The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established by an act of Congress on 4 August 1790 as the Revenue-Marine upon the recommendation of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton to serve as an armed customs enforcement service. As time passed, the service gradually gained missions either voluntarily or by legislation, including those of a military nature. It was generally referred to as the Revenue-Marine until 31 July 1894, when it was officially renamed the Revenue Cutter Service. The Revenue Cutter Service operated under the authority of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. On 28 January 1915, the service was merged by an act of Congress with the United States Life-Saving Service to form the United States Coast Guard.
USS Aaron V. Brown was a revenue schooner in the service of the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for United States Postmaster General Aaron V. Brown, the only cutter to bear the name.
USRC Hudson, known for her service during the Battle of Cárdenas, was the United States Revenue Cutter Service's first vessel to have a steel hull and triple-expansion steam engine.
The United States Revenue Cutter Crawford was the first of the 13 cutters of the Morris-Taney Class to be launched. These cutters were the backbone of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service for more than a decade. Samuel Humphreys designed these cutters for roles as diverse as fighting pirates, privateers, combating smugglers and operating with naval forces. He designed the vessels on a naval schooner concept. They had Baltimore Clipper lines. The vessels built by Webb and Allen, designed by Isaac Webb, resembled Humphreys' but had one less port
USS Howell Cobb was a schooner acquired on an emergency temporary basis by the United States Navy from the United States Coast Survey for service during the American Civil War. She served as a cargo ship in Union Navy service.
USRC Seminole was a 188 ft (57 m), 845-ton United States Revenue Cutter Service steamer constructed by the Columbian Iron Works in Baltimore, Maryland for $141,000. She was commissioned in 1900 and saw service through 1934, when she was transferred to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.
One of the first ten revenue cutters, Active may have been the second of the ten cutters to enter service. The Columbian Centinel on 30 April 1791 noted:
A Revenue Cutter, was launched at Baltimore the 9th inst. at Captain Stodder's Ship Yard, and is considered by good judges, a beautiful vessel. She is to be commanded, we hear, by Capt. Gross, formerly First-Lieutenant of the Continental Frigate CONFEDERACY.
USRC General Green was one of the first ten cutters operated by the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service. She was named for the Revolutionary War hero Major General Nathanael Greene. Her name was misspelled, probably by the man who oversaw her construction, the Collector of Customs in Philadelphia, Sharp Delany. Apparently the cutter was to have been originally named for the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, but Delany changed the name for reasons unknown.
USRC Massachusetts was one of the first ten cutters operated by the Revenue-Marine. She was built in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and served out of Boston. Massachusetts by tradition is held to be the first revenue cutter to enter active service. She was also the first to be decommissioned, having a very short service life of only about 15 months before being sold.
USRC Scammel was one of the first ten cutters operated by the United States Revenue-Marine. Her original name was Ferret.
USRC Argus was one of the first ten cutters operated by the United States' Revenue Cutter Service. Of the ten cutters, she was the longest to serve in this role.
USRC Diligence was one of the first ten cutters operated by the United States' Revenue Cutter Service.
USRC South Carolina was one of the first ten cutters operated by the United States' Revenue Cutter Service.
USCGC Tampa (ex-Miami) was a Miami-class cutter that initially served in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, followed by service in the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy. Tampa was used extensively on the International Ice Patrol and also during the Gasparilla Carnival at Tampa, Florida and other regattas as a patrol vessel. It was sunk with the highest American naval combat casualty loss in World War I.
HMS Lynx was a 16-gun ship-rigged sloop of the Cormorant class in the Royal Navy, launched in 1794 at Gravesend. In 1795 she was the cause of an international incident when she fired on USRC Eagle. She was at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, and during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars took numerous prizes, mostly merchant vessels but also including some privateers. She was also at the second Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. She was sold in April 1813. She then became the whaler Recovery. She made 12 whaling voyages in the southern whale fishery, the last one ending in 1843, at which time her owner had her broken up.
USRC Yamacraw, was a steel-hull flush-deck cutter that served in the United States Revenue Cutter Service from 1909 to 1937 and was the sister ship to the USRC Tahoma.
USCGC Earp was a 200-foot (61 m) U.S. Coast Guard anti-submarine Eagle–class vessel built by Ford Motor Co. in Detroit, Michigan. Earp was named by the Coast Guard for Ensign James Marsden Earp, a crewmember killed in the September 1918 U-boat sinking of USCGC Tampa. All of the Eagle–class cutters were named for deceased Tampa Coast Guardsmen. Earp was designed for quick construction and was one of 100 ordered by the Navy. Five Eagle–class vessels were transferred to the Coast Guard and proved unsuitable for service because poor manueuvering characteristics and sea-keeping qualities. Earp was launched on 5 August 1918 and commissioned on 17 July 1919 by the United States Navy. The Navy transferred control of Earp to the Coast Guard on 19 December 1919 at New London, Connecticut. She was placed in commission by the Coast Guard at New London on 17 March 1920 and departed for the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland on 8 May. On 2 June 1920 she departed the yard and arrived at Norfolk, Virginia on 27 June after sea trials. On 9 July she was assigned a permanent station at Honolulu, Hawaii and arrived 13 December after repairs at Mare Island, California. Earp was decommissioned by the Coast Guard at Pearl Harbor on 1 January 1923 and returned to Navy control on 22 May 1923.
Massachusetts II was a small sloop operated by the Revenue-Marine used in the collection of customs duties. She was completed in June 1793 and replaced Massachusetts, one of the first ten cutters of the Revenue-Marine, when it was determined that the older ship was too large and slow to perform her assigned tasks. Massachusetts II was constructed by Adna Bates of Cohasset, Massachusetts for a cost of US$1,600. Her area of operation was along the Massachusetts coast as a smaller less expensive replacement to the original Massachusetts. When the original Massachusetts was sold at auction, the second and third mates were discharged and Massachusetts II was crewed by two officers and four sailors.
USRC George S. Boutwell was a revenue cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service that served from 1873 to 1907 designed for cruising the southern coasts. She was named for George S. Boutwell, the 28th United States Secretary of the Treasury.
USRC Detector was a Wasp-class schooner built for and operated by the United States Revenue Cutter Service from 1825 to 1832. She is the second ship of the Revenue Cutter Service to bear the name.
United States
