USRC Scammel (1791)

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painting of an early Revenue Marine cutter on patrol

Scammel was one of the original ten cutters[a] built and used by the United States Revenue Cutter Service.[b][3] The Schammel was named by Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, after the American Revolutionary War Adjutant general of the army, Alexander Scammell.[4] General Scammell was captured by the British at the Battle of Yorktown and shot.[5] As with the USRC ''General Green'' (1791), the name is misspelled.[4] The Scammel was built at Portsmouth, New Hampshire and launched in 1791. She was used to patrol New England waters.[4]

History[change | change source]

The Scammel was built at Portsmouth but problems delayed her construction. She was not launched until a month after the USRC General Green (1791), on August 24, 1791.[3] She was to be stationed at Portsmouth and her patrol area was from Nantucket, Massachusetts to the Passamaquoddy Bay in Maine.[6] Her first master was Hopley Yeaton, the first seagoing officer to be commissioned in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service.[6] John Parrott was the second mate while John Adams was third mate. Originally Hamilton had some difficulty in finding a first mate when the Scammel went into service. In November 1792, John Adams was promoted to first mate and Benjamin Gunnerson became the new second mate.[7] The first-named cutter Scammel was sold Sold on 16 August 1798.[8]

Description[change | change source]

Scammel was a schooner which was built at a cost of $1,225.65.[8] She displaced about 51 short tons (46 t)[8] She was 57 feet 12 inches (17.68 m) long by 15 feet 8 inches (4.78 m) wide and had a draft of 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m).[9] She had a crew of four officers, four enlisted men and two cabin boys.[8] Her arms included 10 muskets and 20 pistols.[8]

Related pages[change | change source]

Notes[change | change source]

  1. The term cutter came from the boats used by Great Britain's Royal Customs Service.[1] Modern Coast Guard cutters are any larger ship no matter what the type.[1]
  2. Also called the Revenue Marine. Together with the United States Life-Saving Service, the United States Revenue Cutter Service formed the United States Coast Guard on 28 January 1915.[2]

References[change | change source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Eighteenth, Nineteenth & Early Twentieth Century Revenue Cutters". United States Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  2. Robert Scheina. "The Coast Guard At War". United States Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "The First Ten Cutters; The first commissioned U.S. Revenue cutters". United States Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "1790 - 1915: Revenue Cutters, The First Ten". Coast Guard Modeling. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  5. "Alexander Scammell, the Lovesick Revolutionary War Hero". New England Historical Society. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  6. 6.0 6.1 "New England's Hopley Yeaton: Father of the U.S. Coast Guard". New England Historical Society. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  7. Alexander Hamilton, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Harold C. Syrett (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1967), p, 275
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 "Scammel, 1791". United States Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  9. Paul H. Silverstone, The Sailing Navy, 1775-1854 (London; New York: Routledge, 2006), p. 77

Other websites[change | change source]