USS Neshaminy (1865) was a large and powerful 3,850-ton screw frigate

Screw frigate

Steam frigates and the smaller steam corvettes were steam-powered warships.The first vessel that can be considered a steam frigate was the Demologos which was launched in 1815 for the United States Navy....

 with a length of 335 feet that was under construction at the Philadelphia Navy Yard when she was surveyed by Navy officials who found her construction work to be poor. Construction was halted by the Navy, which eventually sold her for scrap.

Built in the Philadelphia Navy Yard

Neshaminy, a screw frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 built by the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during 1863–65 and launched 5 October 1865 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, was a wooden ship of the first rate. She had two horizontal direct-acting engines of forty-eight inch stroke and eight Martin boilers. Her machinery was built by the Etna Iron Works

Etna Iron Works

The Etna Iron Works was a 19th century ironworks and manufacturing plant for marine steam engines located in New York City. The Etna Works was a failing small business when purchased by ironmolder John Roach and three partners in 1852...

 of New York.

The steamer was assigned a battery of two 100–pounder Parrott rifle

Parrott rifle

The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War.-Parrott Rifle:The gun was invented by Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He resigned from the service in 1836 and became the superintendent of the West Point Foundry in Cold...

s, one 6–pounder rifle, ten 8-inch smoothbores, and four howitzer

Howitzer

A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...

s, but the battery was never mounted.

Construction problems

From 1866 through 1868 Neshaminy was at the New York Navy Yard for installation of her engines. In 1869 she was laid up in ordinary at that yard. Her name was changed to Arizona May 15, 1869, and to Nevada August 12, 1869.

In 1869 she was examined by a board which found her hull so twisted and her construction so poor that it was decided not to finish her. She remained in ordinary at New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

in an incomplete state until June 1874, when she was sold to John Roach for $25,000, in partial payment for rebuilding monitor .

External links

• Photo gallery at Naval Historical Center