Cutter Service Act
Encyclopedia
The Cutter Service Act emphasized providing otherwise unobtainable medical services for men on board American fishing fleet
s. It authorized the Commandant of the Revenue Cutter Service to "detail for duty on revenue cutters such surgeon
s and other persons of the Public Health Service as ... necessary." As a result of the act, many cutter vessels were fitted out as hospital ships and "relieved from the regular duties as normally performed by cutters" to cruise the fishing banks off the U.S. coastlines as floating hospitals.
Fishing fleet
A fishing fleet is an aggregate of commercial fishing vessels. The term may be used of all vessels operating out of a particular port, all vessels engaged in a particular type of fishing , or all fishing vessels of a country or region.Although fishing vessels are not formally organized as if they...
s. It authorized the Commandant of the Revenue Cutter Service to "detail for duty on revenue cutters such surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
s and other persons of the Public Health Service as ... necessary." As a result of the act, many cutter vessels were fitted out as hospital ships and "relieved from the regular duties as normally performed by cutters" to cruise the fishing banks off the U.S. coastlines as floating hospitals.