USS Franklin (1864)

USS Franklin, photographed by Edward H. Hart, ca. the 1880s.
History
United States
Name	USS Franklin
Namesake	Benjamin Franklin
Builder	Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down	1854
Launched	17 September 1864
Commissioned	3 June 1867
Decommissioned	13 November 1871
Recommissioned	15 December 1873
Decommissioned	2 March 1877
Recommissioned	2 March 1877 as receiving ship
Decommissioned	14 October 1915
Stricken	26 October 1915
Fate	Sold
General characteristics
Type	Screw frigate
Displacement	5,170 long tons (5,253 t)
Length	265 ft (81 m)
Beam	53 ft 7 in (16.33 m)
Draft	17 ft (5.2 m)
Propulsion	Steam and sail
Armament	1 × 11 in (279 mm) gun 34 × 9 in (229 mm) guns 4 × 100-pounder (45 kg) guns

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.