Stories from the Shipyard: USS Housatonic
By Mike Manning – Chair – Friends of the Boston Harborwalk
In terms of name recognition, USS Housatonic is another lesser known vessel built in the Boston Navy Yard (Charlestown). However, she would become recognized as the victim of a naval warfare innovation late in the American Civil War. Named after the 149-mile-long river that flows through the western regions of Connecticut and Massachusetts, Housatonic was one of four Ossipee-class sloops-of-war ordered by the US Navy in 1861. She was launched on November 20th, 1861 and commissioned on August 29th, 1862. Sloops-of-war displaced nearly 2,000 tons – a weight less than that of ships-of-the-line and frigates. This class of warships was designed and built with three masts (fore, main, and mizzen), square-rigged sails, and a single gun deck.