USS Severn (1867)

1871 painting
History
United States
Name	USS Severn
Laid down	October 1864
Launched	22 December 1867
Commissioned	27 August 1869
Decommissioned	31 December 1871
Fate	Sold, 2 March 1877
General characteristics
Type	Screw sloop
Displacement	3,003 long tons (3,051 t)
Length	296 ft 10 in (90.47 m)
Beam	41 ft (12 m)
Draft	9 ft 8 in (2.95 m)
Propulsion	Steam engine
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement	250 officers and enlisted
Armament	8 × 9 in (230 mm)guns 1 × 60-pounder gun

The first USS Severn was a wooden screw sloop of war in commission in the United States Navy from 1869 to 1871. She was named for Severn River in Maryland.

Severn was laid down as Masholu in October 1864 by the New York Navy Yard, was launched on 22 December 1867 and commissioned on 27 August 1869, Commander Reigart Bolivar Lowry in command.

Upon completion in December 1869, Severn was assigned to duty as flagship of the North Atlantic Squadron under Rear Admiral Charles H. Poor which then consisted of monitors Ajax, Dictator, Saugus, and Terror; steamers Congress, Kansas, Nantasket, Nipsic, Severn, Swatara, Tuscarora, and Yantic; tug Pilgrim; and the hospital ship Pawnee.

Severn called at Key West in January 1871 before cruising among West Indies ports into the following year. In April, she investigated alleged mistreatment of the United States consul at Santiago de Cuba, subsequently returning to Hampton Roads at the end of July. Departing Hampton Roads for Key West in December, Severn returned north to the Boston Navy Yard, decommissioning there on 31 December 1871.

In 1875, following repairs, Severn was transferred to New London, Connecticut. Returning to New York in 1877, Severn was sold on 2 March 1877 to John Roach as part of his compensation for repairs made to the monitor Puritan and broken up.

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.