Cutter

 Classically, the term cutter was applied to a single-masted sailing vessel with a topmast and a standing bowsprit, carrying a mainsail, gaff-topsail, stay fore-sail, and jibs.  When the US Revenue Marine was established in 1790, all of its original vessels were cutters.  In its Act of August 4, 1790 for the more effective collection of customs duties, Congress authorized the President “to cause to be built and equipped, so many boats or cutters, not exceeding ten, as may be necessary to be employed for the protection of the revenue”.  The original ten cutters operated from Maine (then part of Massachusetts) to Georgia.  Their masters reported to the various Collectors of Customs in the major ports of the new United States.  The advantage of a cutter was that it was relatively fast and maneuverable, yet required a minimal crew in relation to other sailing vessels of comparable displacement. Naturally, the term “cutter” became synonymous with vessels of the fledging agency.  Even when other types of vessels were introduced, the old name stuck and all of the agency’s vessels were referred to as cutters.  The agency itself adopted the name Revenue Cutter Service.  When the Revenue Cutter Service combined with the Life-Saving Service to form the US Coast Guard in 1915, the agency’s vessels continued to be referred to as cutters.  Officially, the Coast Guard reserves the term “cutter” for its vessels with a length of over 65 feet.  Smaller vessels are referred to as craft or boats.  Cutters generally have names (such as the Eagle or the Bertholf), while the smaller vessels are designated by number.