USS Congress (1868)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Pushmataha |
| Operator | United States Navy |
| Builder | Philadelphia Navy Yard |
| Laid down | 1863 |
| Renamed | 15 May 1868, to Cambridge |
| Launched | 17 July 1868 |
| Renamed | 10 August 1869, to USS Congress |
| Commissioned | 4 March 1870 |
| Decommissioned | 26 July 1876 |
| Sold: | 20 September 1883 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Screw sloop |
| Displacement | 3,003 tons |
| Length | 296+5⁄6 feet (90.5 meters) |
| Beam | 41 feet (12 meters) |
| Draft | 15+1⁄2 feet (4.7 meters) |
| Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Complement | 250 |
| Armament |
|
The fifth USS Congress was a screw sloop in the United States Navy.
Service history
Congress was launched by the
Philadelphia Navy Yard on 17 July 1868, sponsored by the daughter of Senator Charles D. Drake of Missouri
; and commissioned on 4 March 1870, Captain N. Harrison in command. The ship was variously known as Pushmataha, and Cambridge prior to 10 August 1869, when she was renamed Congress, the name under which she performed all her service.
Her initial cruise, undertaken in 1870, was as flagship for Commodore Joseph F. Green of the
Godhavn, Disko Island, preparatory to departing on an Arctic expedition. Late in 1871, Congress served also as flagship for Vice Admiral Stephen Clegg Rowan
who had been designated to accord suitable reception to a visiting Russian squadron.
After a cruise to
Key West, Florida, where she arrived on 5 January 1874. She was back in the Mediterranean by 9 April, and visited ports on the coasts of Africa and Europe before returning to Philadelphia to visit the Centennial Exposition
of 1876.
Congress was decommissioned on 26 July 1876, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and laid up in ordinary until 20 September 1883, when she was sold.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
