USRC Kankakee was a screw

Propeller

A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...

 steam

Steam engine

A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...

 revenue cutter built for the United States Revenue Marine during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Kankakee spent most of her brief career with the Revenue Marine operating in and around Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

; Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

 and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

. Apart from her normal revenue cutter duties, she was used as a transport for customs officials and later for testing safety apparatus.

After less than three years as a revenue cutter, Kankakee was sold in 1867 due to dissatisfaction with her machinery. Later voyaging to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, where she was renamed Kawachi, she was broken up on or after 1869.

Construction and design

Kankakee was one of six Pawtuxet-class screw 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 ordered by the Treasury Department in 1863 for the United States Revenue Marine. She was built in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 by J. A. Westervelt for the sum of $103,000, and launched on 15 September 1863.

Kankakee was 130 feet (39.6 m) long, with a beam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

 of 26 in 6 in (8.08 m) and hold depth of 11 feet (3.4 m). Draft is uncertain but was probably around 6 feet (1.8 m). Like the other ships of her class, her contract called for a hull

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

 of oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

, locust

Black locust

Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly known as the Black Locust, is a tree in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States, but has been widely planted and naturalized elsewhere in temperate North America, Europe, Southern Africa and Asia and is...

 and white oak

White oak

Quercus alba, the white oak, is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of eastern North America. It is a long-lived oak of the Fagaceae family, native to eastern North America and found from southern Quebec west to eastern Minnesota and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. Specimens have been...

, strengthened with diagonal iron bracing.

Kankakee was powered by a two-cylinder

Cylinder (engine)

A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...

, geared screw, oscillating engine with 36 inch bore, 30-inch stroke and 10-inch steam cut-off

Cutoff (steam engine)

In a steam engine, cutoff is the point in the piston stroke at which the inlet valve is closed. On a steam locomotive, the cutoff is controlled by the reverser....

, built by J. & R. I. Gray at their New York facility, the Phoenix Iron Works. Steam, at a pressure of about 22 psi

Pounds per square inch

The pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units...

, was supplied by a single tubular boiler

Boiler

A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...

. The engine drove a single 8-foot diameter, 12-foot pitch screw propeller geared upward at a ratio of 3:1, delivering a speed of about 12 knots.

A fatal accident involving Kankakee occurred while her engines were being installed at the foot of Horatio Street, North River on June 1, 1864. While Kankakees smokestack was being hoisted in, the steamboat Mary Powell passed by, the wash from which caused the smokestack's supporting guys

Guy-wire

A guy-wire or guy-rope, also known as simply a guy, is a tensioned cable designed to add stability to structures . One end of the cable is attached to the structure, and the other is anchored to the ground at a distance from the structure's base...

 to slip and send it crashing to the deck of an adjacent schooner. Two men were killed by the falling smokestack, and several other persons injured. A coroner

Coroner

A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...

's inquest held a few days later concluded that no fault could be attributed, but recommended that in future installations of the type, six guys be used instead of the usual four.

Kankakee was either brig

Brig

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

 or topsail schooner-rigged for auxiliary sail power. Her armament consisted of a single 30-pounder Parrott rifle, and five 24-pounder Dahlgren gun

Dahlgren gun

Dahlgren guns were muzzle loading naval artillery designed by Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren USN, mostly used in the period of the American Civil War. Dahlgren's design philosophy evolved from an accidental explosion in 1849 of a 32-pounder being tested for accuracy, killing a gunner...

s, including two pivot gun

Pivot gun

A pivot gun was a type of cannon mounted on a fixed central emplacement which permitted it to be moved through a wide horizontal arc. They were a common weapon aboard ships and in land fortifications for several centuries but became obsolete after the invention of gun turrets...

s. She had a crew complement of 41 officers and enlisted men.

Trial trip

Kankakee conducted her trial trip on 1 November 1864, leaving port at 10 am with a number of officials aboard, including the Superintendent of Repairs and Supplies, Thomas B. Stillman, and several officers of the Revenue Marine. During the trial, Kankakee attained a speed of 12 knots, with the engine operating at 36 rpm

Revolutions per minute

Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...

 and the propeller at 108, reportedly making her the fastest vessel of the Pawtuxet class. A New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

 correspondent despatched for the occasion observed that the ship "makes a very fine appearance on the water. She steers beautifully, turning around in a very short space".

After returning to dock at 4 pm, the vessel was met by Collector of Ports

Collector of the Port of New York

The Collector of Customs at the Port of New York, most often referred to as Collector of the Port of New York, sometimes also as Collector of Customs for the Port of New York or Collector of Customs for the District of New York, was a federal officer who was in charge of the collection of import...

 Simeon Draper

Simeon Draper

Simeon Draper was an American politician from New York.-Life:...

, and a second trip made for his benefit. Draper declared himself "very much pleased" with Kankakees performance, while the other officials "pronounced unqualifiedly" in favor of the ship.

Revenue Marine service, 1864–67

Soon thereafter, Kankakee received her commission, but scarcely had she entered service before tragedy struck again. On December 26, Kankakees commander, Captain Richard A. Marselles, fell overboard while attempting to signal another vessel off Hoboken

Hoboken

Hoboken may refer to:*Hoboken, New Jersey, United States*Hoboken, Antwerp, a district of Antwerp, Belgium*Hoboken, Georgia, United States*Hoboken, Alabama, United States*"Hoboken", a song on Operation Ivy's 1988 album Hectic-See also:...

. Though rescued twenty minutes later, attempts to revive him failed.

In 1865, Kankakee, now under the command of a Captain Baker, voyaged to the Southern States

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

 with two agents of the Treasury Department tasked with setting up a system of customs for the ports of the recently vanquished Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

. After calling at Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

 and Havana, Cuba, Kankakee arrived at Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 on 27 July for coaling before returning to New York. The Customs office at Charleston, meanwhile, was said to be "rapidly assuming a prosperous aspect".

By September, Kankakee was homeported in Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

. The following month, Kankakee arrived at Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...

 with the schooner Hannah Matilda under tow, which had lost her sails. On February 9, 1866, Kankakee spoke the ship Grey Eagle, laden with coffee from Rio Janeiro, and supplied her with provisions. On the 24th, Kankakee, now under the command of Captain George Slicer, was reportedly preparing to transfer to Philadelphia, while the revenue cutter Mocassin was set to take over Kankakees duties in Virginia waters.

In February 1867, the crew of Kankakee suffered another misfortune when one of the ship's firemen was knocked down by a tender in Grand Street

Grand Street (Manhattan)

Grand Street is a street in Manhattan, New York City. It runs east-west parallel to and south of Delancey Street, from SoHo through Chinatown, Little Italy, the Lower East Side to the East River....

, Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, reportedly suffering serious injuries. In April, Kankakee was utilized by the Commission on Life-Saving Apparatus to test a number of different designs for detaching and lowering lifeboats. "The merits of a fog-horn

Foghorn

A foghorn or fog signal or fog bell is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of hazards or boats of the presence of other vehicles in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport...

" were also tested. Captain Slicer of Kankakee was later thanked for his assistance to the Commission.

Later service

By this time, the Revenue Marine had decided to rid itself of a number of the Pawtuxet-class cutters on the basis that their engines were too complicated. Kankakee was consequently laid up, and sold on 28 May 1867. She later voyaged to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, where by February 1869 she had been renamed Kawachi. Kawachi was eventually broken up.