uscg
bonhams, p.d.
(above) Clipper Challenge by Samuel Walters (1811–1882) (below) Captain Douglas Ottinger Quells a Mutiny, aboard the Challenge in San Francisco Harbor, October 1851.
painting by james sharpe, courtesy uscg
ship. In time, the number of prisoners exceeded the capacity of Lawrence’s brig, so mutineers had to be placed in irons on board other vessels. In late 1850, after the cutter Polk arrived to take over patrolling San Francisco Bay, a crew was rounded up and the Lawrence was fitted-out for a cruise down the coast to chart the new territory’s inlets, bays, and waterways. Lawrence cleared the Golden Gate on the night of 26 December and headed south along the coast. She arrived in San Diego on 19 January 1851, and then sailed for the Hawaiian Islands, arriving at Hilo on 7 March. After visiting Honolulu, she returned to San Francisco, returning there in early May, having completed the first federal survey of the California coast. Having been in command of the Lawrence from the day her keel was laid down through the long and arduous voyage to the West Coast, and then serving a year in San Francisco’s lawless waters, Captain Fraser finally requested a leave of absence. His request was granted and the Revenue Cutter Service sent Captain Douglas Ottinger to relieve him, which he did on 7 June 1851. Like Fraser, Ottinger continued carrying out the cutter’s missions of law enforcement, interdicting smugglers, and quelling mutinies. In October, Ottinger and his crew participated in the infamous Challenge affair. The extreme clipper ship had sailed into the harbor flying a distress flag, and soon word got out that there had been an attempted mutiny over the brutality of the mate and captain. Ottinger and his crew aboard the Lawrence made for the ship in the anchorage. They found themselves in the middle of an angry mob of San Franciscans threatening to lynch the captain and the mate, the captain trying to have the mutineers arrested, and the crew accusing the mate of murder. Ottinger and local authorities Capt. Douglas Ottinger, USRC Service eventually brought the situation under control. During this time, Ottinger was also dealing with several vessels in port rumored to have weapons and filibusters on board and were preparing to depart San Francisco for Hawaii to overthrow the monarchy. Somehow, Ottinger and his men averted an armed conflict with these vessels and kept them from carrying out their plan. Lawrence’s career was over not long after this event. In the dark of night on 25 November 1851, battling heavy seas and visibility too poor to determine his location or judge the tide, Captain Ottinger ran the cutter aground south of the Golden Gate near the approaches to San Francisco Bay. The ship could not be
saved. None of the crew was lost, however, and the cutter’s ordnance and equipment were successfully salvaged. The local customs collector sold the beached hull and damaged equipment to salvors. Meanwhile, the cutter’s crew, armament, and equipment were transferred to another cutter. Ottinger was absolved of fault surrounding the loss of the vessel and went on to serve a lengthy career in the Revenue Cutter Service. C. W. Lawrence served a career of fewer than four years, but during that time she saw more action than cutters several times her age. Having been sent to California for seemingly normal law enforcement activity and having arrived at the height of the Gold Rush, Lawrence’s mission increased in intensity and importance. In her first months on the West Coast, she put down mutinies, interdicted smugglers, rescued vessels in distress, charted the California coast, and tamed America’s maritime frontier. William H. Thiesen, PhD, is the Atlantic Area Historian for the US Coast Guard. A regular contributor to Sea History, Dr. Thiesen was awarded the 2017 Rodney N. Houghton Award for the best feature article in Sea History. His articles appear weekly in the online history series “The Long Blue Line,” featured on the Coast Guard Compass website. For more information on USCG history, visit www. uscg.mil/history.
SEA HISTORY 168, AUTUMN 2019 17