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United States Coast Guard Cutter

{{short description|Commissioned vessel of the U.S. Coast Guard}}

{{distinguish|text=United States Coast Guard Cutters hockey team}}

File:WMEC Harriet Lane.jpg, a Medium Endurance Cutter (WMEC)]]

United States Coast Guard Cutter is the term used by the U.S. Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. They are {{convert|65|ft|m|1}} or greater in length and have a permanently assigned crew with accommodations aboard.{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://www.history.uscg.mil/Frequently-Asked-Questions/ |website=U.S. Coast Guard Historic Topics |publisher=U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office |access-date=3 March 2023}}{{cite book|last=Cutler|first=Deborah W. and Thomas J. Cutler|title=Dictionary of Naval Terms|year=2005|publisher=Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=978-1-59114-150-1|page=65}} They carry the ship prefix USCGC.

History of the USCG cutters

The Revenue Marine and the Revenue Cutter Service, as it was known variously throughout the late 18th and the 19th centuries, referred to its ships as cutters. The term is English in origin and refers to a specific type of vessel, namely, "a small, decked ship with one mast and bowsprit, with a gaff mainsail on a boom, a square yard and topsail, and two jibs or a jib and a staysail."Peter Kemp, editor, The Oxford Companion to Ships & the Sea; London: Oxford University Press, 1976; pp. 221-222. With general usage, that term came to define any vessel of the United Kingdom's HM Customs and Excise and the term was adopted by the U.S. Treasury Department at the creation of what would become the Revenue Marine. Since that time, no matter what the vessel type, the service has referred to its vessels with permanently assigned crews as cutters.

=First ten cutters=

In 1790, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, to create a maritime service to enforce customs laws (1 Stat. L. 145, 175; 4 August 1790). Alternatively known as the system of cutters, Revenue Service, and Revenue-Marine this service was officially named the Revenue Cutter Service (12 Stat. L., 639) in 1863. This service was placed under the control of the Treasury Department. The first ten cutters were:{{cite book |last=Willoughby |first=Malcolm F. |title =The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II |url=https://archive.org/details/uscoastguardinw00will |url-access=registration |publisher =United States Naval Institute |date =1957 |location =Annapolis, Maryland |page =[https://archive.org/details/uscoastguardinw00will/page/3 3] }}

File:USRC Massachusetts (1791).jpg (possibly USRC Massachusetts )]]

Current USCG cutter classes and types

File:USCGCPolarSea.jpg

File:WLIC Saginaw.jpg Saginaw]]

Historic USCG cutter classes and types

File:WLB Firebush.jpg]]

File:WDE Durant.jpg]]

  • 378' High endurance cutter (WHEC)
  • 327' {{sclass2|Treasury|cutter|1}} (WPG)
  • 311' {{sclass|Casco|cutter|1}} (WAVP)
  • 306' {{sclass|Edsall|cutter|1}} (WDE)
  • 269' {{sclass2|Wind|icebreaker|1}} (WAGB)
  • 255' {{sclass|Owasco|cutter|1}}
  • 250' {{sclass2|Lake|cutter|1}}
  • 240' {{sclass|Tampa|cutter|1}}
  • 230' Light Icebreaker, redesignated Medium Endurance Cutter (WMEC)
  • 213' {{sclass|Diver|rescue and salvage ship|1}}
  • 213' Medium Endurance Cutter (WMEC)
  • 205' {{sclass|Cherokee|fleet tug|1}}, converted to (WAT) cutter, redesignated (WMEC)
  • 180' Seagoing buoy tender (WLB)
  • 180' Oceanographic vessel (WAGO)
  • 165' {{sclass|Thetis|patrol boat}}
  • 165' {{sclass|Algonquin|patrol boat|1}}
  • 165' {{sclass|Tallapoosa|boat|1}}
  • 157' {{sclass2|Red|coastal buoy tender}} (WLM)
  • 133' {{sclass2|White|coastal buoy tender}} (WLM)
  • 125' {{sclass|Active|patrol boat|1}} (WSC)
  • 123' Patrol boat (Deepwater Modified) (WPB)
  • 110' {{sclass|Calumet|harbor tug}} (WYTM)
  • 110' {{sclass|Apalachee|harbor tug|1}} (WYTM)
  • 110' {{sclass|Manitou|harbor tug|1}} (WYTM)
  • 95' {{sclass2|Cape|cutter|1}} (WPB)
  • 82' {{sclass2|Point|cutter|1}} (WPB)

See also

Notes

{{reflist}}

{{US Coast Guard navbox}}

{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries}}

Category:Ship types

Category:Ship prefixes