USRC Scammel (1791)

Scammel was one of the original ten cutters built and used by the United States Revenue Cutter Service. The Schammel was named by Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, after the American Revolutionary War Adjutant general of the army, Alexander Scammell. General Scammell was captured by the British at the Battle of Yorktown and shot. As with the USRC General Green (1791), the name is misspelled. The Scammel was built at Portsmouth, New Hampshire and launched in 1791. She was used to patrol New England waters.

 History 
The Scammel was built at Portsmouth but problems delayed her construction. She was not launched until a month after the USRC General Green (1791), on August 24, 1791. She was to be stationed at Portsmouth and her patrol area was from Nantucket, Massachusetts to the Passamaquoddy Bay in Maine. Her first master was Hopley Yeaton, the first seagoing officer to be commissioned in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service. John Parrott was the second mate while John Adams was third mate. Originally Hamilton had some difficulty in finding a first mate when the Scammel went into service. In November 1792, John Adams was promoted to first mate and Benjamin Gunnerson became the new second mate.Alexander Hamilton, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, ed. Harold C. Syrett (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1967), p, 275 The first-named cutter Scammel was sold Sold on 16 August 1798.

 Description 
Scammel was a schooner which was built at a cost of $1,225.65. She displaced about  She was  long by  wide and had a draft of .Paul H. Silverstone, The Sailing Navy, 1775-1854 (London; New York: Routledge, 2006), p. 77 She had a crew of four officers, four enlisted men and two cabin boys. Her arms included 10 muskets and 20 pistols.

 Related pages 
 USRC Vigilant (1791)
 USRC Active (1791)
 USRC General Green (1791)
 USRC Massachusetts (1791)
 USRC Argus (1791)
 USRC Virginia (1791)
 USRC Diligence (1791)
 USRC South Carolina (1791) 
 USRC Eagle (1791)

 Notes 

 References 

 Other websites 
 Alexander Hamilton Letter to the Revenue Cutter Service
 A Brief History of the Revenue Cutter Service

Category:Military of the United States
Category:1790s in the United States