''Vigilant'' (launched 1791) was one of the original ten cutters employed by the Federal government of the United States which made up the

Revenue Marine ) , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries=4 August , decorations= , battle_honours= , battle_honours_label= , disbanded=28 January 1915 , flying_hours= , website= , commander1= , co ...

, or Revenue Cutter Service, later to become 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, mult ...

Operational history

''Vigilant'' was one of the first ten revenue cutters authorized by Congress and was probably the first cutter launched. She was not, however, the first to enter into active service. The first mention of her on an actual patrol as a revenue cutter was not until 23 December 1791 when her crew boarded a

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as it entered the port of New York, the ''Vigilant''s homeport. Patrick Dennis was appointed the master of the new revenue cutter on 6 October 1790 and oversaw her construction. He served as her commanding officer until his death, of unknown causes, on 9 February 1798. Little documentation survives regarding her service life but she apparently carried out her assigned duties as described above along the

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as far as Albany, in

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itself, along the coastline of New York and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and "through

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except Sagg harbor." There is some remaining information regarding her role in a celebrated naval engagement between the French

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

Ambuscade An ambush is a long-established military tactic in which a combatant uses an advantage of concealment or the element of surprise to attack unsuspecting enemy combatants from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind moun ...

'' and the Royal Navy frigate ''Boston'' during the long war between England and France. On a summer day in 1793 ''Vigilant'' was patrolling off

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when a frigate, flying French colors, ordered the cutter to hove to. Two American prisoners on board the frigate described what happened:

The New York revenue cutter, Captain Dennis, was brought to by the ''Boston''. The frigate under French colours, and the crew having the national
cockade A cockade is a knot of ribbons, or other circular- or oval-shaped symbol of distinctive colours which is usually worn on a hat or cap. Eighteenth century In the 18th and 19th centuries, coloured cockades were used in Europe to show the allegia ...
in their hats. Capt. Cortnay, in French, asked Capt. Dennis, who was not to be deceived, answered that he conceived the ''Boston'' looked more like an English armed vessel than any on the coast. Upon this Capt. Courtnay enquired what French vessels were in New York. Captain Dennis answered that the principal was the ''Ambuscade'' frigate: well, says Courtnay tell Capt. Bompard that I had come all the way from Halifax on purpose to take the ''Ambuscade'' and I shall be very happy to see her out of the way. Shall I tell him that? yet asked Dennis; Yes, to be sure answered the first lieutenant. Capt. Dennis delivered the message to Bompard at the Coffee House.

Bompard accepted the British offer and sailed off to battle ''Boston''. After breaking off the engagement in which ''Boston'' was damaged more severely and her captain killed, ''Ambuscade'' sailed back to New York Harbor. ''Vigilant'' was sold at auction on 14 November 1798 for £348 after it was determined that she was too small and too lightly armed to carry out her assigned duties in the busiest port of the new nation. There is no further documentation regarding her ultimate fate.

References

''Vigilant'', 1791
US Coast Guard website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vigilant First ten Revenue Service cutters 1791 ships