Ashuelot, 1863
A river and town in New Hampshire
Type/Rig/Class: Topsail Schooner / Steamer
Builder: Mr. Eglis, New York
Cost: $103,000
Dates of Service: 1863 - 1867
Disposition: Sold
Displacement: 350 tons
Length: 138'
Beam: 26' 6"
Draft: 11'
Machinery: Steam engine with 2 oscillating cylinders; single 8' screw
Complement: 7 officers, 34 enlisted
Armament: 1 x 30-pound Parrott rifle; 5 x 24-pound howitzers
History:
Ashuelot was a steam-powered revenue cutter built in 1863 at New York by "Mr. Eglis." She was one of six Pawtuxet-class tenders that entered service in 1863-1864. This class was the first steam-powered cutters to enter service since the 1840s. Their contracts called for hulls of oak, locust, and white oak with iron diagonal bracing. Their machinery was considered to be too complicated, however, and each, save Mahoning, had only a short career.
Ashuelot was launched on 8 July 1863. On 21 December 1864 she was ordered to her first homeport of Eastport, Maine. She underwent repairs at Portland, Maine, in September 1865. She transferred to Charleston, South Carolina on 7 September 1866 to replace the Kewanee and her arrival there was reported on 27 September that same year. She departed Charleston for New York on 27 April 1867. She was decommissioned on 30 April 1867 and was laid up at Staten Island, New York, on 7 May 1867.
She was sold to J.C. Fuller of New York on 20 June 1876 for $28,300. She was sent to Japan and was renamed the Takao and apparently was renamed later as Kaiten No. 2 and was destroyed in 1869.
Sources:
Donald Canney. U.S. Coast Guard and Revenue Cutters, 1790-1935. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1995.
U.S. Coast Guard. Record of Movements: Vessels of the United States Coast Guard: 1790 - December 31, 1933. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1934; 1989 (reprint).