USRC ''Ashuelot'' was a

screw A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

revenue cutter A cutter is any of various types of watercraft. The term can refer to the rig (sail plan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or border force cut ...

built for the United States Revenue Marine during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. ''Ashuelot'' was homeported in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and later in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

during her brief career with the Revenue Marine. In 1866, she played an important role in the prevention of an armed raid on

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

by the

Fenian Brotherhood The Fenian Brotherhood () was an Irish republican organisation founded in the United States in 1858 by John O'Mahony and Michael Doheny. It was a precursor to Clan na Gael, a sister organisation to the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Membe ...

. Sold into merchant service in 1867 due to dissatisfaction with her machinery, ''Ashuelot'' later voyaged to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, operating under the names ''Takao'' and ''Kaiten No. 2''. She was destroyed in the

Battle of Miyako Bay The was a naval action on 6 May 1869, in which samurai loyalists of the former Tokugawa shogunate under the flag of the newly formed Republic of Ezo failed to take over the , the flagship of the Imperial forces of the new Meiji government. It wa ...

in 1869.

Construction and design

''Ashuelot'' was one of six ''Pawtuxet''-class screw

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

s ordered by the Treasury Department in 1863 for the United States Revenue Marine. She was built in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

by John Englis, from whose yard she was launched on 8 July 1863."''Ashuelot'', 1863"
U.S. Coast Guard website. Englis was later awarded a bronze medal by the American Institute for a model of the vessel, "a trophy valued because of the great competition then existing in that department of American ship-building".Sheldon, G. W. (1882): "The Old Ship-Builders of New York"
p. 232
''Harper's New Monthly Magazine'', Volume 65, Issue 386, July 1882. ''Ashuelot'' was long, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and both hold depth and

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

of around ."The New Revenue Cutters—The Launch of Two of Them"
''The New York Times'', 1863-07-10.
''The New York Times'', 1864-11-02. Like the other ships of her class, her contract called for a

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

locust Locusts (derived from the Latin ''locusta'', locust or lobster) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstances they b ...

and

white oak ''Quercus'' subgenus ''Quercus'' is one of the two subgenera into which the genus ''Quercus'' was divided in a 2017 classification (the other being subgenus ''Cerris''). It contains about 190 species divided among five sections. It may be calle ...

, strengthened with diagonal iron bracing. Her two-

cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...

oscillating Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...

engine, built by New York's

Novelty Iron Works The Novelty Iron Works was an ironworking firm founded to make boilers in New York City, located on East 12th street in Manhattan. The founder was the Rev. Eliphalet Nott President of Union College of Schenectady, New York Schenectady ...

, drove a single 8-foot (2.4 m) diameter

screw propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

. ''Ashuelot''s speed is unrecorded but was probably similar to the 12 knots achieved by her sister ship USRC ''Kankakee''. She was

topsail 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 s ...

-rigged for auxiliary sail power. ''Ashuelot''s armament consisted of a single 30-pounder Parrott rifle

pivot gun A pivot gun was a type of cannon mounted on a fixed central emplacement which permitted it to be moved through a wide horizontal arc. They were a common weapon aboard ships and in land fortifications for several centuries but became obsolete aft ...

, and five 24-pounder howitzers, one mounted in a pivot aft. She was crewed by a complement of seven officers and 34 enlisted men.

Service history

The exact date on which ''Ashuelot'' entered service is not known, but ''The New York Times'' reports the vessel departing New York on a cruise on 28 November 1864."En Route"
''The New York Times'', 1864-11-29. On 21 December 1864 she was ordered to her first homeport of

Eastport, Maine Eastport is a city and archipelago in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making Eastport the least-populous city in Maine. The principal island is Moose Island, Maine, ...

. In April 1866, ''Ashuelot'' played a role in the thwarting of an armed raid on

Campobello Island Campobello Island (, also ) is the largest and only inhabited island in Campobello Parish in southwestern New Brunswick, Canada, near the border with Maine, United States. It is the site of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park, Head Ha ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, by a group of about 700 members of the

who had gathered in Maine for the purpose. The raiders were "sorely discouraged" after ''Ashuelot'' intercepted the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

''Prey'', which was loaded with ammunition and a large quantity of weapons "of the finest and deadliest description" intended for use in the raid."Fenianism On The Frontier"
''The Head Quarters'', 1866-04-25. In September 1866, ''Ashuelot'' underwent repairs at

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. On the 7th, she was transferred to her new homeport of

, reportedly arriving there on the 27th, as a replacement for her sister ship ''Kewanee''. On 15 November, ''Ashuelot'' towed the

lightship A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. It is used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the ...

for Frying Pan Shoals,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, back to its station after the latter vessel had undergone repairs at Charleston.''Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances for the Year 1867''
p. 222
Government Printing Office, Washington. Not long after, the Revenue Marine decided to divest itself of a number of the ''Pawtuxet''-class cutters as their engines were deemed "too complicated". Departing Charleston on 27 April 1867, ''Ashuelot'' was decommissioned at New York on 30 April and laid up at

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

on 7 May. On 20 June, she was sold to J. C. Fuller of New York for the sum of $28,300. ''Ashuelot'' was subsequently sent to

, where she was renamed '' Takao'' and later, reportedly, ''Kaiten No. 2''. She was destroyed by her own crew to prevent capture during the

in 1869.Collache, Eugène. "Une aventure au Japon". "Le Tour du Monde" No.77, 1874. P. 51.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashuelot, Usrc 1863 ships Pawtuxet-class cutters Ships built in New York City