Eagle, 1798
Any of various large diurnal birds of prey of the family Accipitridae, including members of the genera Aquila and Haliaeetus, characterized by a powerful hooked bill, keen vision, long broad wings, and strong soaring flight.
Builder: William & Abraham Brown, Philadelphia
Length: 77' (deck)
Beam: 20'
Draft: 9'
Displacement: 187 tons
Rig: Brig
Cost: ?
Launched: 1798
Commissioned: 20 August 1798
Decommissioned: N/A
Disposition: Transferred to the U.S. Navy
Complement: 65
Armament: 10 to 14 four and six-pounders
Cutter History:
Eagle was built in 1798 as a larger cutter than her forebears due to their expected use as naval vessels during the Quasi-War with France and other concerns. She was ordered to put to sea on 20 August 1798 under the command of Captain Campbell. She was immediately attached to the Navy in September 1798, where she was to report to a Captain Murray, USN, in command of the 20-gun warship Montezuma.
Eagle first served off the South Atlantic coast where, in October of 1798 off the coast of Georgia, she captured the French privateer-schooner Bon Père, armed with six guns and a crew of 52. Bon Père later became the cutter Bee. As of 20 May 1799 she was permanently attached to the Navy when the Secretary of the Navy informed the Secretary of the Treasury that "The Cutter EAGLE is a very proper vessel to retain in the Navy Service and you may, if you please, consider her as belonging to that establishment." Captain Campbell was promoted to "the rank of Master and Commandant in the Navy" on 22 June 1799.
She made four other captures during the Quasi-War and assisted in the capture of four others.
She remained in Navy service until she was sold in Baltimore on 17 June 1801.
Sources:
Donald Canney. U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1995.
Stephen H. Evans. The United States Coast Guard, 1790-1915: A Definitive History (With a Postscript: 1915-1950). Annapolis: The United States Naval Institute, 1949.
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).