| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Virginia |
| Namesake | Virginia |
| Operator | Revenue Cutter Service |
| Launched | 1791 |
| Commissioned | 1791 |
| Decommissioned | 1798 |
| Fate | Sold, 1798 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Schooner |
| Displacement | 47 Tons |
| Length | 56 ft 2 in |
| Beam | 17 ft 6 in |
| Draft | 6 ft 6 in |
| Propulsion | Sail |
| Crew | 4 officers, 4 enlisted, 2 boys |
USRC Virginia was one of the first ten cutters operated by the United States' Revenue Cutter Service (later to become the US Coast Guard).
Virginia was preceded by two state revenue vessels, the Liberty and Patriot, that had active careers on Chesapeake Bay well before the establishment of the "system of cutters," as the first ten Federal cutters were known. President George Washington appointed Richard Taylor, a veteran of the navy of the state of Virginia who was twice wounded during the American Revolutionary War, as master of the Virginia.
As with her sister cutters, little documentation has survived regarding Virginia's service. It is known that she was ordered to prevent all vessels hailing from Philadelphia, Tobago, or the Grenadines from sailing into Chesapeake Bay during an outbreak of yellow fever at those locations in 1793. She probably also enforced the Embargo instituted by President Washington in 1794. Enforcing the Embargo included preventing the arming and fitting out of privateers, either French or British, in American ports. Virginia was involved in one such enforcement action when she attempted to seize the French-flagged privateer Unicorn. By this time, Virginia's master, Richard Taylor, had resigned his commission due to his failing physical condition brought on by his war injuries. First Mate John Lurty had taken command of the cutter although for unknown reasons he never received a promotion to the position of master.
The Embargo Act of 1807 was a general trade embargo on all foreign nations that was enacted by the United States Congress. As a successor or replacement law for the 1806 Non-importation Act and passed as the Napoleonic Wars continued, it represented an escalation of attempts to coerce Britain to stop any impressment of American sailors and to respect American sovereignty and neutrality but also attempted to pressure France and other nations in the pursuit of general diplomatic and economic leverage.
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.
USRC Windom was a revenue cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service and United States Coast Guard that served from 1896 to 1930. She was named for William Windom, the 33rd and 39th United States Secretary of the Treasury. She served during the Spanish–American War with the United States Navy. Windom was recommissioned as USCGC Comanche in 1915 and again served with the Navy as USS Comanche during World War I.
Washington was a revenue cutter that served in the United States Revenue Cutter Service and in the United States Navy. She discovered, boarded and captured La Amistad after the slaves onboard had seized control of that schooner in an 1839 mutiny.
The history of the United States Coast Guard goes back to the United States Revenue Cutter Service, which was founded on 4 August 1790 as part of the Department of the Treasury. The Revenue Cutter Service and the United States Life-Saving Service were merged to become the Coast Guard per 14 U.S.C. § 1 which states: "The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times." In 1939, the United States Lighthouse Service was merged into the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard itself was moved to the Department of Transportation in 1967, and on 01 March 2003 it became part of the Department of Homeland Security. However, under 14 U.S.C. § 3 as amended by section 211 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, upon the declaration of war and when Congress so directs in the declaration, or when the President directs, the Coast Guard operates as a service in the Department of the Navy.
USS Gallatin (1807) was a post-Revolutionary War sailing vessel that the U.S. Department of the Treasury purchased at Norfolk, Virginia, for the United States Revenue-Marine in December 1807. An explosion on board destroyed her in 1813.
The United States Revenue Cutter Jackson was one of 13 cutters of the Morris-Taney Class to be launched. Named after Secretaries of the Treasury and Presidents of the United States, these cutters were the backbone of the 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 General Green was one of the first ten cutters operated by the US 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 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.
USRC Eagle was one of the first ten cutters operated by the United States' Revenue Cutter Service.
The first ten Revenue Service cutters were ten oceangoing cutters built at the behest of the 1st United States Congress in the early 1790s to crack down on smuggling. Since the United States Navy had at the time not yet been formed, these ten cutters of the newly formed Revenue Marine therefore represent the United States Government's first official "armed force afloat", as well as being the first seagoing vessels to operate with what would later become the United States Coast Guard.
USS Viper – commissioned as USS Ferret – was a brig serving the United States Navy during the early days of the republic. Viper was assigned to enforce the Embargo Act of 1807 along the U.S. East Coast. During the War of 1812, while cruising in the Caribbean, she was captured by the more heavily armed British warships. She then served the Royal Navy as HMS Mohawk until the Navy sold her in 1814. While in British service she served in several actions that earned her crew the Naval General Service Medal,
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 Forward was a revenue cutter constructed for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service in 1882 by Pusey & Jones shipyard in Wilmington, Delaware. She was the second Revenue Cutter Service vessel named Forward and was named for Walter Forward, the fifteenth United States Secretary of the Treasury. The iron-hulled vessel originally cost US$72,750 and was powered by a two-cylinder steam engine with a topsail schooner brigantine sail pattern. Although Forward was considered a model ship at the time of its construction, it was severely underpowered and had unreliable machinery. The cost of repairs in the first fifteen years of operation was US$52,000.
The West Indies Anti-Piracy Operations refer to the United States Navy presence in the Antilles, and surrounding waters, which fought against pirates. Between 1817 and 1825, the American West Indies Squadron constantly pursued pirates on sea and land, primarily around Cuba and Puerto Rico. After the capture of Roberto Cofresi in 1825, acts of piracy became rare and the operation was considered a success although limited occurrences went on until slightly after the start of the 20th-century.
USRC Commodore Barry was a vessel that the US Revenue Cutter Service bought in 1812, before the outbreak of the War of 1812. The British captured her in August of the same year. She served briefly in November as a privateer out of Saint John, New Brunswick under the name Brunswicker before being laid up that same month. She was sold in 1815.
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.
USRCSurveyor was a ship of the United States Revenue Marine captured by the United Kingdom during the War of 1812. Despite the vessel's loss, the "gallant and desperate" defense of her crew against a superior force of the Royal Navy and the Corps of Royal Marines is commemorated by the United States Coast Guard. Along with the Royal Navy frigate which bested her in battle, HMS Narcissus, Surveyor is among six legendary ships memorialized in the lyrics of the Coast Guard march "Semper Paratus".