I'm not sure how to write this phonetically: Kearsarge is pronounced KEER-sarzhe. The "sarge" part has a softish G, as in "barrage." Make any sense?

From the Town of Warner, NH site:
A picture of Kearsarge is here.

The first KEARSARGE was launched on 11 September 1861 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, NH; sponsored by Mrs. Henry McFarland, wife of the editor of the Concord Statesmen, and commissioned 24 January 1862 with Captain Charles W. Pickering in command.

The Sloop of War KEARSARGE departed Portsmouth 5 February 1862 for the coast of Spain to join in the blockade of Confederate raiders. Captain John A. Winslow, took command of the KEARSARGE on April 8, 1863, while she remained in European waters searching for raiders. Arriving in Cherbourg, France on 14 June 1864, she found the Confederate Ship ALABAMA in port. On June 19, ALABAMA stood out of Cherbourg Harbor for her last action. Careful of French neutrality, KEARSARGE'S new commanding officer, Captain Winslow, took the sloop of war well clear of territorial waters, then turned to meet the Confederate cruiser. ALABAMA fired first but the battle quickly turned against her and within an hour the ALABAMA had been reduced to a sinking wreck and her Captain Raphael Semmes struck his colors and surrendered.

KEARSARGE rescued the majority of the ALABAMA's survivors; but Captain Semmes and 41 others were picked up by a British yacht. Captain Winslow was promoted to Commodore and the New York Chamber of Commerce honored him, the KEARSARGE, and her crew, mainly men from New Hampshire, for their victory.

The KEARSARGE returned to sea and the coast of Spain in April 1865 in search of Confederate ships. After cruising the Mediterranean and the English Channel south to Liberia, the KEARSARGE returned to the Boston Navy Yard in August 1866.

In January 1868 KEARSARGE sailed to serve in the South Pacific and along the coast of South America to protect American interests for the next four years. She later performed similar duties in the Asiatic waters of Japan, China and the Philippines. During this time she carried Professor Hall's scientific party from Nagasaki, Japan, to Vladivostok, Russia, to observe the transit of Venus.

The last assignment for the KEARSARGE was protecting American interests in the West Indies, off Venezuela and along the Central Americas. On February 2, 1894, on Roncador Reef off the coast of Nicaragua, the KEARSARGE was wrecked. Having attained the rank of Rear Admiral, Winslow's years of service continued long after the famous sea battle. He died in Boston on September 29, 1873.