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![Ensign of the United States Revenue-Marine (1799)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Ensign_of_the_United_States_Revenue-Marine_%281799%29.png)
, identification_symbol_label=Ensign (1799)
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![Ensign of the United States Revenue-Marine (1815)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Ensign_of_the_United_States_Revenue-Marine_%281815%29.png)
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![Ensign of the United States Revenue-Marine (1836)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Ensign_of_the_United_States_Revenue-Marine_%281836%29.png)
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![Ensign of the United States Revenue-Marine (1841)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Ensign_of_the_United_States_Revenue-Marine_%281841%29.png)
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![Ensign of the United States Revenue-Marine (1868)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Ensign_of_the_United_States_Revenue-Marine_%281868%29.png)
, identification_symbol_6_label=Ensign (1868)
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
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charle ...
to serve as an armed
customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, 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
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 ...
. 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
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...
.
Background and establishment
Immediately after the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
the new
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
was struggling to stay afloat financially. National income was desperately needed, and the government determined that a great deal of this income would come from
tariff
A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...
s on imports. Because of rampant
smuggling
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are variou ...
, the need was immediate for strong enforcement of tariff laws. On 4 August 1790, the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
, urged on by
Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charle ...
, created the Revenue-Marine, later renamed the Revenue Cutter Service by act of 31 July 1894 (28 Stat. 171).
[National Archives][1790 Tariff Act, Historic Documents & Publications, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office]
A
cutter vessel is a small or medium-sized boat or sailing ship, built for speed and with a shallow draught. While some larger cutters had two or three masts, many cutters had only one, located more centrally on the ship than was typical of larger vessels. In modern times, any naval ship built for speed and agility is still referred to as a cutter.
Under the enabling legislation that authorized the Revenue-Marine, the
"System of Cutters", consisting of ten vessels were initially ordered and constructed.
[Evans, p 6] Two
cutters were to be assigned to "the coasts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire; one for Long Island Sound; one for New York; one for the Bay of Delaware; two for the Chesapeake (these of course to ply along the neighboring coasts); one for North Carolina; and one for Georgia".
[Evans, p 5] On 21 March 1791 the first seven
masters were commissioned by President George Washington. Among those commissioned were
Hopley Yeaton and
John Foster Williams of Massachusetts, Jonathan Maltbie of Connecticut, Patrick Dennis of New York, James Montgomery of Pennsylvania, Simon Gross of Maryland, and Richard Taylor of Virginia. William Cooke of North Carolina was commissioned on 25 April 1791, Robert Cochrane of South Carolina on 8 May 1791, and 20 May 1791 John Howell of Georgia.
[King (1989), p 8] Each cutter was constructed where it was to be assigned; a move by Hamilton to satisfy members of Congress and gain their votes for the establishment of the service.
[King (1989), p 10] Washington suggested to Hamilton that it would be advantageous to have each master supervise the construction of his own cutter; a suggestion that Hamilton put into use along with a limitation that each cutter cost no more than 1,000.
Hamilton's cost restrictions proved unrealistic for three of the new cutters, cost 2,050, cost 1,255, and cost over 1,500.
[King (1989), pp 13–14]
The same legislation that established the ten original cutters also provided for the complement and pay scales of the crew of each vessel. Each vessel was provided with a master with pay set at $30 per month and three mates at $20, $16, and $14, respectively. In addition each cutter was allowed four mariners at $8 apiece and two boys at $4.
[
]
History
Early missions
Between 1790 and 1798, the Revenue-Marine was the only armed maritime service of the United States, as the Navy had been disbanded. Each cutter master was answerable to and received his sailing orders directly from the Collector of Customs of the port to which his ship was assigned. All crew pay, requests for supplies, arrangements for repairs to the cutter, and mission-specific tasking came directly from the port's Customs House
A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...
. After the Slave Trade Act of 1794 was enacted, the Revenue-Marine began intercepting slave ships illegally importing slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
into the United States.
This was the case from 1791 to 1871, except for the period 1843–49, when oversight was vested in the Revenue Marine Division of the Treasury Department.(Needs Citation) Standing orders for individual cutters were stated in general terms, allowing captains to exercise their discretion and judgment to the fullest. Captains also had far-reaching authority "to seize vessels and goods in the cases in which they are liable to seizure for breaches of the Revenue laws" and to send inspection parties aboard vessels already in port to ensure that cargo intended for export also did not violate revenue laws. Yet despite this considerable authority, Alexander Hamilton, in his first letter of instruction to the captains, had specifically directed that they "will always keep in mind that their countrymen are freemen, and, as such, are impatient of everything that bears the least mark of a domineering spirit. ... They will endeavor to overcome difficulties, if any are experienced, by a cool and temperate perseverance in their duty – by address and moderation, rather than by vehemence or violence."[Evans, p 8]
Quasi-War with France
During the Quasi-War with France from 1798 to 1801, the U.S. Navy was formed and the Revenue-Marine fought alongside the Navy, capturing or assisting in the capture of 20 French ships. Ten of these were captured by the USRC ''Pickering''.
Revenue cutters were assigned to enforce the very unpopular Embargo Act
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 repr ...
of 1807, which outlawed nearly all European trade, import and export, through American ports. The Act was enforced until it was repealed in 1808.
The War of 1812
In wartime, the Revenue Marine was placed under the command of the U.S. Navy, and the cutters themselves were often placed into military service. made the first American capture of an enemy ship in the War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...
, the brig ''Patriot'', in June 1812.[Rachlis, p. 26]
On 3 August 1812, the boats of the British frigates and captured the 6-gun revenue cutter in the Little River, Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is t ...
, together with three privateer schooners, ''Madison'', ''Olive'', and ''Spence'' (or ''Spruce'').
Then on 22 August 1812, , under the command of Captain Thomas Huskisson, captured the USRC ''James Madison'' after a chase of seven hours. The cutter was pierced for fourteen guns but had only ten mounted, two of which she threw overboard to lighten her during the chase. She had a crew of 65 men and was seven days out of Savannah, but had made no captures. Huskisson described her: " he iscoppered and copper-fastened, is two years old, and sails remarkably fast."
On the night of 12 June 1813, the small cutter ''Surveyor'', with a crew of 16 and an armament of only six carronade
A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main funct ...
s, was anchored in the York River (Virginia), when a 90-man boarding party from the frigate attacked her. The attack came from an angle at which ''Surveyor'' could not use her carronades. However, the Revenue Marine seamen, under Captain William S. Travis, each was armed with two muskets and held their fire until the British boats were upon them. After a fierce hand-to-hand fight that left five Americans wounded and three British dead and five wounded, the British succeeded in taking ''Surveyor''. Lieutenant Cririe, first lieutenant
First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment.
The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...
of ''Narcissus'' and commander of the boats, returned Captain Travis's sword to him—an unusual gesture of respect—for his "gallant defense" of ''Surveyor''.USCG
/ref>
On 11 October 1814, the cutter ''Eagle'' encountered ''Narcissus'', and the , which was guarding the ''Suzan'', a captured American merchant ship. The British ship badly outgunned ''Eagle'', which was pierced for 10 guns but only had two mounted. Captain Frederick Lee beached ''Eagle'' on Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...
to avoid being sunk. Not yet defeated, the Revenue Marine seamen removed the guns from ''Eagle'', hoisted them up a 160-foot bluff, dragged them into position, and continued firing at ''Dispatch''. The British sent in boats to capture ''Eagle''.[ When the Americans ran out of cannonballs, they still did not surrender, instead retrieving the cannonballs fired at them by ''Dispatch'' and shooting them back. Even after being forced to use the ship's logbook for ]wadding
Wadding is a disc of material used in guns to seal gas behind a projectile (a bullet or ball), or to separate the propellant from loosely packed shots.
Wadding can be crucial to a gun's efficiency, since any gas that leaks past a projectile as i ...
, the crew, together with local militia, continued to fight. Eventually, the British retrieved ''Eagle'' and took her away.[
]
Counter-piracy operations
After the War of 1812, British and Spanish sea power in the Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
and Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
weakened, allowing a resurgence of piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
along the Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coast, coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states that have a shor ...
. Revenue cutters were dispatched to fight the pirates. In 1819, the one-gun schooners USRC ''Alabama'' and USRC ''Louisiana'' fought two engagements
An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
with pirates, one on the open sea and another at Breton Island, Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
. On 19 July 1820, ''Alabama'' captured four pirate ships off La Balize. In 1822, with USS ''Peacock'' and HMS ''Speedwell'', ''Alabama'' engaged
An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
pirates again, which resulted in the taking of five more pirate ships.
In 1832, Secretary of the Treasury Louis McLane
Louis McLane (May 28, 1786 – October 7, 1857) was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware, and Baltimore, Maryland. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, a member of the Federalist Party and later th ...
issued written orders for revenue cutters to conduct winter cruises to assist mariners in need, and Congress made the practice an official part of regulations in 1837. This was the beginning of the life-saving mission for which the later U.S. Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...
would be best known worldwide.
Mexican–American War
Revenue-Marine cutters again served under the U.S. Navy in the Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
of 1846–1848. The cutters were crucial for shallow-water amphibious assault
Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...
s.
American Civil War
On 11 April 1861, the USRC ''Harriet Lane'' fired the first shots of the maritime conflict in the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
of 1861–1865. The cutter fired a shot across the bow of the civilian steamship ''Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
'' as it tried to enter Charleston Harbor during the bombardment of Fort Sumter because ''Nashville'' was flying no identifying flag. The civilian ship then promptly raised the U.S. standard, and ''Harriet Lane'' broke off.
President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
issued the following order to Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase
Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...
on 14 June 1863: "You will co-operate by the revenue cutters under your direction with the navy in arresting rebel depredations on American commerce and transportation and in capturing rebels engaged therein."
Revenue cutters assisted U.S. Navy operations throughout the war. ''Harriet Lane'' joined a federal naval squadron to capture Fort Clark and Fort Hatteras, which served as bases for Confederate blockade runners. USRC ''E.A. Stevens'', a prototype 110-foot semi-submersible ironclad gunboat, in company with USS ''Monitor'', USS ''Galena'', and two other gunboats, participated in the unsuccessful sortie up the James River to Drewry's Bluff to attack the Confederate capital at Richmond. After carrying President Lincoln from Washington on 9 May 1862, USRC ''Miami'' assisted navy transports in landing federal troops at Ocean View, Virginia
Ocean View is a coastal region in the independent city of Norfolk, Virginia in the United States. It has several miles of shoreline on the Chesapeake Bay to the north, starting with Willoughby Spit to the west and the Joint Expeditionary Base -- L ...
.
In June 1863, in an incident known as the "Battle of Portland Harbor
The Battle of Portland Harbor was an incident during the American Civil War, in June 1863, in the waters off Portland, Maine. Two civilian ships engaged two vessels under Confederate States Navy employment.
Background
Around June 24, a Confed ...
", the revenue cutter ''Caleb Cushing'' was captured by Confederate raiders, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Read, CSN, from the CSS ''Tacony''. The ''Cushing'' was pursued by two civilian ships carrying a detachment of soldiers from Fort Preble
Fort Preble was a military fort in South Portland, Maine, United States, built in 1808 and progressively added to through 1906. The fort was active during all major wars from the War of 1812 through World War II. The fort was deactivated in 1950 ...
and a number of civilian volunteers. Seeing that capture was imminent, the Confederates abandoned the ''Cushing'' in a lifeboat after setting her on fire. The Confederates were captured but the ''Cushing'' was destroyed when the gunpowder on the ship detonated.
After President Lincoln was assassinated on 15 April 1865, revenue cutters were ordered to search all ships for any conspirators who might be trying to escape.
Post–Civil War operations
The increase in coastal trade along the Atlantic seaboard after the civil war and the purchase of Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
in 1867 had a significant impact on the development of the Revenue Cutter Service.[King (1996), p 5] Demands by the public to do something about losses in lives and property at sea prompted Secretary of the Treasury George S. Boutwell, under President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
, to reorganize the service. He appointed N. Broughton Devereux on 1 July 1869 as chief of an interim Revenue Marine Bureau that included the Revenue Cutter Service, the Steamboat Inspection Service, the Marine Hospital Service and the Life-Saving Service. Devereaux appointed two boards to study the problems facing the service; one investigated personnel requirements, the other analyzed the requirements for the cutter fleet.
The fleet board produced a study that was presented to Congress on 26 May 1870, the result of which was that of the twenty-four steaming cutters in the service, four were harbor tugs, six were stationed on the Great Lakes and the remaining steaming cutters were stationed in the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The harbor tugs were left where they were stationed and all of the lake cutters were recommended for repair and stayed located where they were except for one which was home-ported in a different city. All of the steaming coastal cutters except for two were a successful side-wheel design which were retained. The board recommended keeping only one of the propeller driven steam cutters, the USRC ''Mahoning''. Of the twelve sail cutters in the fleet, only five of the most seaworthy were recommended by the board to be retained. Devereaux's report to Congress included a request for four new steam cutters: a large propeller-driven ship, a large side-wheeler and two smaller side-wheelers. Recommendations were made as to the types of engines to be used on various cutters and all were to be equipped with sails to save on coal consumption. Additionally, Devereaux requested $125,000 to cover the unexpected costs of operating cutters ''Lincoln'', ''Wayanda'' and ''Reliance'' in Alaskan waters during 1869.[King (1996), pp 6–7]
The personnel board that Devereaux convened found that the Revenue Cutter Service was rife with abuses through the political control by customs collectors in the ports where the cutters were assigned. It was possible under the structure in place at the time to be appointed by the customs collector to the captaincy of a cutter without having ever served aboard a ship.[King (1996), p. 9]
Although the Department of the Treasury remained in charge of the service throughout the 19th century, its conventional organization was resumed after the war, with cutters reporting to local customs officials. A new Revenue Marine Division was established in 1871, which became the United States Revenue Cutter Service by an act of 31 July 1894 (28 Stat. 171).
During the harsh winter of 1897–1898, Lieutenant David H. Jarvis
David Henry Jarvis (August 24, 1862 – June 23, 1911) Bagley, pp 416–417Wickersham, p 247 was a captain in the United States Revenue Cutter Service. During the harsh winter of 1897–1898, Jarvis, then serving as a first lieutenant abo ...
of USRC ''Bear'' led a relief party to 265 whalers whose ships had been stranded in the ice off the northern coast of Alaska.[King (1996), pp 94–107]
Spanish–American War
With the outbreak of the Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
in 1898, the Revenue Cutter Service saw plenty of action in both the Cuban and Philippine theaters. Many revenue cutters were assigned to the blockade
A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force.
A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are leg ...
of Havana Harbor
Havana Harbor is the port of Havana, the capital of Cuba, and it is the main port in Cuba (not including Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, a territory on lease by the United States). Other port cities in Cuba include Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Manzanillo, ...
. During the Battle of Manila Bay
The Battle of Manila Bay ( fil, Labanan sa Look ng Maynila; es, Batalla de Bahía de Manila), also known as the Battle of Cavite, took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish–American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore ...
on 1 May 1898, USRC ''Hugh McCulloch'' fought with the American squadron under Commodore George Dewey
George Dewey (December 26, 1837January 16, 1917) was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, with ...
.
On 11 May 1898, , equipped with two 6-pounder (3 kg) guns and a machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
, took part in the Battle of Cárdenas off the coast of Cárdenas, Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. Together with Navy torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...
, ''Hudson'' fought against a Spanish gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-ste ...
and coastal batteries until forced to withdraw. Under extremely heavy fire, ''Hudson'' towed the disabled ''Winslow'' away from the battle. Congress awarded Frank H. Newcomb, the captain of ''Hudson'', a Congressional Gold Medal
The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...
for his bravery.
Officer rank structure
From the establishment of the Revenue Cutter Service in 1790 until 1799 the officers of the service were called "master" and "mate"; the same terms for officers used on merchant ships.[ Initially, the masters and mates were commissioned "officers of the customs" under the act, rather than commissioned military officers. The system of cutters authorized by Congress in the 1790 act authorized 10 cutters to be constructed. Each cutter was to be crewed by the master, first, second, and third mates as well as four "mariners" and two "boys"][Evans, pp 5–6] Congress established a military rank structure for the Revenue Cutter Service in a 2 March 1799 act which authorized the use of the terms "captain" and "lieutenant".[Johnson, p16][Larzelere, p 16]
The ranks of officers in the Revenue Cutter Service, and later the US Coast Guard, were not made comparable to Navy ranks until 1922.[ However Navy officers started to complain in 1834 when Revenue Cutter officer's uniforms started to resemble Navy uniforms.
In 1908, Congress established the rank of "captain-commandant" equal to the rank of a U.S. Navy captain and also the rank of "senior captain" equal to a commander. The position of "chief engineer" was established ranking with that of senior captain.][Johnson, p 17]
Formation of the U.S. Coast Guard
President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the Coast Guard Act on 28 January 1915. This act combined the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service with the United States Life-Saving Service to form the new United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...
. The U.S. Coast Guard assumed the responsibilities of the United States Lighthouse Service
The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the United States Government and the general lighthouse authority for the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 as the successor of t ...
in 1939 and the Navigation and Steamboat Inspection Service in 1942.
In 1990, the Commandant of the Coast Guard
The commandant of the Coast Guard is the service chief and highest-ranking member of the United States Coast Guard. The commandant is an admiral, appointed for a four-year term by the president of the United States upon confirmation by the Uni ...
, Admiral Paul A. Yost Jr. established a military award known as the Coast Guard Bicentennial Unit Commendation
The Coast Guard Bicentennial Unit Commendation was a unit award of the United States Coast Guard which was awarded to all active, reserve, auxiliary, and civilian personnel of the Coast Guard for service from March 1989 to October 1989.
The awar ...
, which commemorated the original founding of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service.["Citation for Coast Guard Bicentennial Unit Commendation", United States Coast Guard]
See also
* History of the United States Coast Guard
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 S ...
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References cited
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External links
www.uscg.mil/history
nbsp;— United States Coast Guard Historian's Office
{{Authority control
Military history of the United States
1790 establishments in the United States
Defunct agencies of the United States government
1915 disestablishments in the United States
History of the United States Coast Guard