USS California, a 3954-ton Guerriere class screw steamer, was built at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, as part of an extensive mid-Civil War program of large warship contruction. Originally launched as Minnetonka in July 1867, she was renamed in May 1869, well before entering commissioned service in December 1870. In March 1871 California began a voyage around South America to join the Pacific Squadron. Over the next two years, she operated in the eastern Pacific and also cruised to Hawaii. Built at a time when supplies of properly seasoned wood had been largely exhausted by earlier wartime construction, California's timbers rapidly deteriorated, a serious problem shared by most of her contemporaries. She was decommissioned in early July 1873 and sold in May 1875, just four and a half years after completion.
This page features the only views we have concerning USS California (ex-Minnetonka).
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: 19-N-13844 USS California (1870-1875) Moored off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, circa 1871-1873. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 450 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 68685 Mare Island Navy Yard, California View looking along the waterfront during the 1870s, with the city of Vallejo on the opposite side of the channel. Ships tied up at the Navy Yard include USS Saranac (left), USS Independence (center), and a Revenue Cutter (right center). Moored offshore are USS California (left) and USS Pensacola (left center). The yard's floating drydock is in the right distance. Photograph from the William H. Topley collection. Courtesy of Charles M. Loring, 1969. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 121KB; 740 x 550 pixels |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 17 September 2004