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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Omaha (I)

International Radio Call Sign, 1912:
Nan - Mike - Quack
 NMQ
Alaska-class Screw Sloop-of-War:
  • Laid down in 1867, as the bark rigged two funnel Astoria at Philadelphia Navy Yard. Hull design by Lenthall
  • Launched, 10 June 1869
  • Renamed Omaha, 10 August 1869
  • Commissioned USS Omaha, 12 September 1872, CAPT. John C. Febiger in command
  • Initially assigned to the South Atlantic Squadron
  • USS Omaha served alternately on South and North Atlantic Stations from 1873 to 1879
  • Laid up in ordinary from 1880 to 1884 at Philadelphia Navy Yard, for a complete refit
  • Assigned to the Asiatic Station in 1885
  • Decommissioned, 29 June 1891, at Mare Island Navy Yard
  • Omaha was towed from Mare Island Navy Yard, 5 July 1893, by the Red Stack tug Rescue to Angela Island in San Francisco Bay to service as a quarantine ship
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 10 July 1914
  • Final Disposition, sold, 17 April 1915, to Smith and Bondrow, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 2,394 t.
    Length 250' 6"
    Beam 38'
    Draft 17' 6"
    Speed 11.3 kts
    Complement 291
    Armament
    one 11" smoothbore
    six 8" smoothbores
    one 60-pdr muzzle loading rifle
    Propulsion
    two Isherwood horizontal back-acting engines (50" x 3' 6"); IHP 800 = 11.5kts
    two boilers
    single propeller
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Omaha 100k USS Omaha in port, circa 1870s or 1880s. Note that she is rigged as a ship in this view.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 49987.    		 Robert Hurst
    Omaha
    098605910    		 319k USS Omaha moored pierside at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, circa the 1880s.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 45218.    		 Darryl Baker
    Omaha 62k The screw sloop USS Omaha in port, circa 1870s or 1880s.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 295. Donation of Rear Admiral Ammen C. Farenholt, USN (MC), 1931.    		 Robert Hurst
    Omaha
    098605907    		 329k Screw sloop USS Omaha at anchor off Mare Island Navy Yard, circa 1891. The Captain of The Yard logs shows Omaha was at the yard from 16 May 1891 to 5 July 1893.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH45216.    		 Robert Hurst and Darryl Baker
    Omaha 70k USS Omaha in port, probably between 1885 or 1888.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 45217, courtesy of the Honorable Abbot Low Moffat.    		 Robert Hurst
    Omaha
    NH 55845    		 112k USS Omaha underway in the Piscataqua River, off Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME., circa the 1880s. Photographed by L.V. Newell, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Courtesy of N.F. Toczko, 1972.
    US Naval Historical Center photo #'s NH 55845 and NH 97973.    		 Robert Hurst
    Omaha
    NH 97973    		 96k
    Omaha 164k USS Omaha officers, circa early 1873, while she was serving on the South Pacific Station. Photographed by Spencer, Artista, presumably in a South American port. Officers in the lower center are (left to right): LCDR. Smith W. Nichols; CAPT. John C. Febiger, Commanding Officer; and Surgeon John C. Spear.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 43226, courtesy of CAPT. Raymond Spear, USN, son of Surgeon John C. Spear.    		 Robert Hurst
    Alliance
    098601404    		 177k Warships rigged for mourning in the Hudson River, New York, seen from Manhattan Island, probably during the funeral of ex-President Ulysses S. Grant in August 1885. Ship at the far right is USS Powhatan. If the event is actually Grant's funeral, the three sloops of war in the center are (from left to right) USS Alliance, USS Swatara and USS Omaha. The Revenue Cutter at left may be USRC U.S. Grant.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 95874, courtesy of Paul H. Silverstone, 1986    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Omaha 133k USS Omaha Marine Guard paraded on deck, while the ship was docked at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, during the 1880s. Note the bugler and drummer at left, with a 9" Dahlgren gun behind them.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 58909. Received from the Portsmouth Navy Yard, 1935.    		 Robert Hurst
    Omaha 75k Omaha serving as quarantine ship in San Francisco Bay, during the 1890s.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo #: NH 71718, courtesy of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, 1970.    		 Robert Hurst
    Omaha 16k Omaha moored in Ayala Cove (formerly Hospital Cove), Angel Island, San Francisco Bay, CA., sometime between 1895 and 1914. Most of the buildings in the photo were removed when the Army surrendered the Island to the Park Service. Photos from Angel Island History Links web site. Robert Hurst
    Omaha 17k
    Omaha 54k USS Ohio (Battleship # 12) running trials in San Francisco Bay, 26 July 1904. The hulk at right is the ex-USS Omaha, which was then serving as a quarantine ship. Photographed by Turrill & Miller, San Francisco. Courtesy of the Society of California Pioneers, Charles B. Turrill Collection.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 44590.    		 Robert Hurst
    Milwaukee 108k USS Milwaukee (C-21) on trials in San Francisco Bay, CA. circa 1906. The quarantine ship Omaha is partially visible in the right distance.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 81436, courtesy of Mrs. Worth Sprunt, 1974, from the Collection of Rear Admiral B.F. Hutchison, USN.    		 Fred Weiss and Robert Hurst
    USS Omaha (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 18 November 2022