Bering Sea Anti-Poaching Operations were conducted in 1891 by the navies and marine corps' of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Gre ...

. Due to the near

extinction Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds ( taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed ...

of the

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

population in the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Amer ...

, the American and British governments dispatched a squadron of warships to suppress

poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set ag ...

activities, under the command of Charles S. Cotton.

Operations

The operations against seal poachers had their origin in the 1880s after

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

claimed the fishing rights around many of the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin, "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain of 14 main, ...

, in violation of United States law. As a result, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Pacific Squadron The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval s ...

seized several Canadian ships. Also, the near extinction of seals by poachers from the Dominion of Canada and the United States drew the interests of the Naturalist societies who pressured their governments to respond so in 1891

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

and his British counterparts banned sealing in the Bering Sea and ordered the formation of a new naval squadron. The new force, led by the American

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

Charles S. Cotton, composed of small warships intended to police the disputed fishing zone and inform all merchant ships of the ban. Eleven

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

and

United States Revenue Cutter Service ) , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries=4 August , decorations= , battle_honours= , battle_honours_label= , disbanded=28 January 1915 , flying_hours= , website= , commander1= , co ...

ships participated in the operations. The

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the f ...

of the squadron was USS ''Mohican'', a

screw sloop A screw sloop is a propeller-driven sloop-of-war. In the 19th century, during the introduction of the steam engine, ships driven by propellers were differentiated from those driven by paddle-wheels by referring to the ship's ''screws'' (propel ...

-of-war, under Commander Cotton. The other American ships were USS ''Marion'', an old sailing sloop, the steamer USS ''Thetis'', the

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-ste ...

s USS ''Alert'' and USS ''Ranger'' and the steam-powered

revenue cutter A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or bor ...

s USRC ''Corwin'' and USCR ''Rush''. The Pacific Coast Steamship Company vessel ''Al-Ki'' was also chartered for service, filled with

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (ref ...

, she was placed under the command of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Henry C. Cochrane of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through ...

. ''Al-Ki'' was used as a

prison ship A prison ship, often more accurately described as a prison hulk, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoners of war or civilian internees. While many nati ...

Unalaska Unalaska ( ale, Iluulux̂; russian: Уналашка) is the chief center of population in the Aleutian Islands. The city is in the Aleutians West Census Area, a regional component of the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Unalask ...

for captured poachers. CGS Alert

All of the American ships had marine detachments aboard, with the exception of the ''Thetis'', totaling five officers and 113 enlisted men. British naval forces included the cruiser HMS ''Porpoise'', the screw sloop HMS ''Nymphe'' and the steamer HMS ''Pheasant'', each with a force of

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

. The operations officially began on June 22, 1891 when the ''Al-Ki'' hauled off from

Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates ...

for the Bering Sea and she was soon followed by the other vessels. Over the course of a few months the squadron boarded dozens of ships though only four were found to be infringing upon the proclamation of the United States and the United Kingdom. They were the

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...

s ''E. B. Marvin'' and the ''Otto'' of British subject and the American schooners ''La Mifa'' and ''Ethel''. The American schooners had a force of marines placed aboard and were towed over 1,200 miles by the ''Al-Ki'' to

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

. While the naval ships weren't in action against poachers they spent their time drilling and practice firing. The American marines also conducted exhibition drills at Sitka and Lliuliuk which were appreciated by the inhabitants. In late September, as the storm season approached, the remaining whaling and sealing ships in the Bering Sea left the region for coastal waters. Naval operations officially ended on October 5 when the last American warships headed south for Mare Island, where they arrived on October 14. They had patrolled 6,600 nautical miles since June 22. British forces sailed back to the

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

n coast. The owners of forty-one vessels protested and demanded compensation for the breaking up of their sealing activities.Harry Allanson Ellsworth, pg. 14–15

References

* * *{{cite book, author=Canadian Parliament, title=Sessional papers, Volume 25, Issue 9, year=1892, publisher=C. H. Parmelee 1891 in military history 1891 in Canada 1891 in the United Kingdom 1891 in the United States Maritime incidents in 1891 19th century in the Arctic Naval operations and battles United States Navy in the 19th century 19th-century history of the Royal Navy Bering Sea Pacific expeditions Military history of the Arctic Poaching

Operations

See also

References