USS Merrimack (1855)
USS Merrimack; Engraving by L.H. Bradford & Co., after a drawing by G.G. Pook.
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | Merrimack |
| Ordered: | 6 April 1854 |
| Launched: | 15 June 1855 |
| Commissioned: | 20 February 1856 |
| Decommissioned: | 16 February 1860 |
| Fate: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 3,200 |
| Length: | 275 ft (84 m) |
| Beam: | 38.5 ft (11.7 m) |
| Draft: | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | sail, steam engine |
| Speed: | 12 knots |
| Armament: |
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USS Merrimack, also improperly Merrimac, was a frigate, best known as the hull upon which the ironclad warship CSS Virginia was constructed during the American Civil War. The CSS Virginia then took part in the Battle of Hampton Roads (also known as "the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack") in the first engagement between ironclad warships.
Merrimack was the first of six screw frigates (frigates with steam power and propeller, "screw") begun in 1854. Like others of her class (Wabash, Roanoke, Niagara, Minnesota and Colorado), she was named after the eponymous river. In Massachusetts, the Merrimack River flows through the town of Merrimac, often considered an older spelling which has sometimes caused confusion of the name.
Merrimack was launched by the Boston Navy Yard 15 June 1855; sponsored by Miss Mary E. Simmons; and commissioned 20 February 1856, Captain Garrett J. Pendergrast in command. She was the second ship of the Navy to be named for the Merrimack River.
Shakedown took the new screw frigate to the Caribbean and to Western Europe. Merrimack visited Southampton, Brest, Lisbon, and Toulon before returning to Boston and decommissioning 22 April 1857 for repairs. Recommissioning 1 September 1857, Merrimack got underway from Boston Harbor 17 October as flagship for the Pacific Squadron. She rounded Cape Horn and cruised the Pacific coast of South and Central America until heading for home 14 November 1859. Upon returning to Norfolk, she decommissioned 16 February 1860.
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