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| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Mary and Helen |
| Port of registry | New Bedford, Massachusetts |
| Builder | Goss, Sawyer & Packard |
| Launched | 17 July 1879 |
| Name | USS Rodgers |
| Namesake | |
| Operator | United States Navy |
| Port of registry | San Francisco, California |
| Commissioned | 30 May 1881 |
| Burned: | 30 November – 2 December 1881 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Steam whaling barque |
| Tonnage | 420 metric tons (413 long tons) |
| Length | 138 feet (42.1 meters) |
| Beam | 30+1⁄4 feet (9.2 meters) |
| Depth of hold | 16+2⁄3 feet (5.1 meters) |
| Speed | 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) |
| Complement | 35 |
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.