Vessel Name – Mahoning – renamed Levi Woodbury “Woodbury” April 1898 – renamed Laksco after 1915
Class – Topsail Schooner / Steamer – Pawtuxet-class tender
Hull – wood – oak, locust and white oak w. iron diagonal bracing
Masts - 2
Rig – topsail schooner
Build date – 1863
Commissioned – July 18, 1864
Built by – J.W. Lynn & Sons
Built at – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Built for – U.S. Revenue Service
Named for – Mahoning creek and valley, Pennsylvania – 1898 for Levi Woodbury (1789-1851), U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, Supreme Court Justice
Power – steam engine with 2 oscillating cylinders; single 8’ screw
Displacement – 350 tons
Length – 138’
Beam – 26’6”
Draft – 11’
Crew – 7 officers, 34 enlisted
Armament – 1 x 30-pound Parrott rifle; 5 x 24-pound howitzers
Number –
Disposition – By 1913, Woodbury was not only the Coast Guard's oldest cutter, she was the oldest active-duty vessel in U.S. government service, as well as being the only ship to have seen active service in both the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War. Decommissioned by Coast Guard, July 19, 1915, Portland, Maine. Sold to Thomas Butler & Co., Boston, Massachusetts August 10, 1915. Woodbury's decommission ended 51 years with the Revenue Cutter Service, making her one of the longest serving cutters in the organization's history. After her final decommission in 1915, Levi Woodbury was placed into service as the merchant Laksco. She disappears from shipping records in 1932.
“For more than fifty years the cutter “Levi Woodbury” was stationed on the coast of Maine, ranging between Portland and Eastport with regular calls at Rockland, Castine, and Machiasport. At first her hull was black, but later was painted white. She served from 1864 until 1916, when she was condemned by the government and sold. She finished her days enacting shipwreck scenes in silent movies.” - “Penobscot Bay, Mount Desert and Eastport Steamboat Album” by Allie Ryan, p. 68-69 – 1972
A revenue cutter did customs work, survey work and smuggling patrol. It functioned as the Coast Guard does today. - Ralph Stanley - 09/26/2007
In 1790, Alexander Hamilton proposed armed shipping vessels to enforce customs duties in the nations shipping ports. Congress appropriated $10,000 to maintain 10 revenue cutters to be placed under the charge of customs collectors.
