Coast Guard·Consolidated / merged·In Memoriam
Revenue Cutter Service Officer / Crew
Served: 1790–1915
Hamilton's first navy. Armed maritime tariff enforcement — and the only armed federal vessels afloat between 1790 and 1798, while the Continental Navy was disbanded.
The Story
The US Navy is technically the *junior* maritime service. Between 1790 and 1798 the Revenue Cutters were the entire armed federal fleet, full stop.
Epitaph
“Senior service. Now a footnote on the Coast Guard's about page.”
Sources
- Wikipedia — US Revenue Cutter Serviceen.wikipedia.org
- National Archives — RCS Referencewww.archives.gov