Wolcott, 1926
Oliver Wolcott (1760-1833) was appointed by President George Washington to be the 2nd Secretary of the Treasury. He served from February 3, 1795 to March 3, 1797. Wolcott was retained in office by President John Adams and Served from March 4, 1797 to December 31, 1800. When Alexander Hamilton, the 1st Secretary of the Treasury, resigned from the Cabinet, President Washington appointed Wolcott, placing in the office a man known to be a vigorous supporter of Alexander Hamilton's financial program.
Wolcott, a third generation scion of an American family prominent in Connecticut and national affairs during the colonial and early national periods, had attracted attention as a specialist in public finance for his work in settling the financial dispute between Connecticut and the Federal Government in 1784. After serving briefly as Comptroller of Accounts for Connecticut during 1788-1789, he was named Auditor (1789-1791) and then Comptroller of the United States, where he served from 1791 until 1795. An enthusiastic proponent of Alexander Hamilton's financial philosophy and program, Wolcott spent much of his tenure as Secretary of the Treasury defending his increasingly unpopular financial program against the attacks of the Jeffersonians.
He was retained in office as Secretary of the Treasury by President John Adams, and served through that Administration until his resignation during the election campaign of 1800, effective December 31, 1800, to accept the U.S. Judgeship of Connecticut. Oliver Wolcott died on June 1, 1833 in New York City. He had served briefly in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
Type/Rig/Class: 100-foot patrol boat
Builder: Defoe Boat & Motor Works, Bay City, Michigan
Dates of Service: 1926 - 1936
Disposition: Transferred to the War Department
Displacement: 210 tons
Length: 99' 8"
Beam: 23'
Draft: 4' 6"
Machinery: 2 Grey Marine diesel engines; 300 BHP; twin propellers
Speed: 12 knots maximum
Complement: 15 (with 1 warrant officer)
Armament: 1 x 3"/23 (1930)
Cutter History:
The third cutter named Wolcott, a 100-foot patrol boat built to combat rum-runners during Prohibition, was one of 13 in her class. These 13 were steel-hulled patrol boats that were capable of close inshore work but were slower than the 75-foot patrol boats. They made up for their slower speed and lack of maneuverability with better accommodations for the crew so that they could stay at sea for longer periods and work well off-shore. They were all built by Defoe Boat & Motor Works of Bay City, Michigan.
Wolcott was delivered and accepted by the Coast Guard on 24 July 1926 in Bay City, Michigan. She departed Bay City for Boston on 28 July 1926, arriving there on 19 August 1926. She then sailed to Curtis Bay, Maryland and departed 22 August for Pascagoula, Mississippi. She arrived at her initial station of Pascagoula on 4 September 1926 where she served through 1934. She was then transferred to Milwaukee, Wisconsin until she was placed out of service on 12 May 1936.
Sources:
Donald Canney. U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1995.
U.S. Coast Guard. Record of Movements: Vessels of the United States Coast Guard: 1790 - December 31, 1933. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1934; 1989 (reprint).