USRC Virginia
| Career (United States) |  United States |
|---|---|
| Name: | Virginia |
| Namesake: | Virginia, USA |
| Operator: | Revenue Cutter Service |
| Launched: | 1791 |
| Commissioned: | 1791 |
| Decommissioned: | 1798 |
| Fate: | Sold, 1798 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Schooner |
| Displacement: | 47 Tons |
| Length: | 56 ft 2 in |
| Beam: | 17 ft 6 in |
| Draft: | 6 ft 6 in |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Crew: | 4 officers, 4 enlisted, 2 boys |
USRC Virginia was one of the first ten cutters operated by the United States' Revenue Cutter Service (later to become the US Coast Guard).
Operational service
Virginia was preceded by two state revenue vessels, the Liberty and Patriot, that had active careers on the Chesapeake well before the establishment of the "system of cutters," as the first ten Federal cutters were known. President George Washington appointed Richard Taylor, a veteran of the navy of the state of Virginia who was twice wounded during the Revolution, as master of the Virginia.
As with her sister cutters, little documentation has survived regarding Virginia 's service. It is known that she was ordered to prevent all vessels hailing from Philadelphia, Tobago, or the Grenadines from sailing into the Chesapeake during an outbreak of yellow fever at those locations in 1793. She probably also enforced the Embargo instituted by President Washington in 1794. Enforcing the Embargo included preventing the arming and fitting out of privateers, either French or British, in American ports. Virginia was involved in one such enforcement action when she attempted to seize the French-flagged privateer Unicorn. By this time, Virginia's master, Richard Taylor, had resigned his commission due to his failing physical condition brought on by his war injuries. First Mate John Lurty had taken command of the cutter although for unknown reasons he never received a promotion to the position of master.
Commanding Officers
Richard Taylor of Caroline County, VA; Master; commission dated 21 March 1791.
Crew
- John Lurty of King George County, VA, First Mate, 21 March 1791-
- John Parker, second mate; left service in August 1791.
- William Ham, Second Mate (replaced John Parker), commission dated 13 August 1791.
- Bathhurst Daingerfield, Third Mate, commission dated 13 August 1791.
References
- Virginia, 1791, US Coast Guard website.
- Canney, Donald, 1995: U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.
- Stephen H. Evans, 1949: The United States Coast Guard, 1790-1915: A Definitive History (With a Postscript: 1915-1950). Annapolis: The United States Naval Institute.
- Kern, Florence, 1977: "Swiftness of Sailing": Richard Taylor's U.S. Revenue Cutter Virginia, 1791-1797, Washington, DC: 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).
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