ALL SEVEN IMAGES CAME IN A USS COLORADO ALBUM

1.USS ALASKA

2.1865 FRENCH IRONCLAD MAGENTA  Name: Magenta  Namesake:Battle of Magenta
Builder: Brest
Laid down:22 June 1859
Launched:22 June 1861
Fate:Exploded and sank 31 October 1875

3.REVERSE STATES...AT SEA, FEB. 28TH 1869 ~ NAME INKED ABOVE
PERIOD INK ON REVERSE: U.S.S. ALASKA, 3RD RATE

4.INK ID AT BOTTOM ~ KEY WEST, FLORIDA BACKMARK

5.M.B. BUFORD

6.PART OF AN USS COLORADO ALBUM AS NOTED ON REVERSE

7.SITTING VIEW, PART OF USS COLORADO ALBUM..NO ID

The first USS Alaska was a wooden-hulled screw sloop of war, built at the Boston Navy Yard and named for the then-newly acquired territory. The ship was launched on 31 October 1868 and sponsored by Miss Grace Hull, the daughter of Mayor Liverus Hull of Charlestown, Boston. Alaska was commissioned on 8 December 1869, with Commander Homer C. Blake in command.

Asiatic Squadron, 1870–1872[edit]
On 9 April 1870, Alaska got underway from New York in company with Rear Admiral John Rodger's flagship, the screw frigate Colorado.

Summary of Service
8 December 1869 – Commissioned in Boston, Comdr. Homer C. Blake in command.
9 April 1870 – Sailed to the Far East; tour of duty with the Asiatic Squadron.
16 May 1871 – Visited the Salee River on Ganghwa Island, Korea, with the squadron; fought in the Battle of Ganghwa (see map below).
28 October 1872 – Sailed from Hong Kong to New York harbor; put in dock, undergoing repairs.
28 August 1873 – Tour of duty with the European Squadron.
30 November 1873 – European and South Atlantic Squadrons sailed to join the Home Squadron at Key West, preparing for possible war with Spain over the Cuban steamship Virginius.
9 April 1874 – Returned to tour of duty on the European Station in the Mediterranean Sea.
5 October 1876 – Decommissioned at New York for extended repairs.
23 April 1878 – Sailed from New York for a tour of duty with the Pacific squadron.
3 April 1879 – Served in Alaskan waters.
12 August 1879 – Began a series of visits to ports along the west coasts of Central and South America.
22 July 1880 – Sailed for the South Pacific and the Marquesas, Samoa and Hawaii.
2 December 1880 – Returned to Mare Island Navy Yard, San Francisco, for repairs.
14 March 1881 – Sailed for Central and South American ports along the Pacific coast.
December 1882 - Returned to Mare Island Navy Yard, San Francisco, for repairs but found wanting.
Fate - Decommissioned at San Francisco in February 1883, sold at Mare Island in November 1883.