Taney (Roger B. Taney), 1834
The revenue cutter Taney was named for Roger B. Taney when he served in a recess appointment as Secretary of the Treasury under President Andrew Jackson. The Senate refused to approve his nomination and he resumed life as a private attorney but the cutter retained his name.
Builder: Webb and Allen, New York
Launched: 26 December 1833
Commissioned: January 1834
Decommissioned: sold 1858
Length: 71' 1
Navigation Draft: 7' 2"
Beam: 19' 6"
Displacement: 112 tons
Propulsion: topsail schooner
Maximum Speed: NA
Complement: 20-24
Armament: six 12-pdrs.
Cutter History:
The Taney was one of the 13 cutters of the Morris-Taney Class. These cutters were the backbone of the Service for more than a decade. Samuel Humphreys designed these cutters for roles as diverse as fighting pirates, privateers, combating smugglers and operating with naval forces. He designed the vessels on a naval schooner concept. They had Baltimore Clipper lines. The vessels built by Webb and Allen, designed by Isaac Webb, resembled Humphreys' but had one less port.
Officially the Roger B. Taney, this cutter initially made an inspection tour from Maine to Texas and then sailed to her first duty station at Norfolk, Virginia. Between 1847 and 1850 the cutter served with the Coast Survey. In May 1851 the Taney sailed for Savannah, Georgia. In 1852, after traveling to New York, she capsized. In January 1853, after repairs, she sailed to for duty in Eastport, Maine. The Taney arrived back in Savannah in November 1855. Damage due to a strike by lightning off Tybee Island forced the Government to sell the cutter on 5 January 1858.
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).