USS Albert Gallatin
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | USS Albert Gallatin |
| Namesake | Albert Gallatin |
| Launched | 4 March 1871 |
| Commissioned | 1874 |
| Fate | Sunk, 6 January 1892 |
| General characteristics | |
| Typ | Cutter |
| Displacement | 250 long tons (254 t) |
| Length | 137 ft (42 m) |
| Beam | 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) |
| Draft | 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m) |
| Propulsion | Steam engine with a Fowler steering propeller and Topsail |
| Complement | 40 |
| Armament | 1 × 6-pounder gun |
Albert Gallatin was a U.S. Revenue Cutter that grounded on Boo Hoo Ledge off Manchester, MA on 6 January 1892.
History
Named after President Thomas Jefferson's Secretary of the Treasury, the Albert Gallatin was built in Buffalo, New York, in 1871 at a cost of $65,000. She was armed with a 2.6 pound, brass Whitworth carriage guns, mounted in a broadside and sported an iron hull and mahogany decks. The initial propulsion was a horizontal, direct-acting steam engine with a Fowler steering propeller which was removed in 1874.
The Albert Gallatin was ported in Boston Harbor and patrolled from Portsmouth, NH to Holmes Hole, MA. Captain Gabrielson also skippered the Revenue Cutter Dexter when it came to the aid of City of Columbus which wrecked off Martha's Vineyard.
The shipwreck
In the morning of 6 January 1892 Captain Gabrielson was attempting to make the safety of Gloucester Harbor during a snowstorm and became disoriented. The cutter hit Boo Hoo Ledge hard. While trying to free the ship of the ledge the ship flooded and the smokestack fell onto the ship, killing the ship's carpenter, Mr. J. Jacobson. The other 39 members of the crew were rescued. The current coordinates of the Albert Gallatin are 42°33′50″N 70°44′52″W / 42.56389°N 70.74778°W, at a depth of around 50 feet.