United States Coast Guard Cutter is the term used by the U.S. Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. They are or greater in length and have a permanently assigned crew with accommodations aboard. They carry the ship prefix USCGC.

History of the USCG cutters

The Revenue Marine and the

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 ...

, as it was known variously throughout the late 18th and the 19th centuries, referred to its ships as

cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter, aka Stanley knife, a form of utility knife * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Side cutter * Cutter, a type of hydraulic rescue to ...

s. The term is English in origin and refers to a specific type of vessel, namely, "a small, decked ship with one

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mast ...

and

bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay that counteracts the forces from the forestays. The word ''bowsprit'' is thought to originate from the Mid ...

, with a gaff

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot ...

on a boom, a square yard and

topsail A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail- ...

, and two jibs or a jib and a

staysail A staysail ("stays'l") is a fore-and-aft rigged sail whose luff can be affixed to a stay running forward (and most often but not always downwards) from a mast to the deck, the bowsprit, or to another mast. Description Most staysails are t ...

." With general usage, that term came to define any vessel of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was t ...

and the term was adopted by the U.S. Treasury Department at the creation of what would become the Revenue Marine. Since that time, no matter what the vessel type, the service has referred to its vessels with permanently assigned crews as cutters.

First ten cutters

In 1790, Congress authorized the

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

, Alexander Hamilton, to create a maritime service to enforce customs laws (1 Stat. L. 145, 175; 4 August 1790). Alternatively known as the system of cutters, Revenue Service, and Revenue-Marine this service was officially named the Revenue Cutter Service (12 Stat. L., 639) in 1863. This service was placed under the control of the Treasury Department. The first ten cutters were: USRC Massachusetts (1791)

* USRC ''Vigilant'' * USRC ''Active'' * USRC ''General Green'' * USRC ''Massachusetts'' * USRC ''Scammel'' * USRC ''Argus'' * USRC ''Virginia'' * USRC ''Diligence'' * USRC ''South Carolina'' * USRC ''Eagle''

Current USCG cutter classes and types

*460' Polar Security Cutter (WMSP) *420' Icebreaker ''Healy'' (WAGB) *418' National Security Cutter (WMSL) *399' Polar-class icebreaker (WAGB) *360'

Offshore Patrol Cutter The Heritage-class cutter, also known as the Offshore Patrol Cutter and the Maritime Security Cutter, Medium, is a cutter class of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), developed as part of the Integrated Deepwater System Program and built by E ...

(WMSM) *295' (WIX) *282' Edenton-class salvage and rescue ship, converted to

Medium Endurance Cutter The Medium Endurance Cutter or WMEC is a type of United States Coast Guard Cutter mainly consisting of the Famous- and ''Reliance''-class cutters. These larger cutters are under control of Area Commands (Atlantic Area or Pacific Area). These cutt ...

(WMEC) *270'

(WMEC) *240' (WLBB) *225' Seagoing Buoy Tender (WLB) *210'

(WMEC) *175' Coastal Buoy Tender (WLM) *160' Inland Construction Tender (WLIC) *154' Sentinel-class cutter (WPC) *140'

Bay-class icebreaking tug The Bay-class tugboat is a class of icebreaking tugboats of the United States Coast Guard, with hull numbers WTGB-101 through to WTGB-109. They can proceed through fresh water ice up to thick, and break ice up to thick, through ramming. Th ...

(WTGB) *110' Island-class patrol boat (WPB) *100' Inland Buoy Tender (WLI) *100' Inland Construction Tender (WLIC) * 87' Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boat (WPB) * 75'

River Buoy Tender A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

(WLR) * 75' Inland Construction Tender (WLIC) * 65'

(WLR) * 65' Inland Buoy Tender (WLI) * 65' Small Harbor Tug (WYTL)

Historic USCG cutter classes and types

*378'

High endurance cutter The designation of high endurance cutter (WHEC) was created in 1965 when the United States Coast Guard adopted its own designation system. High endurance cutters encompass the largest cutters previously designated by the United States Navy as ...

(WHEC) *327' (WPG) *311' (WAVP) *306' (WDE) *269' (WAGB) *255' *250' *240' *230' Light Icebreaker, redesignated

(WMEC) *213' *213'

(WMEC) *205' , converted to (WAT) cutter, redesignated ( WMEC) *180' Seagoing buoy tender (WLB) *180' Oceanographic vessel (WAGO) *165' *165' *165' *157' (WLM) *133' (WLM) *125' (WSC) *123' Patrol boat (Deepwater Modified) ( WPB) *110' (WYTM) *110' (WYTM) *110' (WYTM) * 95' (WPB) * 82' (WPB)

Notes

{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries Ship types Ship prefixes