USS Polaris (1871)
USS Polaris, originally called the America, was an 1864-screw steamer procured by the Union Navy as USS Periwinkle during the final months of the American Civil War. She served the Union Navy's struggle against the Confederate States as a gunboat.
Polaris at Washington Navy Yard | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Name | USS Periwinkle |
| Operator | Union Navy |
| Acquired | December 9, 1864 |
| Commissioned | January 15, 1865 |
| Homeport | Norfolk Navy Yard |
| History | |
| Name | USS Polaris |
| Namesake | Alpha Ursae Minoris |
| Operator | Hall scientific expedition |
| Acquired | June 9, 1871 |
| Commissioned | June 29, 1871 |
| Homeport | Washington Navy Yard |
| Sunk: | October 24, 1872, off Etah |
| General characteristics (1864) | |
| Type | Screw steamer |
| Displacement | 383 tons |
| Length | 140 feet (43 meters) |
| Beam | 28 feet (9 meters) |
| Draft | 10+1⁄2 feet (3 meters) |
| Depth of hold | 12 feet (4 meters) |
| Sail plan | Two-mast schooner rig |
| Complement | 37 officers and men |
After the war, the ship was retained by the U.S. Navy. She was renamed Polaris in 1871 and became the designated vessel of the Hall scientific expedition to the North Pole. It was on this voyage that she proceeded into Arctic waters, only to have her hull crushed by the ice in October 1872.
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