Thompson (Jacob Thompson), 1857
Builder: Merry and Gay, Milan, OH
Cost: Unknown
Rig: Schooner
Length: 57' 6"
Beam: 17' 6"
Draft: 5' 10"
Displacement: 50 tons
Keel Laid: Unknown
Launched: Unknown
Completed: June-July 1857
Decommissioned: Unknown
Disposition: Sold on 12 October 1870
Complement: Unknown
Armament: 1 6-pdr.
Design History:
Bids were taken for six shallow-draft cutters in 1856. Merry and Gay of Milan, OH, bid $4,050 for each and received the contract. Captain William C. Pease supervised the construction; the design was based on a reduced scale of a 140-ton model furnished by the Revenue Service. Construction was delayed by winter weather and a controversy over Ohio versus Long Island locust. In the end there was a cost overrun and lien against the builders.
The vessels were of white oak, yellow pine, and locust, with copper fastenings. They were provided with centerboards and named for members of the President James Buchanan's cabinet.
Cutter History:
The Revenue Cutter Jacob Thompson first served at Detroit, MI; she was then towed and sailed to the Atlantic coast, arriving in Boston, MA, 23 December 1861. She was sent to Newport, RI, in September 1862. in 1867 she transferred to Beaufort, NC. She sailed to Georgetown, SC in 1869 and in August 1870 was ordered to Baltimore, MD for sale.
She was purchased for $1,400.
Sources:
Donald Canney. U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935. Annapolis: 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).