USS Minnesota (1855)

Minnesota at Hampton-Roads in 1862
History
United States
Name	USS Minnesota
Namesake	The Minnesota River
Builder	Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.
Laid down	May 1854
Launched	1 December 1855
Sponsored by	Susan L. Mann
Commissioned	21 May 1857
Decommissioned	2 June 1859
Recommissioned	2 May 1861
Decommissioned	16 February 1865
Recommissioned	3 June 1867
Out of service	Placed in ordinary 13 January 1868
Recommissioned	12 June 1875
Out of service	Loaned to Massachusetts Naval Militia October 1895-August 1901
Fate	Sold August 1901; later burned
General characteristics
Type	Screw frigate[1]
Displacement	3,307 long tons (3,360 t)
Length	264 ft 9 in (80.70 m)[1]
Beam	51 ft 4 in (15.65 m)[1]
Draft	23 ft 10 in (7.26 m)[1]
Propulsion	Steam engine
Sail plan	Ship Rig[1]
Speed	12.5 knots[1]
Complement	646 officers and enlisted[1]
Armament	2 × 10 in (250 mm) guns 28 × 9 in (230 mm) guns 14 × 8 in (200 mm) guns

USS Minnesota was a wooden steam frigate in the United States Navy. Launched in 1855 and commissioned eighteen months later, the ship served in east Asia for two years before being decommissioned. She was recommissioned at the outbreak of the American Civil War and returned to service as the flagship of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.^[2]

During the first day of the Battle of Hampton Roads on 8 March 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, USS Minnesota (BB-22).