The Thomas Corwin was a revenue cutter of the United States Revenue-Marine and United States Revenue Cutter Service and subsequently a merchant vessel. These two very different roles both centered on Alaska and the Bering Sea. In 1912, Frank Willard Kimball wrote: "The Corwin has probably had a more varied and interesting career than any other vessel which plies the Alaskan waters."Kimball; italics substituted for Kimball's quotes on Corwin
Thomas Corwin was the first revenue cutter to regularly cruise the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. Built in the state of Oregon, she was finished and commissioned in San Francisco which remained her home port. In a 23-year federal career, she participated in the search for the , landed scientific parties on Wrangel and Herald islands, took part in the shelling of the Tlingit village Angoon, interdicted whiskey traffic, rescued shipwrecked whalers, contributed to the exploration of Alaska, and arrested seal poachers. She had at least eight captains during her federal career,Commanders of the USRC Corwin: (Rank is Captain unless noted) J.W. White January 1877-July 1878; Lt. J. Brann approx. July 1878-April 1879; C.L. Hooper April 1880-Dec 1881; M.A. Healy Feb 1882-Apr 1886; A.B. Davis Apr 1886-May 1886; C.A. Abbey May 1886-Nov 1886; C.L.Hooper April 1887–1892, F.M. Munger 1892–1895, W.D. Roath 1896 (exchanged commands with H.D. Smith 1896); W.J. Herring 1898 (inclusive dates unknown). Captain [D.F.] Tozier handled the sale of the ship in 1900. McCurdy's lists additionally captains Roth [Roath?] and Slamm, without dates; Captain Slamm had the USRC Grant in 1896. A Who's Who entry lists [Lt] P.W. Thompson. US Coast Guard 1935; New York Times Nov 9, 1891; Nov 16, 1892; May 19, 1895; Dec 14, 1895; April 9, 1896; Sep 11, 1896; Treasury register 1879; Tacoma Public Library (c); Who's Who in America. but is particularly associated with two: the cool and resolute Calvin L. Hooper and the volatile Michael A. Healy. She continued operating in the Bering Sea as a merchant and charter vessel after she was sold in 1900.
As a merchant vessel, the SS Corwin started out as a support vessel for minerals exploration, and subsequently was extensively modified to carry passengers. She served coastal ports on Norton and Kotzebue Sounds, the Seward Peninsula, and the Bering Strait during the shipping season, and generally wintered in Puget Sound. She was the first steamer to reach Nome in the spring multiple years, and also frequently the last steamer out in the fall. Her Master through most of her commercial service was Ellsworth Luce West. She attempted to rescue the Karluk survivors from Wrangel Island and participated in the search for four missing Karluk crewmen in 1914.
Construction
The Corwin was named for Thomas Corwin, a well-known mid-nineteenth-century politician who served as Secretary of the Treasury during Millard Fillmore's presidency. She was the second of three Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard vessels to bear the name (there was also a patrol boat Cape Corwin).
She was built as a single-screw steam-powered topsail schooner by Oregon Iron Works at Albina (Portland) Oregon in 1876 and commissioned at San Francisco in 1877.Tacoma Public Library (a) She was constructed of fir and "fastened with copper, galvanized iron, and locust tree nails".Nourse Her appearance was typical of revenue cutters of the period, flush-decked (or nearly so) with clipper bow, fantail stern, two sail-bearing masts, pilot house and funnel amidships and a deckhouse (probably including the upper parts of the engine and boiler rooms) beneath and extending behind the pilot house. The boiler powering the propulsion machinery was of the Scotch marine boiler type and was the first instance of that type of boiler on a Revenue Cutter Service vessel.Evans, p 98 The addition of steam jackets on the cylinders to reduce condensation losses was another innovation new to the service. Her cost and displacement were somewhat greater than the Dexter-class (1874) cutters of similar length and overall design. The Dexter-class consisted of Dexter, Rush, and Dallas.
Construction of the Corwin was contracted in May 1875 with completion scheduled for February 28, 1876. Captain John W. White was construction superintendent for the Revenue Cutter Service. The Corwin was the first government vessel constructed in the state of Oregon, and a large crowd came out to see her launched August 23, 1876. Oregon Iron Works became insolvent that fall and was declared bankrupt; this resulted in liens filed against the vessel by suppliers and subcontractors for unpaid bills. On January 2, 1877, Judge J. Deady of the U.S. District Court, Oregon District ruled that the lien of libellants Coffin and Hendry was valid, that the government was not yet the owner of the vessel and had not been in possession when the vessel was seized by the marshal on November 29. However, the Corwin had been extricated about January 1, 1877 by Captain White and the USRC Rush and moved to the middle of the Columbia River (another source has this about January 10). The Government appealed Judge Deady's ruling and Coffin and Hendry withdrew their claim on the basis of assurances that they would be paid faster if they settled. After a flurry of unsuccessful legal actions by other claimants, the Corwin was removed to San Francisco where she was completed at a cost of $10150.77 and subsequently commissioned. Congress was still considering suppliers and workmen's claims in 1884.50th Congress 1st Session House Report 45648th Congress 1st session Senate Reports 572, 573KimballThe revenue cutterThe New York Times Jan 22, 1877
The Corwin was reported to be capable of 12 knots under sail (48-hour average with a beam wind), 11.5 knots under steam alone, and 13–14 knots under combined power.The New York Times January 17, 1892, June 16, 1891 In 1900, her speed (probably cruising speed) was reported as 9 knots.Vanderlip Details of the Corwin's original three-gun armament are not available. In 1891 she reportedly carried four three-inch breech-loading rifles and two Gatling guns. In July 1891, The New York Times reported that she would be rearmed with six-pounder Hotchkiss rapid-fire guns.The New York Times June 16, 1891, July 3, 1891
Federal career
The Corwin spent her entire career in the Pacific and Arctic oceans; her home port throughout her government service was San Francisco. She made her first trip to northern waters in 1877 under Captain J.W. White. In 1880 and 1881 with Calvin L. Hooper commanding and Michael Healy as Executive Officer, she searched in the Arctic for the USS Jeannette, a lost exploration vessel, and two lost whaleships, Vigilant and Mount Wollaston.Evans, p 115 For this expedition, she was sheathed with one-inch oak planks from two feet above the water line to six feet below, with the oak applied over the copper and secured with 2.5-inch composition nails. Also added was an ice-breaking attachment for her bow, constructed of 3/8 inch iron plate, which could be put in place when needed.Hooper Captain Hooper sent out exploratory parties by dogsled along the Siberian arctic coast. Artifacts and stories collected from the Chukchi residents of the coast confirmed that the Vigilant had been lost with no survivors, and apparently had picked up survivors from the Mount Wollaston before her own disaster.The New York Times Nov 7, 1881 In the course of the Corwin's 1880 cruise, Captain Hooper located and mapped coal deposits in cliffs east of Cape Lisburne, Alaska, previously discovered by Captain E. E. Smith, the Corwin's ice pilot. The crew mined coal from these deposits in both 1880 and 1881, and the site has since been known as the Corwin coal mine. On a visit to various Alaskan islands, they confirmed the St. Lawrence Island famine which killed over 1000 people.
In 1881 the Corwin carried a scientific detachment including John Muir, Irving C. Rosse, M.D., and Edward W. Nelson, and in the course of the search for the Jeannette landed parties on Herald and Wrangel Islands in the Chukchi Sea.Evans, pp 118–119 In 1882, with Michael Healy as captain, the Corwin was dispatched to St Lawrence Bay to pick up the stranded crew of the , another ship of the Jeannette search which burned while overwintering in Siberia. The Rodgers crew was picked up by the whaler North Star and later transferred to the Corwin which returned them to San Francisco.The New York Times April 30, 1882, June 22, 1882 June 24, 1882 In October 1882 she participated in the Angoon Bombardment which was the shelling and burning of the Tlingit village Angoon in retaliation for a hostage-taking incident. A contemporary letter discovered about 1990 partly confirms and partly refutes the official Navy account of this incident.Naval Historical CenterKing, pp 39–40Strobridge & Noble, p 46Gagne-Hawes Her voyages in 1884 and 1885 included explorations by boat detachments of the Kobuk (1884 and 1885; Healy wrote Kowak) and Noatak (1885) rivers in Alaska and the first ascent and investigation of the newly formed Bogoslof volcano in the Aleutians.Healy, M.A. 1887, 1889Evans, p 124
The Corwin was replaced on the Arctic patrol by the USRC Bear starting in 1886.Evans, p 129 Among the reasons for this change was the Corwin's limited coal capacity which interfered with long cruises.King, p 82 The Corwin returned to the Bering Sea in 1886 and from 1890 to 1897 to combat fur seal poaching.United States Coast Guard (1935) In December 1893 she carried dispatches to US ambassador Albert S. Willis in Hawaii at the height of the political crisis following the deposition of Queen Liliuokalani. Corwin's arrival there caused some consternation since it was thought it might signal US intervention to restore the queen.The New York Times December 6, 1893 (a,b), January 20, 1894; technically, Willis's title was Minister; ambassador (un-capitalized) is here used descriptively. The Corwin went into the dockyard at Quartermaster Harbor, Washington for extensive repairs including refastening and some engine work before the 1896 season.Tacoma Public Library (b)The New York Times Dec 14, 1895 She operated under Navy orders with a Revenue Service crew during the Spanish–American War, serving around San Diego, and was returned to the United States Treasury Department in August 1898.Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships She was back in service in Alaska in 1899The New York Times October 17, 1899 The Corwin was decommissioned and sold February 14, 1900 for 16,500 and was replaced on the Bering Sea patrol by the USRC Manning.Record of Movements, p 196 Corwin remained active in the Bering Sea as a merchant and charter vessel after she was sold.US Coast Guard, Historian's Office (a); West. McCurdy's has the sale in 1899, for 17,025, to J.E Ryus (Tacoma Public Library (c)); Victoria Daily Colonist Feb 15, 1900 says Ryus did not fulfill offer; ship sold to Tacoma Fish Company for 16,000
Merchant career
Minerals exploration