USRC Relief (1867)

USRC Relief
Career (U.S.)
Name: USRC Relief
Namesake: Assistance in time of difficulty.
Builder: Bierly & Hillman, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania[1]
Cost: US$16,450[1]
Completed: 1867
Commissioned: 1867
Homeport: Indianola, Texas, 29 June 1867–19 July 1870[Note 1]
Fate: Unknown[2]
General characteristics
Class and type:Relief-class schooner
Displacement:120 tons
Length:92 ft (28 m)
Beam:20 ft (6.1 m)
Draft:7 ft (2.1 m)
Sail plan:schooner
Armament:1 gun

USRC Relief, was a revenue cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service in commission from 1867 to at least 1870.[1] She was the first Revenue Cutter Service ship to bear the name.[3]

History

Built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Bierly & Hillman, Relief was commissioned in 1867 and served what is known of her entire career homeported at Indianola, Texas.[2] She was the lead ship of the Relief-class of two revenue schooners built to her specifications.[Note 2] Relief and her sister ship, Rescue also built by Bierly & Hillman, were among the last strictly sail-powered cutters built for the Revenue Service.[3] On 18 September Relief was transferred temporarily to Key West, Florida due to an outbreak of yellow fever in the Indianola area. She returned from Key West on 5 December 1867. On 19 July 1870, she sailed for New Orleans for scheduled repairs. No Revenue Cutter Service record exists of her movements after 19 July 1870.[2][3]

Notes

Footnotes
  1. ↑ The last Revenue Service record of Relief was 19 July 1870[2]
  2. ↑ Colton claims that the Relief-class consisted of only two ships, Relief and USRC Rescue, both constructed at the Bierly & Hillman shipyard. Canney claims Relief was one of six cutters of the Active-class.[1] The other four cutters that Canney claims are in the Active-class were built in different yards and had different dimensions than the cutters built at the Bierly & Hillman shipyard. USRC Active and USRC Resolute were constructed by J.W. Lynn of Philadelphia and had a over all length of 90 ft (27 m); USRC Petrel and USRC Racer were built by W.H. Hawthorn of Williamsburg, New York and had an over all length of 85 ft (26 m).[4]
Citations
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Canney, p 38
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Record of Movements, p 422
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Relief, 1867", U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft Index, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office
  4. ↑ Colton, Tim; "Revenue Cutters Built in the 18th and 19th Centuries", Shipbuilding History, shipbuildinghistory.com website
References used