USS Ozark (1863)

Ozark serving in the Mississippi River Squadron in 1864–65
Class overview
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Neosho class
Succeeded by:	Milwaukee class
Completed:	1
Scrapped:	1
History
United States
Name:	USS Ozark
Namesake:	The Ozark Tribe of the Quapaw Indians
Awarded:	14 May 1862
Builder:	George C. Bestor
Cost:	About $215,000
Laid down:	1862
Launched:	18 February 1863
Commissioned:	18 February 1864
Decommissioned:	24 July 1865
Fate:	Sold, 29 November 1865
General characteristics
Tons burthen:	578 bm
Length:	180 ft (54.9 m)
Beam:	50 ft (15.2 m)
Draft:	5 ft (1.5 m)
Installed power:	4 × boilers
Propulsion:	4 × Shafts 2 × 2-cylinder steam engines
Speed:	9 miles per hour (14 km/h)
Complement:	120
Armament:	1 × 2 - 11-inch (279 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns 1 × 1 - 10-inch (254 mm) Dahlgren guns 3 × 1 - 9-inch (229 mm) Dahlgren guns
Armor:	Gun turret: 6 in (152 mm) Side: 2.25–2.5 in (57–64 mm) Deck: 1 in (25 mm)

USS Ozark was a single-turreted river monitor built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship served in the Mississippi River Squadron during the war, and participated in the Red River Campaign shortly after she was commissioned in early 1864. Ozark patrolled the Mississippi River and its tributaries after the end of the campaign for the rest of the war. She was decommissioned after the war and sold in late 1865.

The ship's activities or owner are not known after her sale, but Ozark transported Federal troops and New Orleans police attempting to apprehend the white supremacists who killed a large number of blacks during the Colfax Massacre in 1873. She ferried witnesses back and forth to their homes on the Red River during the subsequent trials in 1874. Her ultimate fate is unknown.

The ship was 180 feet (54.9 m) long overall and had a beam of 50 feet (15.2 m). She had a depth of hold of 7 feet 4 inches (2.2 m) and a draft of six feet. Ozark had a tonnage of 578 tons burthen.

She was powered by a pair of two-cylinder steam engines, each driving two four-bladed, 7-foot (2.1 m) propellers, using steam generated by four boilers. The engines were designed to reach a top speed of 9 miles per hour (14 km/h). They had a bore of 15 inches (381 mm) and a stroke of 24 inches (610 mm).Ozark could carry about 100 long tons (102 t) of coal. All of the machinery was built by the Franklin Foundry of St. Louis, Missouri.