History
Her homeport from her commissioning on 1 November 1882 to 1904 was Mobile, Alabama where she patrolled the Gulf of Mexico enforcing customs laws and assisting mariners in distress. During this period she was temporarily assigned to several other areas along the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico. [1] [Note 2] After undergoing repairs in Baltimore, Maryland from 1888 to 1890 her homeport was at Key West, Florida and she gained the mission of preventing smuggling of men, guns and ammunition into Cuba. [4] In 1895 Secretary of the Treasury John G. Carlisle assigned Forward and seven other cutters to enforce United States neutrality in Cuba's revolt against Spain. The cutters were responsible for patrolling the Florida Strait and prevent attempts to smuggle arms into Cuba from the United States. On 5 December 1895, Forward and USRC Winona discovered a recently abandoned camp at Middle Cape Sable, Florida that had enough army and medical supplies to indicate that about fifty men had been training there. [5] In 1898, Charleston, South Carolina was homeport until she returned to Key West in 1904. On 27 May 1902 she was involved in a minor collision with SS Martha Helen in Winyah Bay, South Carolina receiving minor damage. [6] On 2 June 1905 she was assigned to convoy Marine Hospital Service barge Senator from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida. [1] On 14 November 1905 Forward was placed out of commission at the Revenue Service Yard at Baltimore for repairs and the crew was transferred to other cutters. The crew of USRC Fessenden reported aboard Forward on 7 August 1907 and she was recommissioned 17 August. [4] On 12 October 1907 Forward received orders to report to Chesapeake Bay for joint drills and inspections with other cutters of the service. [1] [7] In September 1908, Forward was ordered to report to the Collector of Customs at Tampa, Florida to investigate sponge smuggling. [1] In 1909, she was tasked with towing Marine Hospital Service Steamer McAdam from Knights Bay to Key West and Marine Hospital Service barge Senator from Key West to Knights Bay. She searched for the missing schooner Albert B. Mills and assisted her before reporting to Mobile. [1] On 20 June 1910 Forward was ordered to "enforce law among sponge fishermen" near Tampa, Florida [1] On 19 October 1910 she was involved in the search for the overdue tug Jones off the Florida coast. [1] On 27 July 1912 Forward was ordered to the Revenue Service Yard at Baltimore and her crew was transferred to USRC Miami and she was decommissioned on 19 August 1912. Forward was sold on 24 October to Boston Iron and Metal Co. for US$4,151. [2] [1]
Frank Hamilton Newcomb was a United States Revenue Cutter Service commodore, best known for his actions at the Battle of Cárdenas during the Spanish–American War.
Harry Gabriel Hamlet was the seventh Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, from 1932 to 1936.
William Edward Reynolds served as the fifth Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, from 1919 to 1924.
Ellsworth Price Bertholf was a Congressional Gold Medal recipient who later served as the fourth Captain-Commandant of the United States Revenue Cutter Service and because of the change in the name of the agency in 1915, the fourth Commandant of the United States Coast Guard. His leadership during his tenure as Commandant was critical to the U.S. Coast Guard's survival at a time when outside agencies wanted to either take it over or split its missions up among several agencies.
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
USRC Walter Forward was a schooner constructed for service with the United States Revenue-Marine. She was more commonly known as USRC Forward. Forward served with the United States Army and United States Navy in Mexican waters during the Mexican–American War and was commended for her actions during the Tabasco River landings by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, U.S. Navy. After the war, she was transferred to the United States Coast Survey for a short time as USCS Walter Forward before being returned to the Revenue-Marine for service during the 1850s and the American Civil War.
Worth G. Ross is known as the third Commandant of the Coast Guard, although he was never formally appointed to that position. Joining the United States Revenue Cutter Service in 1877, he graduated from the Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction's first class in 1879. He held a variety of appointments during the late 19th century before being appointed Captain-Commandant of the service in 1905. In this capacity he commanded a number of cutters on the United States Gulf Coast and was responsible for moving the School of Instruction to Fort Trumbull, Connecticut. He was a relation of Brevet Brigadier General Samuel Ross (1822-1880), who commanded the 20th Connecticut Infantry during the American Civil War.
USRC Manning was a revenue cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service that served from 1898 to 1930, and saw service in the U.S. Navy in the Spanish–American War and World War I.
USRC Onondaga was an Algonquin-class cutter built for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service for service on the Great Lakes. Because of the Spanish–American War, she was cut in half shortly before completion and transported to Ogdensburg, New York for service on the Atlantic coast although the war ended before she could be put into service. After the formation of the United States Coast Guard in 1915 she became USCGC Onondaga. She served as a patrol vessel at various Atlantic coast ports before World War I and unlike most Coast Guard cutters during World War I, she remained under the control of the Commandant of the Coast Guard. After the war she patrolled for a brief time based at New London, Connecticut before being decommissioned in 1923.
USRC Mohawk, was a steel steam powered revenue cutter built for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service by William R. Trigg Company at Richmond, Virginia. Her primary duties in the Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard were assisting vessels in distress and enforcing navigational laws as well as a derelict destroyer. Mohawk was sunk after a collision with another vessel in October 1917.
USRC Wissahickon was one of two Winnisimmet-class harbor tugs constructed by Spedden Company for the Revenue Cutter Service. She was initially stationed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ellsworth P. Bertholf served as captain of her from 9 November 1906 to 20 September 1907 in his first tour as a commanding officer. Bertholf would later serve as the Commandant of the Coast Guard. After the U.S. Coast Guard was formed in 1915, she was known as USCGC Wissahickon. In 1916, she was transferred to Baltimore, Maryland. The Navy assumed control of her from 6 April 1917 to 28 August 1919 during World War I. On 1 January 1923 she was transferred from Baltimore to New York City, where she remained in service until being decommissioned on 8 May 1935. On 8 May 1935 Wissahickon was decommissioned and later sold.
USRC Alabama, was a wood-hull topsail schooner designed by William Doughty that was commissioned in the United States Revenue Marine from 1819 to 1833. Assigned the homeport of Mobile, Alabama, she sailed the Caribbean extensively with her sister ship, USRC Louisiana and was used mainly in anti-piracy activity.
USRC Louisiana, was a wood hull topsail schooner designed by William Doughty that was commissioned in the United States Revenue Marine from 1819 to 1824. Assigned the homeport of New Orleans, Louisiana, she sailed the Caribbean extensively and was used mainly in anti-piracy activity.
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.
David Henry Jarvis was a captain in the United States Revenue Cutter Service. During the harsh winter of 1897–1898, Jarvis, then serving as a first lieutenant aboard the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear, led the Overland Relief Expedition, bringing a three-man rescue team with a herd of about 400 reindeer across 1,500 miles of tundra and pack-ice to Point Barrow, Alaska, to bring needed food to 265 whalers whose ships had become stranded in the ice off the northern Alaska coast.
The USRC Snohomish was a 152 ft (46 m) seagoing tug built at the specific direction of Congress by Pusey & Jones, Wilmington, Delaware for service on the Pacific Northwest coast. She was fitted with latest lifesaving and property saving equipment available at the time of her construction and originally cost $189,000. She was commissioned by the United States Revenue Cutter Service on 15 November 1908 and arrived at her homeport of Neah Bay, Washington by way of passage around Cape Horn in 1909.
USCGC Unalga (WPG-53) was a Miami-class cutter that served in the United States Revenue Cutter Service and later the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy. The early part of her career was spent patrolling the Pacific coast of the United States and the Bering Sea. After 1931 she did patrol work off Florida and in the Caribbean. After Unalga was sold in 1946, she was renamed after Jewish Agency leader Haim Arlosoroff and used for six months for moving Jewish refugees from Europe to Palestine before being forced to run aground by British Navy ships near Haifa.
USRC Relief, was a revenue cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service in commission from 1867 to at least 1870. She was the first Revenue Cutter Service ship to bear the name.
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.
United States