The fourth USS Franklin was a United States Navy screw frigate. The ship was launched in 1864, partially constructed from parts of the previous USS Franklin. Commissioned in 1867, Franklin, named after Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, served as the flagship of the European Squadron from 1867 to 1868 and from 1869 to 1871. She was decommissioned in 1871. Recommissioned in 1873, she joined the North Atlantic Squadron and served until 1877, when she was decommissioned again, then immediately recommissioned for use as a receiving ship at Norfolk, Virginia. She served in this capacity until 1915, when she was stricken and sold.
USS Franklin, photographed by Edward H. Hart, ca. the 1880s.
"Scenes on Board Admiral Farragut's Flag Ship The Franklin, New York Harbor, June 29, 1867." Harper's Weekly, from photographs by George G. Rockwood.
USS Franklin figurehead, c. 1853, by Woodbury Gerrish
The European Squadron, also known as the European Station, was a part of the United States Navy in the late 19th century and the early 1900s. The squadron was originally named the Mediterranean Squadron and renamed following the American Civil War. In 1905, the squadron was absorbed into the North Atlantic Fleet.
USS Franklin – squadron flagship from 1867 to 1868
United States Marines and Royal Marines during the occupation of Alexandria in 1882.
Image: Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough
Image: Admiral Farragut 2