The fifth USS Congress was a screw sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

.

Congress was launched by the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 17 July 1868, sponsored by Miss P. Drake, daughter of Senator Charles D. Drake

Charles D. Drake

Charles Daniel Drake was a United States Senator from Missouri. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended St. Joseph's College in 1823 and 1824, and Patridge's Military Academy in 1824 and 1825; he was appointed midshipman in the United States Navy in 1825 and served four years, when he resigned...

 of Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

; and commissioned 4 March 1870, Captain N. Harrison in command. The ship was variously known as Pushmataha, and Cambridge prior to 10 August 1869 when she was renamed Congress, the name under which she performed all her service.

Her initial cruise, undertaken in 1870, was as flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 for Commodore Joseph F. Green of the South Atlantic Squadron. Returning to Boston, Massachusetts on 29 May 1871 she was placed under Commander H. Davenport. In the summer of that year she transported supplies from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 to the Polaris which was anchored at Godhavn, Disco Island, preparatory to departing on an Arctic expedition. Late in 1871 Congress served also as flagship for Vice Admiral Stephen Clegg Rowan

Stephen Clegg Rowan

Stephen Clegg Rowan was a Vice Admiral in the United States Navy, who served during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.-Biography:...

 who had been designated to accord suitable reception to a visiting Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n squadron.

After a cruise to Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

 in early 1872, Congress sailed from Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

 on 14 February to join the Mediterranean Squadron. This lengthy tour included visits to many ports of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and ended at Key West, Florida

Key West, Florida

Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...

, where she arrived on 5 January 1874. She was back in the Mediterranean by 9 April and visited ports on the coasts of Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 before returning to Philadelphia to visit the Centennial Exposition

Centennial Exposition

The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...

 of 1876.

Congress was decommissioned on 26 July 1876, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...

, and laid up in ordinary until 20 September 1883, when she was sold.