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Revenue Cutter Photo Archive

USCGC Colfax
ex-USRCS Colfax
ex-USRMS Colfax

Revenue Cutter:

  • Built in 1871 by Dialogue and Wood, Camden, NJ
  • Commissioned U.S. Revenue-Marine Colfax 4 November 1871
  • Rebuilt in 1878 by Pusey and Jones , Wilmington, DE
  • Placed in commission 15 February 1879
  • Transferred to the Navy 27 April 1879
  • Returned to custody of the Revenue Cutter Service 1 June 1897
  • Decommissioned 1 September 1899
  • Transferred to the Navy again 11 April 1917
  • Struck from the Navy Register and returned to the Coast Guard 28 August 1919
  • Assigned as station ship 1 January 1923 at the Coast Guard Depot South Baltimore, MD and placed out of commission
  • Sold 16 September 1924 to Charles A. Jording of Baltimore, MD
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 250 t.
  • Length 140'
  • Beam 25'
  • Draft 8'
  • Complement 40
  • Speed 10 kts.
  • Armament: Three guns
  • Propulsion: One 22" diameter x 20" stroke, 800hp steam engine, side-wheel steamer.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Colfax 37k
    Namesake:

    Schuyler Colfax Jr. (March 23, 1823 – January 13, 1885) was an American journalist, businessman, and politician who served as the 17th vice president of the United States from 1869 to 1873, and prior to that as the 25th speaker of the House of Representatives from 1863 to 1869. Originally a Whig and later a Republican, he was the U.S. Representative for Indiana's 9th congressional district from 1855 to 1869.

    		 Joe Radigan
    Colfax 50k U.S. Coast Guard photo Coast Guard Cutter website
    Coast Guard History:

    Colfax, an iron-framed side-wheel steamer, cost the Revenue Service $60,500. She was first stationed at Baltimore, MD. Her cruising grounds were then extended to Savannah, GA. She underwent major repairs at Wilmington, DE in 1878 and was subsequently assigned to Wilmington, NC.

    She moved to Charleston, SC in 1896. She served as a VIP barge for President McKinley off Brunswick, GA in 1899 and became a station ship at Baltimore after her decommissioning.

    Commanding Officers
    01CAPT A. B. Davis, RMS17 November 1871 - 24 August 1872
    02CAPT Charles T. Chase, RMS24 August 1872 - 30 August 1872
    03CAPT George W. Moore, RMS30 August 1872 - 31 March 1873
    04CAPT H. P. Hamlin, RMS31 March 1873 - 28 May 1874
    05CAPT Samuel S. Warner, RMS28 May 1874 - 23 May 1876
    06CAPT Charles T. Chase, RMS23 May 1876 - 29 May 1876 (Orders revoked)
    07CAPT Joseph Irish, RMS14 June 1876 - 19 February 1877
    08CAPT Frank Barr, RMS19 February 1877 - 17 February 1880
    09CAPT E. Gabrielson, RMS6 May 1880 - 16 June 1883
    10CAPT L. N. Stodder, RMS16 June 1883 - 5 May 1886
    11CAPT J. C. Mitchell, RMS13 May 1886 - 30 September 1886
    12CAPT J. B. Moore, RMS19 November 1886 - 21 April 1890
    13CAPT E. L. Deane, RMS21 April 1890
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
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