USS Washington at left and La Amistad
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Washington |
Namesake | Peter G. Washington |
Ordered | 6 July 1837 |
Christened | 1 August 1837 |
Completed | 1837. |
Commissioned | before November 1837 |
Decommissioned | after June 1861 |
Fate |
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General characteristics | |
Displacement | 190 tons |
Length | 91 ft 2 in (27.79 m) |
Beam | 21 ft 2 in (6.45 m) |
Propulsion | Sail. |
Sail plan | Topsail schooner; re-rigged as a brig in 1838 |
Armament | 10 guns (pre-1860); 1 × 42-pound pivot (1860) |
Washington was a revenue cutter that served in the United States Revenue-Marine and in the United States Navy.[1] She discovered, boarded, and captured La Amistad after the slaves on board had seized control of that schooner in an 1839 mutiny.
Washington was the second cutter of that name to serve in the U.S. Navy and was named after Peter G. Washington, who had served as a clerk in the United States Department of the Treasury, as chief clerk to the 6th Auditor, as First Assistant Postmaster General of the United States, and as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.[2]