USS Pennsylvania (1837)

An 1846 lithography of the USS Pennsylvania by Currier and Ives
History
NameUSS Pennsylvania
NamesakeCommonwealth of Pennsylvania
Ordered29 April 1816
BuilderPhiladelphia Naval Shipyard
Cost$687,026 (exclusive of armament)
Laid downSeptember 1821
Launched18 July 1837
Commissionedlate 1837
FateBurned, 20 April 1861, wreck salvaged and scrapped, late 1860s
General characteristics
Tonnage3,241 tons burden
Length210 ft (64 m)
Beam56 ft 9 in (17.30 m)
Depth of hold24 ft 4 in (7.42 m)
Sail planship rig
Complement1,100 officers and men
Armament130 × 32-pounder (15 kg) guns

USS Pennsylvania was a three-decked ship of the line of the United States Navy, rated at 130 guns, and named for the state of Pennsylvania. She was the largest United States sailing warship ever built, the equivalent of a first-rate of the British Royal Navy. Authorized in 1816 and launched in 1837, her only cruise was a single trip from Delaware Bay through Chesapeake Bay to the Norfolk Navy Yard. The ship became a receiving ship, and during the American Civil War was destroyed.