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 A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship that has historically served numerous purposes, such as identifying the vessel's mode of propulsion, purpose, or ownership/na ...

USCGC.

History of the USCG cutters

The Revenue Marine and the

Revenue Cutter Service The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established by an Act of Congress () on 4 August 1790 as the Revenue-Marine at the recommendation of the nation's first United States Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Alexand ...

, 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 * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Cutter (hydraulic rescue tool) * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Pizza cutter * Side cutter People * Cutter (surname) * Cutt ...

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 mas ...

and

bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar (sailing), spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay that counteracts the forces from the forestay, forestays. The bowsprit’s purpose is to create ...

, with a

gaff Gaff may refer to: Ankle-worn devices * Spurs in variations of cockfighting * Climbing spikes used to ascend wood poles, such as utility poles Arts and entertainment * A character in the ''Blade Runner'' film franchise * Penny gaff, a 19th- ...

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast (sailing), 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. T ...

on a boom, a square yard and

topsail A topsail ("tops'l") is a sail set above another sail; on square-rigged vessels further sails may be set above topsails. Square rig On a square rigged vessel, a topsail is a typically trapezoidal shaped sail rigged above the course sail and ...

, and two

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its forward corner (tack) is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main ty ...

s 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 a ...

."Peter Kemp, ed. (1976). ''The Oxford Companion to Ships & the Sea''. London: Oxford University Press. pp. 221–222. 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the 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 the ...

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 Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

, 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 ''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

* 420' Icebreaker ''Healy'' (WAGB) * 418'

National Security Cutter The Legend-class cutter, also known as the National Security Cutter (NSC) and Maritime Security Cutter, Large, is the largest active patrol cutter (boat), cutter class of the United States Coast Guard, with the size of a frigate. Entering into s ...

(WMSL) * 399'

Polar-class icebreaker Polar-class icebreakers , are heavy icebreakers operated by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). These cutters, specifically designed for icebreaking, have reinforced hulls, special icebreaking bows, and a system that allows rapid shifting of ...

(WAGB) * 360' Offshore Patrol Cutter (WMSM) * 295' (WIX) * 282'

Edenton-class salvage and rescue ship The ''Edenton''-class salvage and rescue ship was a class of Salvage and Rescue Ship, salvage and rescue ships that were operated by the United States Navy during the 1970s. Design ''Edenton''-class was a ship class consisting of three purpos ...

, 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 cut ...

(WMEC) * 270' and 210'

(WMEC) * 240' (WLBB) * 225' Seagoing Buoy Tender (WLB) * 175'

Coastal Buoy Tender The Keeper class of coastal buoy tenders consists of fourteen ships built for and operated by the United States Coast Guard. The ships were launched between 1995 and 1999 and all remain in active service. Their primary mission is to maintain th ...

(WLM) * 160' Inland Construction Tender (WLIC) * 154'

Sentinel-class cutter The Sentinel-class cutter, also known as the Fast Response Cutter or FRC due to its program name, is part of the United States Coast Guard's Deepwater program. At , it is similar to, but larger than, the lengthened 1980s-era s that it replaces. ...

(WPC) * 140' Bay-class icebreaking tug (WTGB) * 100' Inland Buoy Tender (WLI) * 100' Inland Construction Tender (WLIC) * 87'

Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boat The Marine Protector-class patrol boat is a type of coastal patrol boat of the United States Coast Guard. The vessels with hull based on the Stan 2600 design by Damen Group. The vessels were built by Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, Louisian ...

(WPB) * 75'

River Buoy Tender A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end 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 g ...

(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 A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

(WAGO) * 165' * 165' * 165' * 157' (WLM) * 133' (WLM) * 125' (WSC) * 123' Patrol boat (Deepwater Modified) ( WPB) * 110'

Island-class patrol boat The Island-class patrol boat is a class of United States Coast Guard Cutter, cutters of the United States Coast Guard. Forty-nine of these boats were launched between 1985 and 1992, and while all have been retired from American service, several ...

(WPB) * 110' (WYTM) * 110' (WYTM) * 110' (WYTM) * 95' (WPB) * 82' (WPB)

Notes

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

History of the USCG cutters

First ten cutters

Current USCG cutter classes and types

Historic USCG cutter classes and types

See also

Notes