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.
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.
United States Coast Guard Cutter is the term used by the U.S. Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. They are 65 feet (19.8 m) or greater in length and have a permanently assigned crew with accommodations aboard. They carry the ship prefix USCGC.
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 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 Eagle was one of the first ten cutters operated by the United States Revenue-Marine, which later became the United States Revenue Cutter Service and later still became part of the United States Coast Guard.
Hopley Yeaton was the first officer commissioned under the Constitution of the United States by George Washington into the Revenue Marine, one of the forerunners of the modern-day United States Coast Guard. The Coast Guard was created when Congress merged the Revenue Cutter Service with the U.S. Lifesaving Service in 1915.
USRC Gallatin, was a Gallatin–class revenue cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service in commission from 1874 to 1892. The fourth ship of the Revenue Cutter Service to bear the name, she was named for the fourth U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin.
USRC Salmon P. Chase was named after Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon Portland Chase. It was a three-masted bark with a hull length of 106 feet that was designed for use as a training ship for the cadets of the Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction.
USRC Scammel or sometimes referred to as Scammel II was a Revenue Cutter built in 1798 to serve in the Quasi-War with France. After completion she was transferred to the U.S. Navy and served in the West Indies naval squadron commanded by Commodore John Barry. She assisted the sloop USS Portsmouth in the capture of the French ship Hussar. After the war, the Navy retained Scammel until it was sold in 1801.
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 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.
USRC Richard Rush was a Dexter-class cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service which served in the coastal waters of the western United States and the Department of Alaska.
USRC Resolute, was a revenue cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service in commission from 1867 to 1872. She was the only Revenue Cutter Service ship to bear the name.
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