USS Rodgers (1881)

History
United States
NameMary and Helen
Port of registryNew Bedford, Massachusetts
BuilderGoss, Sawyer & Packard
Launched17 July 1879 (1879-07-17)

NameUSS Rodgers
Namesake
OperatorUnited States Navy
Port of registrySan Francisco, California
Commissioned30 May 1881
Burned30 November – 2 December 1881 (1881-11-30 – 1881-12-02)
General characteristics
Class and typeSteam whaling barque
Tonnage420 metric tons (413 long tons)
Length138 feet (42.1 meters)
Beam30+14 feet (9.2 meters)
Depth of hold16+23 feet (5.1 meters)
Speed7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph)
Complement35

USS Rodgers was an American 420-ton steam whaler. Launched in 1879 as Mary and Helen, she was acquired by the United States Navy after Congress—besieged by constituents as well as government agencies—appropriated $175,000 "to enable the Secretary of the Navy to charter, or purchase, equip, and supply a vessel for the prosecution of a search for the USS Jeannette and such other vessels as might be found to need assistance during said cruise; provided that the vessel be wholly manned by volunteers from the Navy." The "other vessels" of most immediate concern were two whalers, Vigilant and Mount Wollaston missing in the Arctic Ocean since 1879.