Congress was struggling to stay solvent when Alexander Hamilton pressed for ten federal revenue cutters to secure customs income. Revenue enforcement had been ad hoc, and some self-appointed vessels were little better than pirates. Each cutter was intended to be roughly 50 feet long with a 25-foot beam, a six-foot draft, and a displacement of 35 to 55 tons. Muskets, pistols, and occasional small cannon gave these craft enough force for the mission. Smugglers commonly transferred cargo from large ships to smaller local boats, so speed and shallow draft let the cutters follow them into waters that larger ships could not enter.
Chapter · 6:34-9:30
The ten founding revenue cutters
The first ten revenue cutters were small, shallow-draft craft designed to pursue smugglers into waters inaccessible to larger ships.