seized by the Virginia Navy. She was subsequently commissioned into the Confederate navy as CSS United States, but was later scuttled by Confederate forces. The U.S. Navy raised United States after retaking Norfolk, Virginia, but the aged and damaged ship was not returned to service; instead, United States was held at the Norfolk Navy Yard until she was broken up in December 1865.