USS Essex (1874)

USS Essex
History
United States
Name	USS Essex
Namesake	Essex
Port of registry
Ordered	10 February 1873
Builder	Donald McKay; Kitter Naval Yard
Laid down	1874
Launched	1874
Commissioned	3 October 1876
Out of service	23 December 1930
Stricken	27 October 1930
Identification	IX-10
Fate	Burned to the waterline
General characteristics
Type	Steam sloop
Displacement	1,375 long tons (1,397 t)
Length	185 ft (56 m)[1]
Beam	35 ft (11 m)[1]
Draft	14 ft 3 in (4.34 m)[1]
Propulsion	Fore and aft compound steam engine 1874-1910 Triple expansion steam engine 1910-early 1920s
Sail plan	Barque-rigged
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Armament	(1876)• 1 × 11 in (280 mm) smoothbore cannon 4 × 9 in (230 mm) Dalhgrens cannons 1 × 60-pounder cannon
Notes	Partial surviving hulk is only known remnant of the work of Donald McKay
USS Essex Shipwreck Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	Minnesota Point, Duluth, Minnesota
Coordinates	46°42′46″N 92°1′43″W / 46.71278°N 92.02861°W / 46.71278; -92.02861
MPS	Minnesota's Lake Superior Shipwrecks MPS
NRHP reference No.	94000342[2]
Added to NRHP	14 April 1994

USS Essex was an Enterprise-class wooden-hulled armed naval steam sloop of war.^[3][4] She was built between 1874 and 1876 by Donald McKay at the Kitter Naval Yard of East Boston, Massachusetts. She was commissioned on 3 October 1876 by the United States Navy.^[5] On 23 December 1930 Essex was sold for scrap, and on 14 October 1931 she was taken to the beach just outside Duluth Harbor where they set fire to her; she eventually burned to the waterline. On 14 April 1994 the remains of Essex were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[2][5] Her partially surviving hulk is significant because she is the only known remnant of the work of master shipbuilder McKay.^[6]