USRC ''Tahoma'', was a steel-hull flush deck cutter that served in the United States Revenue Cutter Service from 1909 to 1914 with the Bering Sea Patrol and was the sister ship to the USRC ''Yamacraw''.

Commissioning and trip to homeport

USRC ''Tahoma'' was launched on 10 October 1908 by New York Shipbuilding at

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

. She was commissioned into the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service after outfitting at Arundel Cove, Maryland on 25 March 1909. Since she was to serve with the

Bering Sea Patrol The United States Coast Guard is the coastal defense, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement branch of the United States Armed Forces and is one of the country's eight uniformed services. It carries out three basic roles, which are furth ...

, she made the trip across the Atlantic Ocean and made a coaling stop at the

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. While visiting

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she received orders from the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

to steam to Alexandrette in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

to help calm American expatriate nerves during local civil unrest. ''Tahoma'' remained off the Ottoman coast for 13 days before resuming a course for the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

. After making port calls at several locations in the Pacific Ocean, she arrived at

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, on 23 August 1909.

Bering Sea Patrol and sinking

The ''Tahoma'' participated in the Bering Sea Patrol along the Alaskan coast each summer enforcing fisheries regulations and assisting with search and rescue missions. She spent the winter months at her home port, Port Townsend, and underwent refits. After the steamer ''Yukon'' was wrecked on

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in the eastern

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on 11 June 1913, ''Tahoma'' came to her assistance and rescued the 45 people who had been aboard ''Yukon''.alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (Y)
/ref> On 20 September 1914, ''Tahoma'' struck an uncharted

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

in the Aleutians and sank. All hands managed to get off the sinking ship safely in boats and were picked up by the merchant steamer ''Cordova'' and the

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (abbreviated USC&GS), known from 1807 to 1836 as the Survey of the Coast and from 1836 until 1878 as the United States Coast Survey, was the first scientific agency of the United States Government. It ...

survey ship A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purpo ...

USC&GS ''Carlile P. Patterson''.

References

* U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790–1935, Donald L. Canney, U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1995,
United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: ''Tahoma'', 1909
Includes Captain Crisp's account of the wreck.
Wreck of the USRC Tahoma
''The Master, mate and pilot v 7'' (8) p 281 February 1915 * USC&GS Patterson logbook entrie
26 Sept 1914, p. 126 Sept 1914, p. 228 Sept 1914, p. 2List of Tahoma survivors carried by Patterson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tahoma Ships of the United States Revenue Cutter Service Ships of the United States Coast Guard Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation 1909 ships Maritime incidents in September 1914 Ships sunk with no fatalities Shipwrecks in the Bering Sea

Commissioning and trip to homeport

Bering Sea Patrol and sinking

See also

References