USS Minnetonka (1867)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Minnetonka (1869).

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

References

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