Name USRC Forward Cost US$72,750 Length 47 m Builder Pusey and Jones | Awarded 17 November 1881 Commissioned 1 November 1882 Weight 271.3 tons | |
Operator U.S. Revenue Cutter Service | ||
USRC Forward was a revenue cutter constructed for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service in 1882 by Pusey & Jones shipyard in Wilmington, Delaware. She was the second Revenue Cutter Service vessel named Forward and was named for Walter Forward, the fifteenth United States Secretary of the Treasury. The iron-hulled vessel originally cost US$72,750 and was powered by a two cylinder steam engine with a topsail schooner brigantine sail pattern. Although Forward was considered a model ship at the time of its construction, it was severely underpowered and had unreliable machinery. The cost of repairs in the first fifteen years of operation was US$52,000.
History
Her homeport from 1882 to 1904 was Mobile, Alabama where she patrolled the Gulf of Mexico enforcing customs laws and assisting mariners in distress. During this period she was temporarily assigned to several other areas along the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico. In 1895 Secretary of the Treasury John G. Carlisle assigned Forward and seven other cutters to enforce United States neutrality in Cuba's revolt against Spain. The cutters were responsible for patrolling the Florida Strait and prevent attempts to smuggle arms into Cuba from the United States. On 5 December 1895, Forward and USRC Winona discovered a recently abandoned camp at Middle Cape Sable, Florida that had enough army and medical supplies to indicate that about fifty men had been training there. In 1898, Charleston, South Carolina was homeport until she returned to Key West in 1904. On 2 June 1905 she was assigned to convoy U.S. Public Health Service barge Senator from Havana, Cuba to Key West. On 12 October 1907 Forward received orders to report to Chesapeake Bay for joint drills and inspections with other cutters of the service.