USRC Scammel (1798)

History
United States
NameScammel or Scammel II
NamesakeAlexander Scammell, Adjutant General of the Continental Army
Owner
  • United States Revenue Marine, 1798
  • United States Navy, 17981801
BuilderJames Hackett, Badger's Island, Kittery, Maine (then a part of New Hampshire)
Launched11 August 1798
FateSold 20 June 1801 at Baltimore, Maryland
General characteristics
Typedouble topsail schooner
Displacement132 tons
Length58 feet (keel), 75 feet (deck)
Beam20 feet (mean)
Draft9 feet
Complement6570 men
Armament14 46 pounders

USRC Scammel or sometimes referred to as Scammel II was a revenue cutter built in 1798 to serve in the Quasi-War with France. After completion she was transferred to the U.S. Navy and served in the West Indies naval squadron commanded by Commodore John Barry. While in Revenue-Marine service her captain was John Adams. In a letter dated 20 May, 1799 Navy Secretary Benjamin Stoddert notified the Treasury Secretary that he should consider her to be officially transferred to the U.S. Navy. In U.S. Navy service her first captain was Lieutenant Mark Fernald. She assisted the sloop USS Portsmouth in the surrender of the French navy ship Hussar August 20-22, 1799. Arrived in New York late September, 1799. She was ordered to St. Kitts on 16 October, 1799. After the war, the Navy retained Scammel until it was sold in 1801.