Black (Jeremiah S. Black), 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: Seized by the Confederacy on 2 March 1861
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:
Initially stationed at Erie, PA this vessel was then transferred to Boston, MA in November 1861 along with Cobb, Brown, Toucey, and Thompson. She was stationed at Eastport, ME through the Civil War. In 1866 she was ordered to Edgartown, MA and in 1867 to Philadelphia where she was laid up.
Sources:
Donald Canney. U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1995.