The Mississippi, a 229 foot long side-wheel steamer, was built in the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1839-41 under the personal supervision of Commodore Matthew C. Perry. Commodore Perry has became know as the father of the steam Navy because of his strong commitment to introducing steam ships in to the Navy. The first US Navy steam ship was the Fulton. The Mississippi and her sister ship, the Missouri, were the U.S. Navy's first ocean-going side-wheeled steamers and it's first ocean-going steam driven capital ships. Because the reliability of steam was still unknown, the ship also had sails. The smokestack was aft of the paddlewheels. In many other steam frigates the smokestack is located in front of the paddlewheels. The Mississippi was commissioned on December 22, 1841.