Contoocook-class sloop

	USS Severn after she was completed as a frigate
Class overview
Name	Contoocook class
Builders	Portsmouth Navy Yard ; Philadelphia Navy Yard ; Brooklyn Navy Yard ; Boston Navy Yard;
Operators	United States Navy
Built	1863–1868
In commission	1868–1879
Planned	10
Completed	4
Canceled	6
Retired	4
General characteristics
Class & type	Screw sloop
Displacement	3,100 short tons (2,800 long tons)
Length	290 feet (88 m)
Beam	41 feet (12 m)
Draft	16.7 feet (5.1 m)
Propulsion	4 × boilers; 1 × engine; 1 × propeller;
Sail plan	ship rigged
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement	350
Armament	As planned:; 1 × 5.3-inch (13 cm) Parrott rifle; 3 × 12 lb (5.4 kg) howitzers; 14 × 9 in (23 cm) Dahlgren guns;

The Contoocook-class was a series of screw sloops operated by the United States Navy following the American Civil War. The ships were designed during the war to serve in a post-war Navy, and were intended to operate as commerce raiders as an economic disincentive to European powers planning a future war. However, they suffered from poor construction quality and had a brief service life during peacetime as the Navy lost funding. Despite an initial ten ships planned, only four were launched and were all decommissioned after a decade in service.