USRC Mohawk, was a steel steam powered revenue cutter built for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service by William R. Trigg Company at Richmond, Virginia. Her primary duties in the Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard were assisting vessels in distress and enforcing navigational laws as well as a derelict destroyer. Mohawk was sunk after a collision with another vessel in October 1917.
Shortly after commissioning, Mohawk was based at Tompkinsville, New York, where she cruised the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters between Nantucket Shoals, Massachusetts, and the Delaware breakwater. Her primary duties were "assisting vessels in distress and enforcing the various navigational laws" including patrolling regattas. She also served as a derelict destroyer.[3][2] On 1 April 1905, Captain Ross was relieved by Captain Byron L. Reed because Ross had been appointed as Chief of Division, Revenue Cutter Service.[2] In June 1905, she patrolled several regattas in addition to her regular patrol duties.[2][6] On 30 July, Chief of Division Ross visited Mohawk at Whitestone, New York.[6] On 25 August she responded to orders to assist SS Barnes which was grounded 1.75 mi (2.82 km) from Jones Beach Life-Saving Station.[6]
In June 1906 Mohawk again patrolled several regattas in her patrol area in addition to her regular duties as well as the patrol area of USRC Gresham while she was laid up for repairs. In December she was called to the scenes of several derelicts in her patrol area to destroy them.[7]
On 12 February 1907 Mohawk assisted in helping the survivors of a collision that occurred in her patrol area between SS Larchmont and schooner Knowlton.[7]
On 26 February 1909 Mohawk ran aground in Hell Gate on Hog Back Ledge. She was refloated, repaired and returned to service.[8]
On 6 March 1910, Mohawk assisted by USRC Onondaga towed the abandoned waterlogged four-masted schooner Asbury Fountain to Norfolk, Virginia after she suffered a collision with SS Jamestown.[9]
Mohawk was temporarily transferred to the United States Navy on 6 April 1917 for service in World War I retaining her Coast Guard crew.[2][15] She was the fourth ship known by that name commissioned into the Navy.[1] While serving on coastal duty in connection with convoy operations, she was struck in Ambrose Channel by the British tanker SS Vennacher and sank on 1 October 1917 off Sandy Hook, New Jersey.[16][17] All 77 crew members were rescued by the U.S. Navy patrol vesselsUSS Mohican and USS Sabalo.[2][Note 2] The water was deemed too deep to warrant salvage operations so Mohawk was left where she sank.[1] On 7 February 1921, salvage rights were sold to H.L. Gotham Corporation of New York City for US$111.00.[2]
Notes
Footnotes
^Colton mentions the bankruptcy of the Trigg Company in 1903 and the fact that several ships under construction in the yard either were not finished or had to be completed by their owners. Mohawk evidently had to be completed by the Revenue Cutter Service. It is not clear whether this was done under a contract to some third party or the work was completed by service personnel.[4][5]
^Johnson claims all crew members of Mohawk were picked up by the U.S. Navy storeship USS Bridge and uses the reference "Johnston and Crisp" as his source. Charles E. Johnston and Richard O. Crisp were two Coast Guard captains who authored A History of the Coast Guard in the World War in a four-volume unpublished typescript.[18][19] The Coast Guard Historian's Office website cites no specific source about USS Mohican and USS Sabalo rescuing crewmen from Mohawk.[2]
Citations
^ abcde"Mohawk", Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command
^ abcdefghijklmno"Mohawk, 1904", Cutters, Craft & U.S. Coast Guard-Manned Army & Navy Vessels, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office