Dobbin, 1927
(Reclaimer, CG-806, CG-945)
James Cochrane Dobbin (1814-1857) served as the Secretary of the Navy from 1853 to 1857. He had also served as a Member of Congress from 1845 to 1847 and in the North Carolina legislature from 1848 to 1852. A firm believer in a strong Navy as insurance for peace, Secretary Dobbin instituted reforms throughout the Navy, and during his service 18 of the finest ships of their class in the world were built. Under his auspices the Perry expedition to Japan was carried to a successful termination and the treaty with that country signed. In answer to President Franklin Pierce it was Secretary Dobbin who in 1853 ordered U.S. Navy Lieutenant Isaac Strain to command an U.S. Darién Exploring Expedition to map and survey the Darién Gap for a Panama Canal to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He died in 1857 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, his place of birth.
Built: Unknown
Cost: Unknown
Machinery: Unknown
Top Speed: Unknown
Length: Unknown
Beam: Unknown
Draft: Unknown
Displacement: Unknown
Launched: Unknown
Acquired: Seized
Commissioned: Unknown
Disposition: Unknown
Complement: Unknown
Armament: Unknown
Cutter History:
Formerly the seized rumrunner Consuello II, she was apprehended by CGC Porter. An auxiliary schooner, she had earlier been the pilot boat Louise: she entered the Coast Guard 18 May 1927 and was renamed the Reclaimer because of her use in transporting old metal to a reclamation center at Cape May, NJ. Re-designated CG-806, then CG-945, then Dobbin, she was assigned to the Coast Guard Academy 29 June 1931.
Sources:
Donald Canney. U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1995.