The Idaho served as a hospital ship in Japan for 15 months, then started back to the U.S. On the way she was hit by a roaring typhoon and demasted. Decommissioned in 1873, the hulk was eventually sold to the East Indies Trading Company.

The Idaho shelled Japanese forces during several island campaigns and she was there for the invasions of Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. The USS Idaho was also in Tokyo Bay for the formal surrender of the Japanese. The ship was decommissioned in 1946 and scrapped.