USS Dacotah (1859)

USS Dacotah (1859)


Career
Name: USS Dacotah
Laid down: date unknown
Launched: 23 March 1859 by Norfolk Navy Yard
Commissioned: 1 May 1860
Decommissioned: circa 26 July 1869
Struck: 1873 (est.)
Fate: sold 30 May 1873 at Mare Island Navy Yard
General characteristics
Type: Sloop-of-war
Displacement: 996 long tons (1,012 t)
Length: Unknown
Beam: Unknown
Draft: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Propulsion: Sail, with steam engine backup
Speed: 11 kn (13 mph; 20 km/h)
Complement: Unknown
Armament: 1 × 100-pounder rifle, 4 × 32-pounder guns, 1 × 10 in (250 mm) gun, 1 × 12-pounder rifle, 1 × one 12-pounder gun

USS Dacotah (1859) — the only United States Navy ship to be so named — was a large (996 long tons (1,012 t)) steam sloop that served the United States Navy in the Atlantic Ocean as well as in Pacific Ocean. When the American Civil War occurred, Dacotah assumed the role of a gunship in the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America.

When the war was over, Dacotah — who was named for the American Dakota tribe — resumed her role protecting American interests worldwide by showing her presence in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Read more about USS Dacotah (1859):  Launched At Norfolk, Virginia, in 1859, Pre-Civil War Service, Post-Civil War Service