USS Sonoma (1862)
| History | |
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| Name: | USS Sonoma |
| Namesake: | Sonoma Creek, in northern California; Sonoma County, California; and Sonoma, California, the latter in turned named for a chief of the Chocuyen people |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine |
| Launched: | 15 April 1862 |
| Commissioned: | 8 July 1862 |
| Decommissioned: | 20 June 1863 |
| Recommissioned: | 28 September 1863 |
| Decommissioned: | 13 June 1865 |
| Fate: | Sold 1 October 1867 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Steam gunboat |
| Displacement: | 955 long tons (970 t) |
| Length: | 233 ft 9 in (71.25 m) |
| Beam: | 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m) |
| Draft: | 12 ft 3 in (3.73 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine |
| Armament: |
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The first USS Sonoma was a sidewheel gunboat that served in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for Sonoma Creek in northern California, Sonoma County, California, and the town of Sonoma, California, that in turn were named for one of the chiefs of the Chocuyen Indians of that region.
Sonoma was launched by the Portsmouth Navy Yard at Kittery, Maine, on 15 April 1862; sponsored by Miss Mary N. Bleecker; and commissioned on 8 July 1862, Commander Thomas H. Stevens, Jr. in command.
On 17 July 1862, the double-ender sailed for the West Indies for operations against Confederate blockade runners and raiders on the high seas. The success of Confederate cruisers, especially Florida and Alabama, in operations against Union shipping prompted the Department of the Navy on 8 September 1862 to put Commodore Charles Wilkes in command of a "flying" West India Squadron created specifically to seek out and destroy the Confederate raiders. Sonoma was assigned to this squadron. While Sonoma never engaged Florida or Alabama, she did operate successfully against blockade runners.
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