The Bering Sea Squadron was a combined American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and British

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...

 naval station formed and disbanded in 1891 to suppress 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...

 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...

 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....

. Eleven vessels were assigned to the squadron including eight 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...

 and 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 plus three from the 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...

.

Anti-Poaching Operations

The United States and United Kingdom government banned sealing

Seal hunting

Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...

 in the Bering Sea in 1891 due to the near extinction of the animals so that year 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 of the American navy was ordered to lead a force of two sloops

Sloop-of-war

In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...

, 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...

 and 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,...

, two steamers, 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....

 and SS Al-Ki, plus 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)

|...

 to operate

Bering Sea Anti-Poaching Operations

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...

 against poachers. The revenue cutters USRC 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...

 and USRC Corwin were also placed under Cotton's command. British forces sent the cruiser

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. From the beginning of the operation on June 22, 1891 to its end on October 5, American and British marines boarded and expelled dozens of merchant vessels mainly around the Aleutian Islands though only four 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 were found to be hunting seals illegally. Two of these vessels were taken over by marines and towed over 1,200 miles by the Al-Ki to Sitka, the other two were taken into British custody and sent to Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

.

Ships of the Squadron

Ship	Type	Branch
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...	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	USN 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...
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,...	sloop-of-war Sloop-of-war In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...	USN
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...	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:...	USN
Ranger USS Nantucket (IX-18) |...	gunboat	USN
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....	steamer	USN
Al-Ki	steamer	USN
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...	cutter	USRCS 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...
Corwin	cutter	USRCS
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....	cruiser 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...	RN 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...
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:...	screw sloop-of-war	RN
Pheasant	steamer	RN