USS Pennsylvania

History of the USS Pennsylvania

In 1816, to strengthen the United States Navy (USN), the United States Congress authorized the construction of nine sailing warships, each with no less than seventy-four guns. Samuel Humphreys was in charge of building one of the figures, which became the 130-gun, three-masted aircraft carrier USS Pennsylvania.

Ordered April 29, 1816, the warship was laid down at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in September 1821. After funding problems delayed her final completion, she was launched on July 18, 1837, and commissioned into the U.S. Navy later that year.

Under load, Pennsylvania displaces 3,240 tons, has a barrel length of 210 feet, and a beam of 56.8 feet (making it the largest sailboat ever built by an American shipyard). Her silhouette is dominated by three main masts, each of which supports sails of various sizes through a "boat frame" arrangement.

While the voyage is essentially unlimited, it is limited by the wind, the food supply on board, and the overall morale of the crew. There are usually 1,100 people on board.

The main armament is concentrated on more than 100 guns fired from both sides of the hull (via "broadside" tactics), spread over three floors - main deck, mid deck and lower deck. The "Spar Deck" was equipped with a pair of 9-pounder guns for close range work. Thirty-two 32-pounder guns remained on the main deck, 30 of which were operated on the mid-deck and the remaining 28 on the lower deck. In 1842, she adopted 12 x 8" (203mm) guns (four per deck) distributed on the main, mid, and lower decks.

All told, the USS Pennsylvania (up to 136 guns if required) Compared with the vaunted Britons of the day, the first-class warships of the day, such as the three-masted HMS Victory of 1778 and her 104-gun arrangement.

The USS Pennsylvania made only one voyage in her decade-long career, from Delaware Bay to the Norfolk Navy Yard. She was only briefly exposed to action during the American Civil War (1861-1865), where she was burned by Union troops on April 20, 1861, to prevent her capture.

At this point, she was relegated to a "receiving vessel" (a floating platform that temporarily housed incoming sailors).

After the war (and sometime before 1870), the wreck of the ship was claimed and eventually scrapped - marking her official end.

Specification

BASIC

Years in Service

1837

Origins

United States

Status

stop service

Destroyed, scrapped.

supplement

1,100

staff

Class information

Class

USS Pennsylvania

Class Size

1

ships

Class

USA - Pennsylvania

Operators

United States

Roles

Offshore Operations

Nearshore activities in support of Allied activities.

Dimensions and Weight

Length

210. 0 feet

64.01m

Ray

56.8 feet

17.31m

Draft

24. 3 feet

7.41m

Shift

3,240 t

Power and Performance

Installed Power:

No. Three mast canvas set.

Surface Velocity

8. 0 nodes

(9.2 km/h)

Area

essentially infinite

Weapons

90 x 32-pounder guns (32 x main deck, 30 x mid deck, 28 x lower deck). 12 x 8" (203 mm) guns (main, mid and lower decks in 1842). 2 x 9-pounders (spare deck).

Aircraft

None.