courtesy of the artist
The US Revenue Cutter C. W. Lawrence, by Christopher Blossom, 12 x 10 inches. Note the rig on this depiction is an artist’s interpretation. Similar to the replica vessel Californian, (shown on page 14), this rendition shows the ship with a topsail schooner rig, not a brig rig as records indicate. This image is available as a limited-edition canvas print through www.greenwichworkshop.com. C. W. Lawrence was built as one of seven replacements for cutters that had been lost during the Mexican War. She was named for the collector of customs at the Port of New York, Cornelius Lawrence, who had previously served as a member of Congress and subsequently as mayor of New York. The new cutter named for him was a 96-foot brig-rigged Baltimore clipper, carrying a spread of canvas on raked masts. For armament, she carried two 32-pounders, one long 18-pounder, and two 6-pounders, and smaller weapons such as carbines, percussion pistols, Colt revolvers, boarding pikes, and cutlasses. C. W. Lawrence was launched on 20 August 1848 at William Easby’s shipyard at Foggy Bottom in Washington, DC. She spent the next several weeks fitting out before the Revenue Cutter Service accepted her for service on 11 October. Lawrence’s first commanding officer, who had also overseen her construction, was Captain Alexander Fraser. Fraser had under his command fortythree men, which included an executive officer, two second lieu-
tenants, two third lieutenants, a surgeon, and thirty-five enlisted men. On 1 November 1848, Lawrence headed out on her maiden voyage to the Pacific Ocean by way of treacherous Cape Horn. During her nearly year-long odyssey getting from the Atlantic to the Pacific, Lawrence’s captain and crew suffered many hardships. Fraser and his crew had barely left the Chesapeake Bay when they encountered foul weather as soon as the cutter crossed into the Gulf Stream. The consequent damage to the brand new vessel proved so severe it took nearly two months in Rio de Janiero to repair her hull, spars, and rigging. After Rio, Lawrence spent five weeks pounding into raging seas, howling headwinds, and fierce storms as her crew battled to double Cape Horn. When she finally entered the Pacific in June 1849, she became the first of numerous revenue cutters to serve in that ocean. En route to her new homeport in San Francisco, she swung by Hawaii and signed on seventeen Hawaiians to round out her crew. These men were the first Pacific Islanders to serve in the Coast Guard. After
SEA HISTORY 168, AUTUMN 2019 15