USS Pennsylvania (1837) rated 140 Gun Ship of the Line
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The USS Pennsylvania, launched in 1837, was a three-decked ship of the line of the United States Navy, rated at 130 guns but designed with a hull capable of accommodating up to 140 guns. Named after the state of Pennsylvania, she was the largest sailing warship ever built for the U.S., rivaling a British Royal Navy first-rate vessel. Authorized by Congress in 1816, her construction began in 1821 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard under designer Samuel Humphreys, though funding delays pushed her launch to July 18, 1837. She measured 210 feet in length with a 56-foot beam, displaced 3,241 tons, and supported a crew of approximately 1,100. Her armament included 32-pounder cannons across three gun decks and a spar deck with lighter guns, later augmented by 8-inch cannons in 1842.
Despite her formidable design, the Pennsylvania saw minimal action, completing just one voyage from Delaware Bay to the Norfolk Navy Yard in late 1837 before decommissioning in early 1838. She served as a receiving ship at Norfolk from 1842 until April 20, 1861, when Union forces burned her to the waterline to prevent Confederate capture during the Civil War. Her wreck was subsequently salvaged and scrapped, ending her largely untapped potential.