.jpg) Resaca (drawing byM. B. Woolsey, c. 1867) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSResaca |
| Builder | Portsmouth Navy Yard, Maine |
| Cost | $201,229.19 |
| Launched | 18 November 1865 |
| Commissioned | 1866 |
| Decommissioned | 1872 |
| Fate | Sold, 18 February 1873 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Third-classscrewsteamer |
| Displacement | 1,129 long tons (1,147 t) |
| Length | 216 ft (66 m)p/p |
| Beam | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Draft | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Speed | 11knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
| Complement | 213 |
| Armament |
|
| Notes | Total cost of naval repairs while in service was $110,048.70. |
USS Resaca was a third-class screw steamer of theUnited States Navy. Built atPortsmouth Navy Yard, Maine at a cost of $201,229.19, the ship was launched on 18 November 1865, and commissioned in 1866, Comdr. J. M. Bradford in command.[1]
Assigned to thePacific Station,Resaca was initially ordered to relieve the sloopJamestown cruising off theMexican andCentral American coast in protection of U.S. citizens and property against threats of war and an uncertain political situation. An outbreak ofyellow fever among the crew ofJamestown, however, spread to theResaca and caused both ships to be sent to cruise inAlaskan waters—in effect a quarantine station. On theResaca, of 77 affected crewmen, 19 died.[2] Both ships arrived atSitka in August 1867, andResaca remained in northern latitudes off the new U.S.Alaska Territory until returning in 1869 toSan Francisco.
Proceeding toPanama on 23 November 1869,Resaca continued south toCallao, Peru, before commencing a longPacific cruise on 16 May. Sailing westward, she passed through theMarquesas,SocietyFriendly, andFiji Islands before reachingNew Zealand. On the return voyage she called atTahiti on 15 June 1870 before arriving atValparaiso, Chile, on 24 November. Soon afterward she proceeded to Callao for a refit andchange of command before being detached from squadron duties in January 1871 to help survey theIsthmus of Darien. Returning to Panama on 4 June she departed for duty as a supply ship atCallao on 16 July, calling briefly atGuayaquil en route. In 1872 she returned north and was placed out of commission atMare Island Navy Yard,California.
Resaca was sold on 18 February 1873 at Mare Island to Messrs. Christopher Nelson, Charles Goodall, and George C. Perkins, for $41,000. Rebuilt by Dickie Bros. at San Francisco for service as a steamer capable of carrying 145 passengers,Resaca was renamedVentura. Subsequently, on 16 February 1875, she became the property of the Goodall, Nelson, and Perkins Steam Ship Co. engaged in coastwise California service. While serving in this capacity,Ventura was wrecked offPoint Sur on 20 April 1875 and lost. Reports accused the captain of being drunk and the ship hit a cluster of rocks just north of Point Sur. Everyone aboard reached shore safely, leaving the ship to break up on the rocks and slowly sink.[3]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.