USS Missouri (1841)
Side view of Missouri's sister ship Mississippi sometime before 1853 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Name | Missouri |
| Namesake | Missouri River |
| Ordered | 1839 |
| Builder | New York Navy Yard |
| Cost | $568,806 |
| Laid down | 1840 |
| Launched | 7 January 1841 |
| Commissioned | 1842 |
| Fate | Destroyed by fire, 26–27 August 1843 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Sidewheel steam frigate |
| Displacement | 3,220 long tons (3,272 t) |
| Length | |
| Beam | 40 ft (12 m) |
| Draft |
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| Installed power | 517 ihp (386 kW) |
| Propulsion |
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| Sail plan |
|
| Speed | 7–9 knots (13–17 km/h; 8.1–10.4 mph) |
| Range | 20 days of coal |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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USS Missouri was a sidewheel steam frigate of the United States Navy. Alongside her sister ship Mississippi, she was one of the first steam warships of the Navy. She was ordered by Congress in an attempt to force the fleet to modernize and embrace steam engines. Commissioned in 1842, she carried 10 guns and was among the fleet’s largest ships. Her introduction helped legitimize the role of engineers and disrupted the traditional conservative zeitgeist throughout the Navy.
In her first year, she made trial runs along the US East Coast to demonstrate her engines, followed by a deployment to the Gulf of Mexico. In 1843, she made the US Navy’s first steam-powered Atlantic crossing, bound for Egypt. While anchored off Gibraltar, spilled turpentine ignited a fire that spread across the ship overnight. Despite an international firefighting effort, her captain judged it futile and ordered the ship abandoned. After the crew evacuated, the ship was destroyed the next morning when her magazine detonated.