USRC South Carolina
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USRC ''South Carolina'' was one of the first ten cutters operated by the United States'
Revenue Cutter Service ) , 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 ...
(later to become the
US 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, multi ...
).


Operational service

''South Carolina'' was not launched until 1793, however, due to the recalcitrance of state officials who were loath to support or enforce the United States' customs and navigation laws. Nevertheless, Cochran drew his pay during the time of her construction and so therefore probably chartered a private vessel to conduct patrols until the ''South Carolina'' entered service. Little is known about this cutter other than that she was a
schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
38 tons burthen. Her journals and official correspondence have not survived and there is little mention of her in local papers. The only incident that garnered published notice was when the governor ordered the cutter to transport a company of soldiers (artillerymen from Fort Johnson) down the waterway to protect a stranded British merchant vessel, the ''Aracabessa'', from another vessel that may have been a French
privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
. By the time the cutter got underway and arrived at the scene, ''Aracabessa'' was burning from stem to stern. The privateer was nowhere to be seen and later captured two American vessels further out to sea. The ''South Carolina State Gazette'' noted:
On Tuesday, the 17th inst. 797when the Revenue Cutter was ordered by the governor to go down to five
fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an International Standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally-accepted non-SI unit. Hi ...
hole to protect the English ship ''Oracabessa'' from the French pirate who burned her, a detachment of 20 of Capt. Kaldensen's corps of Artillerists was put on board. By the time they got to Cumming's Point only five of the 20, and the commanding officer, Lieut. Robertson, were able to keep their feet, all the remainder were thrown down with sea sickness -- a clear proof that we stand in need of other marines for our celebrated cutter than the artillerists of a fort.
It would be a few years before the
Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
and the Revenue cutters cooperated but the suggestion was prescient. Depredations such as that which befell ''Aracabessa'' and the American merchant ships, among others, did motivate the government to begin building a navy. ''South Carolina'' was sold on 5 June 1798 to Captain Oliver Pendleton for $630.00.


References


''South Carolina'', 1793
US Coast Guard website. *Canney, Donald, 1995: ''U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935''. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. *Kern, Florence, 1978: ''Robert Cochran's U.S. Revenue Cutter South Carolina, 1793-1798: A 38-Ton Schooner'', Washington, D.C.: Alised Enterprises. *U.S. Coast Guard, 1934: ''Record of Movements: Vessels of the United States Coast Guard: 1790 - December 31, 1933'', Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office (reprinted 1989). {{DEFAULTSORT:South Carolina First ten Revenue Service cutters 1793 ships