First ten Revenue Service cutters

Class overview
OperatorsU.S. Revenue-Marine (later the Revenue Cutter Service)
In serviceJuly 1791 - 1804
In commissionApril 1791-1793 - 1792-1804
Completed10
Retired10
General characteristics
TypeRevenue Marine cutters
Displacement35-55 tons
Length~50 ft
Beam~25 ft
Draft~ 6 ft 6 in
PropulsionSail
ArmamentMuskets, pistols, swivel cannon on some

The first ten Revenue Service cutters were ten oceangoing cutters built at the behest of the 1st United States Congress in the early 1790s to crack down on smuggling. Since the United States Navy had at the time not yet been formed (it was established in 1798), these ten cutters of the newly formed Revenue-Marine therefore represent the United States Government's first official "armed force afloat", as well as being the first seagoing vessels to operate with what would later become the United States Coast Guard.[1]

  1. ^ "Coast Guard History", US Coast Guard historian's office, uscg.mil