From: DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN NAVAL FIGHTING SHIPS, V.5, 1970 (1979 reprint), p. 331.
A town in Massachusetts on Plymouth Bay, 18 miles southeast of Brockton; founded by the Pilgrims in 1620.
(ScSlp: t. 1,122; lbp. 250'6"; b. 38'0"; dr. 16'0"; s. 12 k.; a. 1 11" D.sb., 10 9" D.sb.; 1 60-pdr., 2 20-pdr.r.)
The second Plymouth, a wooden-hulled, screw sloop-of-war, was laid down as Kenosha at the New
York Navy Yard in 1867; completed in 1868; and commissioned 20 January 1869, Capt. William H. McComb in command.
Kenosha got underway eastward across the Atlantic 25 February 1869. While on the European Station she was
renamed Plymouth, 15 May 1869. Word of the change reached her at Ville Franche, France, 26 June. She then
cruised off the Levant and North Africa under her new name, returning to Marseilles 19 November. From southern
France, she continued on to Portsmouth, England, whence she escorted the British steamer Monarch, carrying
the remains of George Peabody, American merchant, financier and philanthropist, to the United States for burial.
Arriving at Portland, Maine, 25 January 1870, she remained there on ceremonial duty until sailing for Portsmouth,
N.H., for refit at the navy yard.
Plymouth departed New York 12 July and steamed to the Mediterranean where rear Admiral Bogg selected her
as flagship of the European Station, 21 September. She sailed for the coast of Africa 17 February 1872, thence
headed home via the West Indies and remained on the Atlantic coast until returning to European waters 1 November
1872. This deployment lasted until the screw sloop sailed for home 6 June 1873. She arrived at New York on the
18th, thence proceeded to Portsmouth, N.H., where she decommissioned on the 28th.
Recommissioned 10 October 1874, the sloop operated along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean until decommissioning
again 17 May 1879. She remained in ordinary at Portsmouth until scrapped in 1884.
Transcribed by Richard H. Bouchard.