Pictured: a built model of this ship — not the historical vessel.

Jefferson Davis

Type

Schooner

Period

19th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: USRC Jefferson Davis was a topsail schooner of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service's Cushing class, built in 1853 and named for then-Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, who would later become president of the Confederacy. She is one of six Cushing-class cutters, each named for a member of President Franklin Pierce's cabinet. Specifications: Sources vary slightly, but she was roughly 90-95 ft long, about 21-23 ft beam, with a 9 ft draft and displacement cited between 150-177 tons depending on the source (Coast Guard vs. Coast Guard Museum/Northwest figures differ). She was built by J.M. Hood of Bristol, Rhode Island for $9,000, carried a complement of 13, and was armed with six 12-pounder cannons. Service History: After surviving a hurricane shortly after completion, she sailed around Cape Horn and reached San Francisco in July 1854, then continued north to become the first revenue cutter stationed above San Francisco when she arrived at Port Townsend, Washington that September. She took part in suppressing a Native American uprising near Olympia during the 1855 Puget Sound War and was involved in the early San Juan Islands boundary dispute with British authorities. Her crew later deserted en masse in Bellingham to join the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, and she was decommissioned in 1862, with her final disposition disputed between conversion to a Marine Hospital Service boat and sale to a private Washington Territory firm. Notable Facts: The ship's name became a point of tension once her namesake became the Confederacy's president, though her remote West Coast posting largely insulated her crew from the loyalty disputes that affected Southern-based cutters. She should not be confused with the unrelated Confederate privateer brig also named Jefferson Davis (formerly the slave ship Echo), which was lost off St. Augustine, Florida in 1861. Bluejacket Shipcrafters produces a plank-on-frame model kit of this cutter with an accompanying instruction manual by Arthur Montgomery; modelers should note that some commercial kit-description text circulating online (citing a 250 ft length, four masts, and a "Campbell class" designation) does not match the well-documented ~93 ft, single/two-masted Cushing-class specifications and appears to describe a different or embellished vessel.