THE LONG BLUE LINE
Type: Morris-Taney Class Revenue Cutter
Displacement: 112 tons
Length: 78 feet
Beam: 20.6 feet
Draft: 9.7 feet
Sail plan: Topsail schooner
Crew: 20-24 officers and men
Armament:
- 2 brass 4 pounders
2 brass 6 pounders
Muskets and Boarding Pikes
2 iron 6 pounders
2 iron 2 pounders
The United States Revenue Cutter Hamilton was one of 13 cutters of the Morris-Taney Class to be launched. Named after Secretaries of the Treasury and Presidents of the United States, these cutters were the backbone of the Service for more than a decade. Samuel Humphreys designed these cutters for roles as diverse as fighting pirates, privateers, combating smugglers and operating with naval forces. He designed the vessels on a naval schooner concept. They had Baltimore Clipperlines. The vessels built by Webb and Allen, designed by Isaac Webb, resembled Humphreys' plan, but had one less port.
The Revenue Cutter Hamilton was built in the New York Navy Yard in 1831. Records show that the Cutter Hamilton was built alongside two other cutters by the firm of Webb and Allen.
The Hamilton, the fastest vessel in the class, operated out of Boston for much of her career. She became famous for rescues and saving of property. Josiah Sturgis was her captain for much of this time. She became well known and extremely popular, so much so that music was written entitled the "Hamilton Quick step." The Hamilton transferred to Charleston, South Carolina in 1851. She was wrecked on the Tully Breakers on December 9, 1853 with the loss of fourteen of her fifteen crew.
This newly formed maritime force did not have an official name, it was simply referred to as "the cutters" or "the system of cutters." This small force enforced national laws, in particular, those dealing with tariffs.
The Continental Navy having been disbanded in 1785, there was no United States Navy initially under the Constitution. These cutters were the only maritime force available to the new government. Thus, between 1790 and 1798, the “system of cutters” were the only warships protecting the coast, trade, and maritime interests of the new republic. Hence, the Coast Guard’s status as the United States’ “oldest, continuously serving sea service”
The duties specifically assigned to the cutters and their crews as legislated by Congress and expounded by Alexander Hamilton included:
1. boarding incoming and outgoing vessels and checking their papers (ownership, registration, admeasurement, manifests, etc.)
2. insuring that all cargoes were properly documented
3. sealing the cargo holds of incoming vessels
4. seizing those vessels in violation of the law
Soon other duties, not related to protecting the revenue, were assigned to the service. These included:
1. enforcing quarantine restrictions established by the federal, state or local governments
2. charting the local coastline
3. enforcing the neutrality and embargo acts carrying official (and unofficial) passengers carrying supplies to lighthouse stations other duties as assigned by the collector of customs
Their primary purpose, however, was to protect the revenue of the new nation by deterring smuggling. That meant sailing out of the ports to which they were assigned and intercepting vessels before they came too close to the shore. It was here, well out of the harbor but within sight of the coast, that smugglers unloaded part of their cargoes into smaller "coaster" vessels or directly onshore to avoid customs duties. The collectors usually had smaller boats that could check vessels as they sailed into port.
These cutters, therefore, were not harbor vessels; they were designed to sail out to sea, survive in heavy weather, and sail swiftly so that they might overtake most merchant vessels. They were the nation's first line of defense against attempts to circumvent the new nation's duties, the country's major source of income during this period.
