USRC Ingham (1832)
U.S. Revenue Cutter Ingham
(shown here under Texas colors) |
|
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
|
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| Namesake: | Samuel D. Ingham |
| Builder: | Webb and Allen, New York |
| Laid down: | 1830 |
| Launched: | 1832 |
| Commissioned: | 1832 |
| Decommissioned: | 10 January 1836 |
| Homeport: | |
| Nickname(s): | Semper Paratus |
| Fate: | transferred to the Texas Navy renamed Independence |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Schooner |
| Displacement: | 112 tons |
| Length: | 73.4 ft (22.4 m) |
| Beam: | 20.6 ft (6.3 m) |
| Draught: | 9.7 ft (3.0 m) |
| Propulsion: | wind |
| Complement: | 20-24 |
| Armament: | 6-9 pndrs |
| Notes: | |
The United States Revenue Cutter Ingham was one of the 13 Coast Guard cutters of the Morris-Taney class. Named for Secretary of the Treasury Samuel D. Ingham, she was the first United States warship to engage a Mexican ship in combat; and for her service in that battle, a newspaper called her Semper Paratus (always ready), which later became the motto of the United States Coast Guard. Ingham was sold in 1836 to the Republic of Texas and served in the Texas Navy until she was captured as a prize-of-war by Mexico and was rechristened Independencia.
The Morris-Taney class cutters were the backbone of the Revenue Cutter Service for more than a decade from 1830-1840. Samuel Humphreys designed these cutters for roles as diverse as fighting pirates, privateers, combating smugglers and operating with naval forces. He designed the vessels on a naval schooner concept. They had Baltimore Clipper lines. The vessels were built by Webb and Allen, and designed by Isaac Webb. They resembled Humphreys' design, but had one less port.
The Ingham was initially stationed at New Orleans, Louisiana. She did a short term of duty in Baltimore, Maryland during late 1831 and returned to duty in New Orleans in January 1832.
The revenue cutters in New Orleans were increasingly monitoring the situation in Texas, because settlers and merchant traffic between the United States and the Mexican province of Texas mostly traveled by sea and usually through New Orleans. Starting in 1835, the central Mexican government attempted to collect excise taxes and disrupt trafficking in slaves into Texas. This led to seizures of Texan-owned and American-owned and flagged vessels, the most famous being the American merchant ship Martha. She was seized on 7 May 1835, by the Mexican schooner Montezuma and the Americans on-board were held as prisoners.
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