USRC Manning (1898) - Commissioning

Commissioning

Designed as a cruising cutter, Manning was built by Atlantic Works, East Boston, Massachusetts, for the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service. She was accepted by Captain R.M Clark for the USRCS Aug 11, 1897. She commissioned on 8 January 1898 and was assigned cruising grounds along the New England coast. Her lines were those of ancestral clipper cutters, but with a plumb bow instead of the more graceful clipper stem. She and her sister ships USRC Gresham, USRC McCulloch, USRC Algonquin, and USRC Onondago were the last cutters ever rigged for sail. They also carried the first electric generators installed in cutters. As a class, they were suitable for scouting, for rendering assistance, and for cruising at moderately long range. So successful was the design that these cutters furnished the general pattern for cutter construction for the ensuing 20 years.