USS Minnesota (1855)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Minnesota.

Career
Name:	USS Minnesota
Builder:	Washington Navy Yard
Laid down:	May 1854
Launched:	1 December 1855
Commissioned:	21 May 1857
Decommissioned:	October 1895
Fate:	Sold, August 1901
General characteristics
Type:	Steamer
Displacement:	4,833 long tons (4,911 t)
Propulsion:	Steam engine
Armament:	• 2 × 10 in (250 mm) guns • 28 × 9 in (230 mm) guns • 14 × 8 in (200 mm) guns

USS Minnesota, a sailing/steam frigate, was launched in 1855 at the Washington Navy Yard and commissioned eighteen months later. She was decommissioned some five years later, but at the outbreak of the American Civil War, returned to service as the flagship of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

Minnesota was named for the Minnesota River. her sister ships were also named for rivers. the Wabash (first in class), Colorado, Merrimack (salvaged and renamed Virginia by the CSN), and the Roanoke( later converted to a monitor -ype)

During the first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads on March 8, 1862, Minnesota ran aground, and the following battle badly damaged her and inflicted many casualties. On the second day of the battle, USS Monitor engaged CSS Virginia, allowing tugs to free Minnesota on the morning of 10 March. Minnesota was repaired and returned to duty, and three years later she participated in the Second Battle of Fort Fisher. Minnesota served until 1898, when she was stricken, beached and burnt to recover her metal fittings and to clear her name for a newly-ordered battleship.

Medals of Honor

During the Second Battle of Fort Fisher, nine sailors and Marines from the Minnesota earned the Medal of Honor as part of the landing party which assaulted the fort. The nine men were:

• Landsman Gurdon H. Barter
• Seaman David L. Bass
• Ordinary Seaman Thomas Connor
• Ordinary Seaman Thomas Harcourt
• Seaman Charles Mills
• Corporal John Rannahan
• Private John Shivers
• Private Henry A. Thompson
• Ordinary Seaman Franklin L. Wilcox

References

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

See also

• List of naval ships named for Minnesota