USRC Dexter (1874)
Dexter-class cutter
USRC Dexter was a Dexter-class cutter of the United States Revenue Cutter Service in commission from 1874 to 1908. She was the second ship of the Revenue Cutter Service to bear the name. The other Dexter-class cutters, all commissioned in 1874, were Dallas and Rush. Dexter was built by the Atlantic Works Company at Boston, Massachusetts. Captain John A. Henriques accepted her for service on 6 June 1874, and she was commissioned into the Revenue Cutter Service on 18 June 1874. Her role in the rescue of passengers from the sinking SS City of Columbus under winter gale winds brought her nationwide popular acclaim.
Early service
Dexter was stationed at Newport, Rhode Island. She patrolled the Long Island Sound and east to Nantucket, Massachusetts, enforcing customs laws, patrolling regattas, and assisting mariners in distress, among other duties. She also made annual winter cruises as directed, usually off Edgartown, Massachusetts to Nantucket Shoals, and from Gay Head, Massachusetts, to Sandy Hook, New Jersey.
Rescue of SS City of Columbus
In the early morning hours of 18 January 1884, SS City of Columbus out of Boston, Massachusetts bound for Savannah, Georgia ran aground on rocks near Martha's Vineyard.
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