Bering Sea Anti-Poaching Operations
Encyclopedia
Bering Sea Anti-Poaching Operations were conducted in 1891 by the navies of the United States
and the United Kingdom
. Due to the near extinction
of the seal
population in the Bering Sea
, the American and British governments dispatched a squadron
of warships to suppress poaching
activities.
claimed the fishing rights around many of the Aleutian Islands, in violation of United States law. As result the United States Navy
Pacific Squadron
seized several Canadian ships. Also, the near extinction of seals by poachers from British Canada and the United States drew the interests of the Naturalist
societies who pressured their governments to respond so in 1891 President
Benjamin Harrison
and his British counterparts banned sealing in the Bering Sea and ordered the formation of a new naval squadron. The new force, led by the American Commander
Charles S. Cotton, composed of small warships intended to police the disputed fishing zone and inform all merchant ships of the ban. Eleven United States Navy
, Royal Navy
and United States Revenue Cutter Service
ships participated in the operations. The flagship
of the squadron was USS Mohican
, a screw sloop
-of-war, under Commander Cotton. The other American ships were USS Marion
, an old sailing sloop, the steamer USS Thetis
, the gunboat
s USS Alert
and USS Ranger
and the steam-powered revenue cutters USRC Corwin and USCR Rush
. The Pacific Coast Steamship Company
vessel Al-Ki was also chartered for service, filled with marines, she was placed under the command of Captain Henry C. Cochrane of the United States Marine Corps
. Al-Ki was used as a prison ship
at Unalaska for captured poachers.
All of the American ships had marine detachments aboard, with the exception of the Thetis, totaling five officers and 113 enlisted men. British naval forces included the cruiser
HMS Porpoise
, the screw sloop HMS Nymphe
and the steamer HMS Pheasant, each with a force of Royal Marines
. The operations officially began on June 22, 1891 when the Al-Ki hauled off from Mare Island Naval Shipyard
for the Bering Sea and she was soon followed by the other vessels. Over the course of a few months the squadron boarded dozens of ships though only four were found to be infringing upon the proclamation of the United States and the United Kingdom. They were the schooner
s E. B. Marvin and the Otto of British subject and the American schooners La Mifa and Ethel. The American schooners had a force of marines placed aboard and were towed over 1,200 miles by the Al-Ki to Sitka. While the naval ships weren't in action against poachers they spent their time drilling and practice firing. The American marines also conducted exhibition drills at Sitka and Lliuliuk which were appreciated by the inhabitants. In late September, as the storm season approached, the remaining whaling and sealing ships in the Bering Sea left the region for coastal waters. Naval operations officially ended on October 5 when the last American warships headed south for Mare Island, where they arrived on October 14. They had patrolled 6,600 nautical miles since June 22. British forces sailed back to the East Asia
n coast. The owners of forty-one vessels protested and demanded compensation for the breaking up of their sealing activities.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Due to the near extinction
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
of the seal
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
population in the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
, the American and British governments dispatched a squadron
Bering Sea Squadron
The Bering Sea Squadron was a combined American and British naval station formed and disbanded in 1891 to suppress seal poaching in the Bering Sea...
of warships to suppress poaching
Poaching
Poaching is the illegal taking of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws. Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching.It may be illegal and in...
activities.
Operations
The operations against seal poachers had their origin in the 1880s after British CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
claimed the fishing rights around many of the Aleutian Islands, in violation of United States law. As result the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
seized several Canadian ships. Also, the near extinction of seals by poachers from British Canada and the United States drew the interests of the Naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
societies who pressured their governments to respond so in 1891 President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
and his British counterparts banned sealing in the Bering Sea and ordered the formation of a new naval squadron. The new force, led by the American Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
Charles S. Cotton, composed of small warships intended to police the disputed fishing zone and inform all merchant ships of the ban. Eleven United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and United States Revenue Cutter Service
United States Revenue Cutter Service
The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in 1790 as an armed maritime law enforcement service. Throughout its entire existence the Revenue Cutter Service operated under the authority of the United States Department of the Treasury...
ships participated in the operations. The flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the squadron was USS Mohican
USS Mohican (1883)
The second USS Mohican was a steam sloop of war in the United States Navy. She was named for the Mohican tribe.-Construction:Mohican was laid down by Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 4 September 1872, funded with the repair money allocated for the first ; launched 27 December 1883; sponsored by...
, a screw sloop
Screw sloop
A screw sloop is a propeller-driven sloop-of-war. In the 19th century, during the introduction of the steam engine, ships driven by propellers were differentiated from those driven by paddle-wheels by referring to the ship's screws...
-of-war, under Commander Cotton. The other American ships were USS Marion
USS Marion (1839)
USS Marion was a sloop-of-war of the third rate in the Union Navy during the American Civil War.Marion was launched at the Boston Navy Yard on 24 April 1839. On 10 November 1839, she departed Boston on her first cruise, to Brazil. Sunk when heaved down in the harbor at Rio de Janeiro early in 1842,...
, an old sailing sloop, the steamer USS Thetis
USS Thetis (1881)
The first USS Thetis was a three-masted, wooden-hulled steam whaler in the United States Navy used to rescue a polar expedition and later in the Revenue Cutter Service....
, the gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
s USS Alert
USS Alert (AS-4)
The third USS Alert was an iron-hulled screw steamer gunboat in the United States Navy. The lead ship in her class, Alert was destined for a long Naval career, serving from 1875 to 1922, a period of 47 years, including service as a submarine tender in World War I...
and USS Ranger
USS Nantucket (IX-18)
|...
and the steam-powered revenue cutters USRC Corwin and USCR Rush
USRC Rush (1885)
USRC Rush was a Revenue Cutter named for Richard Rush, eighth Secretary of the Treasury. She was a replacement for the USRC Rush and was much larger, but re-used the engine from the first Rush. She was completed in November 1885...
. The Pacific Coast Steamship Company
Pacific Coast Steamship Company
The Pacific Coast Steamship Company was an important early shipping company that operated steamships on the west coast of North America.-Organization and operations:...
vessel Al-Ki was also chartered for service, filled with marines, she was placed under the command of Captain Henry C. Cochrane of the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. Al-Ki was used as a prison ship
Prison ship
A prison ship, historically sometimes called a prison hulk, is a vessel used as a prison, often to hold convicts awaiting transportation to penal colonies. This practice was popular with the British government in the 18th and 19th centuries....
at Unalaska for captured poachers.
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
HMS Porpoise
HMS Porpoise (1886)
HMS Porpoise was an Archer-class torpedo cruiser of the Royal Navy, built by J. & G. Thompson at Glasgow and launched on 7 May 1886....
, the screw sloop HMS Nymphe
HMS Nymphe
Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Nymphe, HMS Nymph or HMS Nymphen after the Nymphs of Greek Mythology. Another was planned but never completed:...
and the steamer HMS Pheasant, each with a force of Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
. The operations officially began on June 22, 1891 when the Al-Ki hauled off from Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
for the Bering Sea and she was soon followed by the other vessels. Over the course of a few months the squadron boarded dozens of ships though only four were found to be infringing upon the proclamation of the United States and the United Kingdom. They were the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
s E. B. Marvin and the Otto of British subject and the American schooners La Mifa and Ethel. The American schooners had a force of marines placed aboard and were towed over 1,200 miles by the Al-Ki to Sitka. While the naval ships weren't in action against poachers they spent their time drilling and practice firing. The American marines also conducted exhibition drills at Sitka and Lliuliuk which were appreciated by the inhabitants. In late September, as the storm season approached, the remaining whaling and sealing ships in the Bering Sea left the region for coastal waters. Naval operations officially ended on October 5 when the last American warships headed south for Mare Island, where they arrived on October 14. They had patrolled 6,600 nautical miles since June 22. British forces sailed back to the East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
n coast. The owners of forty-one vessels protested and demanded compensation for the breaking up of their sealing activities.
See Also
- African Slave Trade PatrolAfrican Slave Trade PatrolAfrican Slave Trade Patrol was part of the Suppression of the Slave Trade between 1819 and the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861. Due to the abolitionist movement in the United States, a squadron of American navy warships was assigned to catch slave traders in and around Africa...
- West Indies Anti-Piracy Operations of the United StatesWest Indies Anti-Piracy Operations of the United StatesThe West Indies Anti-Piracy Operations refer to the United States Navy presence in the Antilles, and surrounding waters, which fought against pirates. In between 1817 and 1825, the American West Indies Squadron constantly pursued pirates on sea and land, primarily around Cuba and Puerto Rico...
- Aegean Sea Anti-Piracy Operations of the United StatesAegean Sea Anti-Piracy Operations of the United StatesAegean Sea Anti-Piracy Operations began in 1825 when the United States government dispatched a squadron of ships to suppress Aegean Greek pirates. Due to the Greek civil wars and the decline of the Greek Navy, the Aegean quickly became a haven for pirates who sometimes doubled as privateers...