USRC Virginia (1797)

For other ships with the same name, see USRC Virginia.

History
United States
Name	USS Virginia [1]
Namesake	The first English colony in America and one of the original 13 states. [1]
Launched	1797 [1]
Decommissioned	1800
Fate	Returned to Revenue Cutter service.
United States
Name	USRC Virginia [2]
Commissioned	1802 [2]
Fate	Sold in 1807 [2]
General characteristics
Class and type	Schooner [1]
Displacement	187 tons [1]
Length	50 ft (15 m) on Keel
Beam	18 ft 10 in (5.74 m) [1]
Depth of hold	8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) [1]
Propulsion	Sail
Complement	70 officers and enlisted [1]
Armament	6 × 6-pounder cannon 8 × 4-pounder cannon [1]

USRC Virginia was a schooner built in 1797 for the United States Revenue Cutter Service at Portsmouth, Virginia. At the outset of the Quasi-War in 1798, the only ships available to the Navy were the 10 ships of the Revenue cutter service, the largest of which was the Virginia. She was transferred to the Navy in 1798 and served in the Quasi War until 1800, when she was returned to the Revenue Cutter Service, recommissioned in 1802 and sold in 1807.

History

The revenue cutter Virginia was a schooner built in 1797 for the United States Revenue Cutter Service at Portsmouth, Virginia. Her Master was Francis Bright. At the outset of the Quasi-War in 1798, the only ships available to the Navy were the 10 ships of the Revenue Cutter Service, the largest of which was the newly built Virginia. Operational control was transferred to the United States Navy on 25 June. ^[1]

In August 1798, Virginia received orders to join the frigate Constellation off the eastern seaboard of the United States for operations against suspected French warships and merchant ships. She remained on this station until December, when she was assigned identical duty in the West Indies between St. Kitts and Puerto Rico as part of the squadron commanded by Commodore Thomas Truxtun. In addition to cruising with the Navy squadrons, Virginia guarded convoys and relayed messages between fleets. While on duty in the Caribbean, Virginia, assisted by Richmond and Eagle, captured the armed French schooner Louis and her cargo sometime in late April or before 6 May, 1799. ^{[3] [4]}

Despite this success, in a letter dated 3 June 1799 Navy Secretary Benjamin Stoddert notified the Treasury Secretary that he should consider her to be officially transferred back to the U.S.R.C. Service. ^[5] She was refitted and commissioned in the Revenue Cutter service in 1802. She was sold in 1807. ^[2]

Citations

1. "Virginia". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command . Retrieved 26 Feb 2011.
2. "Virginia, 1802". United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
3. Evans 1949 , p. 16
4. "Naval Documents related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France Volume 3 Part 2 of 4 Naval Operations April 1799 to July 1799, May, 1799 Pg. 143" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
5. "Naval Documents related to the Quasi-War Between the United States and France Volume 3 Part 3 of 4 Naval Operations April 1799 to July 1799, June, 1799 Pg. 295" (PDF). U.S. Government printing office via Imbiblio. Retrieved 14 April 2024.

References

• Evans, Stephen Hadley (1949), The United States Coast Guard, 1790-1915; a definitive history, Annapolis, Md.: United States Naval Institute, hdl:2027/uc1.b3358990
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.