From: Dictionary of American Fighting Ships 

A river in north central Vermont which empties into Lake Champlain.

(SwGbt.: dp. 1,173; l. 205'0"; b. 35'0"; dph. 11'6"; a. 10 guns)

The first Winooski, a double-ended, sidewheel gunboat, was launched on 30 July 1863 at the Boston Navy Yard, towed to Providence, R.I., for the installation of her machinery; completed at the New York Navy Yard; and placed in commission on 27 June 1865, Comdr. George W. Cooper in command.

For the rest of 1865, she conducted tests at New York. Between April and August 1866, the warship cruised the fishing banks along the coast of Maine and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. She stood out of Portsmouth, N.H., on the last day of August and set course for the West Indies. She patrolled the Caribbean until a yellow fever epidemic forced her to return to Portsmouth and quarantine late in June of 1867. Laid up at the end of the period of quarantine, the ship remained at Portsmouth until 25 August 1868 when she was sold to Mr. John Mullen.