Bering Sea Anti-Poaching Operations

"Old Salts of the Square-Rigger Navy" on board USS Mohican, 1888, by H. W. Whitaker.

Date	June 22 – October 5, 1891
Location	Bering Sea, Pacific Ocean
Result	Anglo-American victory

Belligerents

United States

United Kingdom

Canadian Poachers

Commanders and leaders

Charles S. Cotton

Henry C. Cochrane

N/A

Strength

1 cruiser
3 sloops-of-war
3 steamers
2 gunboats
2 cutters
U.S. Navy
U.S. RCS
U.S. Marines
Royal Navy
Royal Marines

N/A

Casualties and losses

None

Dozens of ships boarded

Bering Sea Anti-Poaching Operations were conducted in 1891 by the navies and marine corps' of the United States and the United Kingdom. Due to the near extinction of the seal population in the Bering Sea, the American and British governments dispatched a squadron of warships to suppress poaching activities.

The operations against seal poachers had their origin in the 1880s after Canada claimed the fishing rights around many of the Aleutian Islands, in violation of United States law. As a result, the United States Navy Pacific Squadron seized several Canadian ships. Also, the near extinction of seals by poachers from the Dominion of Canada and the United States drew the interests of the Naturalist societies who pressured their governments to respond so in 1891 President Benjamin Harrison and his British counterparts banned sealing in the Bering Sea and ordered the formation of a new naval squadron. The new force, led by the American Commander Charles S. Cotton, composed of small warships intended to police the disputed fishing zone and inform all merchant ships of the ban. Eleven United States Navy, Royal Navy and United States Revenue Cutter Service ships participated in the operations. The flagship of the squadron was USS Mohican, a screw sloop-of-war, under Commander Cotton. The other American ships were USS Marion, an old sailing sloop, the steamer USS Thetis, the gunboats USS Alert and USS Ranger and the steam-powered revenue cutters USRC Corwin and USCR Rush. The Pacific Coast Steamship Company vessel Al-Ki was also chartered for service, filled with marines, she was placed under the command of Captain Henry C. Cochrane of the United States Marine Corps. Al-Ki was used as a prison ship at Unalaska for captured poachers.

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Wikipedia