The Californian
The Revenue Marine Service
The war for American independence from Great Britain began the morning of April 19, 1775 at Lexington, Massachusetts with the “shot heard ‘round the world” and ended on January 14, 1784 when the Treaty of Paris was ratified by Congress. The new American nation operated under the Articles of Confederation drafted by the Continental Congress in 1777. These articles reflected the wariness by the states of a strong central government and established a "firm league of friendship" between and among the 13 states. Under the Articles each of the states retained their "sovereignty, freedom and independence.” It was not until 1789 that America truly became the United States of America when the new nation’s first Congress convened in New York under the recently ratified Constitution.
After the Revolution, the United States was deep in debt, and its emerging industries were under tremendous pressure from British imports. The American merchant marine, a mainstay of the colonial economy, had been weakened by losses in the war. To secure its political independence, the United States first had to secure its financial independence. One of the acts of the first Congress of the United States was to establish protective tariffs and taxes to generate revenues to repay the heavy debt of the Revolutionary War. Prior to the American Revolution, the colonists balked at what they felt were undue taxes imposed by Great Britain upon goods entering North America. One of the ways to escape this oppressive tariff was by smuggling. When the war was over however, many smugglers saw little difference between the tax imposed by King George and the Congress of the United States, so they continued their illegal trade.
George Washington’s former military aide and renowned financier Alexander Hamilton had been appointed as the first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton's first interest when he took office was the repayment in full of the $75 million war debt. He claimed "The debt of the United States ... was the price of liberty,'' In April of 1790 he sought authorization from Congress to build “so many boats or cutters, not exceeding ten, as may be employed for the protection of revenue.”
On August 4, 1790, Congress Enacted the Tariff Act of 1790 establishing formation of a "Revenue Marine." and authorized the building of ten revenue cutters, but did not define their exact specifications. Most were “Baltimore Clipper” type two-masted schooners that were “light, fast, easily managed, seaworthy vessels, handy in beating in and out of harbors and through winding river channels.” The first ten cutters were constructed and then stationed at strategic locations along the Atlantic sea coast. The service would be variously known as "Revenue Service," "Revenue Marine," and "Revenue Cutter Service," until an Act of Congress on 31 July 1894, officially designated the last name as the only correct one. The term "revenue cutter" dated back to the early 1700's in England, where their Revenue patrol vessels were all cutter-rigged, that is, with a single mast and with two or more jibs. The creation of the Revenue Cutter Service on Aug. 4, 1790 is considered the “Birth of the Coast Guard”. The spirit of the service was based on Hamilton's insistence upon thrift and responsibility to the public. The service was intended to collect money, not spend it. The officers were to be servants of the people. “They [the officers] will always keep in mind that their Countrymen are Freemen & as such are impatient of everything that bears that least mark of a domineering Spirit.”
The Primary Purpose of Cutters was to protect the revenue of the new nation by deterring smuggling. That meant sailing out of the ports to which they were assigned and intercepting vessels before they came too close to the shore. It was here, well out of the harbor but within sight of the coast, that smugglers unloaded part of their cargoes into smaller "coaster" vessels or directly onshore to avoid customs duties. The collectors usually had smaller boats that could check vessels as they sailed into port.
These ten cutters, therefore, were not harbor vessels; they were designed to sail out to sea, survive in heavy weather, and sail swiftly so that they might overtake most merchant vessels. They were the nation's first line of defense against attempts to circumvent the new nation's duties, the country's major source of income during this period.
The original duties specifically assigned to the cutters and their crews as legislated by Congress and expounded by Alexander Hamilton included, Boarding incoming and outgoing vessels and checking their papers (ownership, registration, admeasurement, manifests, etc.), Insuring that all cargoes were properly documented, Sealing the cargo holds of incoming vessels, and Seizing those vessels in violation of the law.
In 1799 an act of Congress gave authority to the President to maintain as many revenue cutters as should be necessary to provide for the proper collection of import and tonnage duties. Thus the corps gradually grew in size and importance and its vessels became larger & better. In addition to the usual duties, Revenue Cutters began to enforce other laws as well, including those that regulated navigation such as enforcing quarantine restrictions, charting local coastlines and enforcing neutrality & embargo acts. They were also charged with the suppression of piracy and the slave trade.
On March 22, 1794 it became illegal for US citizens to engage in the international slave trade and on March 2, 1807 Congress declared the importation of slaves from Africa illegal. Then on May 15, 1820 engaging in the international slave trade was declared an “act of piracy.” Some seizures of note were the first capture under the 1794 law in 1799, the capture of Brig General Ramirez carrying 280 African slaves off St. Augustine, FL on July 8, 1820, and on March 25, 1822 the Alabama captured three slave ships. By the Civil War, revenue cutters had captured numerous slavers and freed almost 500 slaves.
The best known incident of slaver interdiction is the case of the schooner Amistad. On June 28, 1839, 53 slaves recently captured in Africa left Havana, Cuba, aboard the Amistad schooner for a sugar plantation at Puerto Principe, Cuba. Three days later, one of the slaves, freed himself and the other slaves. They rose up against their captors and using sugar-cane knives found in the hold, they killed all but two of their captors. On August 26, after almost nearly two difficult months at sea, during which time more than a dozen Africans perished, the Amistad was spotted by the USS Washington, a U.S. Navy brig (and former Revenue Cutter). The Washington seized the Amistad off the coast of Long Island and escorted it to New London, Connecticut where the trial made famous by the 1997 Stephen Spielberg film, "Amistad" was held. Ironically in the film the slave ship La Amistad was portrayed by the Californian.
During the Civil War the Revenue Cutters operated under control of the Navy; indeed, On April 11, 1861 the Cutter Harriet Lane, the service's first operational steam cutter, fired the first shot from any vessel in the Civil War when it sent a volley across the bow of the Confederate vessel Nashville entering Charleston harbor during the siege of Ft. Sumter.
Legislation to create the Coast Guard was initially introduced in 1913. On January 20, 1915 Congress passed the "Act to Create the Coast Guard," (38 Stat. L., 800) and authorized the merger of the Revenue Cutter Service with the Lifesaving Service. President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law on 28 January 1915 and two days later it went into effect on January 30, 1915. The newly constituted Coast Guard was made, by statute, one of the nation’s armed services. The Coast Guard however, celebrates August 4, 1790, (the birth of the Revenue Marine Service) as its birthday making it the nation’s oldest continuously serving sea service.
The Revenue Cutter C. W. Lawrence
The C. W. Lawrence was one of 7 vessels built to replace Revenue Cutters lost during the Mexican / American War (1846 – 1848). She was a Campbell class brig rigged Baltimore clipper with raked masts, 96 ½ ft. in length with a 24 ft. beam and displaced 144 tons. She was launched at the William Easby yard, Foggy Bottom, Washington D.C. on August 20, 1848. She was christened Cornelius W. Lawrence in honor of Cornelius Van Wyck Lawrence (Feb. 28, 1791 – Feb. 20, 1861) the 11th Collector of Customs at the Port of New York from 1845 – 1849. He was also a successful merchant, President of the Bank of the State of New York for 20 years, served in the 23rd Congress House of Representatives Mar. 4, 1833 – May 14, 1834, and the first elected mayor of New York 1834 – 1837 (3 terms). The Lawrence was accepted for service by the Revenue Marine Service on October 11, 1848.
With the acquisition of Oregon by treaty with Great Britain in 1846 and cession of California by Mexico in 1848, the revenue laws were extended to the new territories and California was included within a newly-erected custom's district. Revenue cutters were needed on the Pacific Coast to enforce the law. The original C W Lawrence was pierced for 10 guns and carried two 32-pounders, one long 18-pounder, two 6-pounders, plus carbines, percussion pistols, Colt revolvers, boarding pikes, and cutlasses.
The C W Lawrence set sail for the Pacific on November 1, under the command of Captain Alexander V. Fraser with a crew of 43 aboard. After an arduous voyage of almost a full year, including five weeks spent attempting to sail around the Horn, she arrived in San Francisco on October 31, 1849 after visiting the ports of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Valparaiso, Chile, and the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). In late 1850 the Lawrence was fitted out for a cruise down the coast to San Diego. She cleared the Farallon Islands on the night of December 26, 1850 and cruised south along the coast, charting the coastline and the inlets as she sailed. After passing San Miguel, San Nicolas, and Santa Cruz islands the Lawrence hove to near Santa Catalina the island on January 2, 1851 and entered Cat Harbor at the isthmus on the morning of January 4th. Captain Fraser completed his survey of the harbor and sailed out of the harbor on January 16, 1851. The Lawrence arrived at San Diego harbor on January 19, 1851, anchoring off the “New Town” where the crew set about “watering, wooding, and coaling”. On February 10th the Lawrence shifted her anchorage to La Playa on Point Loma opposite North Island prior to her departure on February 15th. Her return voyage to San Francisco took her far out into the Pacific Ocean to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) once again. She visited at Hilo from March 8th to 24th and stopped at Honolulu for minor repairs from March 26th to April 10th before arriving back at San Francisco on the evening of May 4, 1851. Upon returning to San Francisco Capt. Fraser requested a leave of absence and was relieved by Revenue Captain Douglas Ottinger on 7 June of that same year. On July 18, 1851 to Aug. 25, 1851 the Lawrence cruised as far north as Port Orford, Oregon.
On November 18, 1851 the C. W. Lawrence sailed from San Francisco to Monterey arriving back at San Francisco the evening of November 25th. She anchored near Point Lobos, the southern head of the entrance to San Francisco bay at 7:30 PM. The tide had ebbed and was running with a strong set to the south. The sea was running from the west, almost directly toward the land. After an hour at anchor with waves sweeping across the deck the crew commenced heaving in the anchor to move to a safer position when the cable parted. The ship was driven into shoal water near the beach and grounded about four miles south of Point Lobos around 9:00 PM. With seas breaking across the deck the crew feared they would all drown but the surf was too high to try leaving the ship and everyone held on as best they could. After a harrowing night it was discovered that everyone had survived without serious injury, but it was determined that the ship could not be salvaged.
The Lawrence was hove up onto the beach by means of a hawser carried ashore. She lay in only 3 ½ feet of water at the low tide that morning and the high tide at 1:05 PM would bring her even higher up on the shore. The launch and a cutter were lowered and valuable items were transported to the beach. Stripping the wreck commenced in earnest on the 27th. Wagons were loaded with ship’s papers, navigational instruments, small arms, ammunition, sails, rigging, and “other articles of ship’s property” and sent to the military storehouse at the Presidio of San Francisco. On the 28th the cabin and wardroom furniture along with the medicine chest were removed and sent to the Presidio. The last of the rigging, chains, hawsers, etc. were removed to the Presidio on the 29th. In all $12,000.00 in goods and equipment were salvaged.
The U. S. Treasury Dept. ordered the wreck of the Lawrence sold at auction in early 1852. The hull and many damaged goods were sold for $2,360.50 indicating how little was left. Another $46.00 was tendered for some miscellaneous items bringing the total to $2,406.50 less the cost of salvage and hauling totaling $1,127.40 leaving the government a paltry sum of $1,279.10 from the wreck of the Lawrence. The hull apparently remained on the beach until at least the early months of 1852 as indicated by a survey of the beach dated 1852. Within three years winter storms and heavy waves took their toll on the abandoned ship as the sands and tides swallowed her shattered hulk.
Her memory lived on for a time in the minds of her former crew. They surely would have told their grandchildren about their perilous journey around Cape Horn on the way to California, about their exciting role in the Gold Rush and most of all about the wreck of the Lawrence. As years passed, the stories may have survived in the oral histories of their families, but by the beginning of the Twentieth Century the Revenue Cutter C.W. Lawrence had been all but lost to history as so many other ships before. There were however, a few records that still existed scattered in libraries and dusty archives, newspaper articles, letters, official Custom's correspondence and most importantly the salvaged ship's log book. All these clues, if bought together could reconstruct the lost story of the Lawrence.
C. W. Lawrence Reborn as the Californian
On October 12, 1982 Steve & Jula Christman founded the Nautical Heritage Society as a non-profit organization to educate citizens about the importance of the coastal marine environment to our quality of life by providing “at sea” experience working in the marine environment. The noted naval architect Melbourne Smith was commissioned to develop plans for a suitable sail training vessel and the process of raising 2.5 million dollars to build and outfit the ship began.
While searching for a suitable design, the staff of the United States Coast Guard Academy library in New London Connecticut heard about the project and recalled seeing the log of the Lawrence in the Academy archives, also remembered were plans of a sister vessel to the Lawrence. They contacted the Nautical Heritage Society and offered to make the log and plans available at the same time making the case that a Revenue Cutter would make an ideal sail training vessel. When the Nautical Heritage Society learned about the history of the C. W. Lawrence they knew they had found the ship they wanted to build, a vessel designed for coastal navigation with deep water capabilities and a historical connection to California.
No plans drawings of the Lawrence existed, only her log books. The plans for the Lawrence’s sister ship the Campbell, the first of the Campbell class cutters, (renamed Joseph Lane in 1855, and referred to as Joe Lane in service) were adapted to meet modern Coast Guard regulations and the Lawrence was reborn as the Californian. The Joe Lane (ex-Campbell) may have shared similar hull lines with the Lawrence but it was rigged differently. The Joseph Lane was rigged as a topsail schooner while the Lawrence was rigged as a brig. Because of this difference in rigging the Californian actually more closely represents the appearance of the Joe Lane than the Lawrence. Bit by bit, many of the long forgotten records began to be discovered. U.S. Customs historians, the U.S. Coast Guard, National Park Service staff as well as the historians at the Nautical Heritage Society, all contributed to The Rediscovery of the Revenue Cutter C.W. Lawrence.
One of the first steps taken in the building of the Californian was to locate and order the lumber that would be used to begin the project. A team was sent to Belize in Central America to find the trees that would be needed for the keel, frames, deck beams and other members that would form the major parts of the Californian's structure.
With the unanimous approval of the commissioners of the Port of San Diego a construction site was selected on the beach at Spanish Landing Park across Harbor Drive from the San Diego Lindbergh Field Airport. In June of 1983, before she was even built, the state legislature designated by resolution, the Californian as the official Tallship Ambassador of the State of California by adopting Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 69. An ambitious building schedule was begun with laying the keel on July 4, 1983 and launching set for May 28, 1984 (Memorial Day) in order to have the ship in the water and operational in time for the Tallship parade to kick off the 1984 Summer Olympics to be held in Los Angeles.
Wood for the ship arrived from Belize in Central America and construction began using traditional wood shipbuilding techniques wherever and whenever possible. The C. W. Lawrence was "staunchly built of white and live oak, yellow pine, cedar, locust, and mahogany and was copper fastened and sheathed. The Californian would be constructed of: White Oak: (mast hoops, gaff and boom jaws), Douglas Fir from Washington state (masts, spars. and decks), Sugar Maple: (shells of the blocks are made of Hard Maple), California Redwood: (bulkhead paneling in the "Governor's Cabin"), Black Locust: (cross sections of Locust were used for the gun carriage wheels), Longleaf Georgia Pine: (laminated and shaped to become the frames of the ship. This not only made construction easier, but nearly doubled the strength of the frames), Chicle Tree (belaying pins. Over time some of the pins need replacing and, due to lack of available Sapodilla stock, new ones have been turned using different woods), Honduras Mahogany (cap rails, hatch covers), Jelutong: (Californian's figurehead Queen Calafia) Longleaf Caribbean Pine: (hull and ceiling planking. The planks were between 30 and 36 feet long allowing for fewer joined pieces. The planks are 6 inches wide and 2 1/2 inches thick along most of the hull. But, at the wales where more strength is needed, the thickness was increased to 3 1/2 inches) Santa Maria: (harvested in Belize and used primarily for deck beams and carlings, timber pieces ranged up to 24 feet at the ship's widest beam)
Melbourne Smith was retained to design and oversee construction of the ship and Jayford Hazell was asked to come to California from Jamaica to serve as master shipwright on the project. An interesting side note is that the sheaves inside the blocks were held in place by Mexican Pesos which were an ideal size, and cheaper than regular metal slugs. Work continued at a steady pace much to the interest of the public who visited the site throughout the year to view the ship’s progress. Many local people would spend their lunch hour in the bleachers set-up for public viewing. Due to the public response, groups of volunteers called Watchkeepers were recruited to be present and provide citizens with information about wooden sailing ship construction and the Californian's educational mission.
The Californian carries a carved figurehead of Queen Calafia, namesake of California, and the ship’s transom is ornamented by two California golden grizzly bears on either side of a flowing ribbon in which her name is carved.. As early Spanish explorers began to explore northward along the west coast of North America they would follow the coast of Mexico into the 800 mile long Sea of Cortez. With the Baja California peninsula on one side and the mainland of Mexico on the other it was easy for these explorers to imagine this nameless peninsula as an island not connected to the mainland.
The name they chose for this newly discovered “island” came from a romance novel published in 1508 the Spanish novelist Garci Ordonez de Montalvo. The novel was entitled “Las Sergas de Esplandian” (The Exploits of Esplandian). It was based on his translation of the Amadis of Gaul, a 13th century French manuscript. In the story, Esplandian, the son of Amadis, has many strange adventures. The novel was extremely popular and passed through many printings. It was familiar to any fairly well educated Spaniard of the period.
In chapter 157 he writes, ”Know that, on the right hand of the Indies, Very near to the Terrestrial Paradise, there is an island called California, which is peopled with black women, without any men among them, for they were accustomed to live in the fashion of Amazons. They were of strong and hardy bodies, of ardent courage and great force. Their island was the strongest in all the world, with its steep cliffs and rocky shores. . . . They lived in caves wrought out of the rock with much labor. They had many ships which they sailed out to other countries to obtain their booty.”
“Now at the time when those great men of the Pagans sailed with their great fleet, as history has told you there reigned in this island of California a Queen, very large in person, the most beautiful of all of them, of blooming years, and in her thought desirous of achieving great things, strong of limb and of great courage, more than any of those who had filled her throne before her, Queen Calafia.” Catherine Bach (Daisy Duke of TV series “The Dukes of Hazard” 1979 - 1985) was selected and agreed to pose for the ship’s figurehead.
The launching of the Californian had been set for the afternoon of Memorial Day, May 28, 1984. Everything was ready. A crowd of over 10,000 waited expectantly for Gloria Deukmejian, California’s first lady to christen the ship and send her down the ways. The christening took place on schedule but the launch had to be delayed. The slope of the beach was too shallow to allow launching on a traditional shipway so the Californian had been built on a wheeled launching cradle. As the ship was pushed toward the water the wheels of the launching cradle broke through the crust of hard sand and began sinking into the soft silt beneath causing the ship to heel over at a sickening angle. The cradle was moved farther from the shoreline onto more solid ground until a solution could be worked out. It was determined the ship could not be launched off the beach. The answer to the problem was located just down the road at the Coast Guard Air Station. With the heroic cooperation of numerous government and civic organizations a plan was made to tow the ship on the launching cradle down Harbor Drive and along surface streets to the Coast Guard Air Station where one of their seaplane ramps to would be used launch the ship. The move took place that night and the launch took place the next day with a minimum of difficulties in front of an even larger crowd. The next month was spent at a floating pier next to the construction site to complete rigging and fitting out the ship. After leading July 4, 1984 boat parade celebrating the opening of the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles the Californian began her career as the Tallship Ambassador representing the State of California.
As Tallship Ambassador, the Californian represented California in hundreds of special events, inspiring an appreciation for the maritime heritage and coastal resources of the state. She visited ports in New York, Boston, Maine, Hawaii, Canada, and Mexico representing the state at OP-Sail 86, celebrating the centennial of the Statute of Liberty in New York Harbor. In the year 2000 Californian made a Millennium Goodwill Voyage through the Panama Canal to participate in Opsail 2000 visiting various ports along the eastern U. S. coast and the Caribbean before returning home. She also was active in celebrating California's 1999 sesquicentennial, and in the Tall Ships Challenge California 2002. In addition the Californian has taken 8 tons of medical relief supplies to Acapulco to aid victims of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, made four round-trip goodwill voyages to Hawaii (1985, 1986, 1989, and 1992), two voyages to Canada, and two voyages to Isla Guadalupe in Mexican waters.
The Californian also found her way into Hollywood productions, taking roles in Steven Speilberg's "Amistad" and a number of documentaries. It is ironic that in the filming of “Amistad” off the coast of Los Angeles in 1997 the Californian played the title role of the schooner Amistad, carrying slaves from Cuba to the United States when one of the duties of the Revenue Marine Service at the time was to suppress slavery.
In her eighteen years of operation with the Nautical Heritage Society (1984 – 2003) the Californian traveled over 460,000 miles conducting educational and coastal awareness programs for nearly 80,000 schoolchildren from twenty-eight coastal ports throughout California. She has conducted hundreds of five and eleven day at sea programs for high school and college age students, involved thousands of 4th – 8th grade students in “Sea Chest” Sailing and dockside programs, and thousands of adults in on the water sailing experiences.
Hard times fell upon the Nautical Heritage Society however, when it failed to gain funding from a state energy conservation grant and was unable to finalize a contract with Operation Sail, Inc. in Washington, D.C. The Society placed the Californian on the market in 2002.
A New Life – The Maritime Museum of San Diego
In June, 2002, the Maritime Museum of San Diego received the largest gift in its history when the Sheila Potiker Family Foundation of San Diego contributed funds to purchase the Californian from the Nautical Heritage Society. When the Californian arrived at the Maritime Museum of San Diego, she had logged 18 years of continuous operation and a survey of the vessel made it clear that she needed some alterations, system updates, and maintenance to prepare for the next chapter of her life.
Fittings, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems were overhauled or replaced. In addition to cleaning, hull & deck seams were re-caulked, and below deck spaces were redesigned & reworked to maximize use of available space. The hull received a new paint scheme more closely representing the appearance of a Revenue Cutter Service vessel from the era of the original C. W. Lawrence and she received a new set of sails (7,000 sq. feet). Changes to the rigging and sail arrangement were also made to increase the safe handling of the vessel. The restoration of the Californian was estimated at $400,000.
Two things happened in February of 2003. The California Coastal Conservancy provided the Maritime Museum of San Diego with a $300,000 grant to complete restoration of the Californian and return the ship to a floating classroom for students. Then on February 20, 2003 California Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe introduced Assembly Bill No. 965 (AB 965) proposing to designate the Californian "the Official State Tall Ship", sponsored by the Maritime Museum of San Diego, it recounted the broad history of the Californian and its potential to preserve California's maritime heritage and embody "California's role in the great age of sail." Operating as an "educational vessel" and an "historical asset" the Californian would "promote and encourage an appreciation of the maritime heritage and coastal resources of the State of California." By the end of April, 2003, AB 965 had been unanimously approved in the Assembly and forwarded to the Senate. The Senate approved the amended version of AB 965 on July 7 and returned the bill to the Assembly for approval and on July 23, 2003, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill No. 965 replacing Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 69 of 1983 and declaring that the Californian was, by law, "the Official State Tall Ship."
In mid-August, 2003, the refurbished Californian embarked on a goodwill tour that included stops in Santa Barbara and San Francisco, before it arrived in Sacramento on September 3. The first leg of the cruise carried a group of graduate students from Point Loma Nazarene College studying the 1835 voyage of Richard Henry Dana as told in his book “Two Years Before the Mast”. The group made stops at Dana Point, Ventura, Santa Barbara & San Miguel Islands before reaching the City of Santa Barbara. On September 8, 2003, the Californian set sail for the trip home to San Diego. Paying passengers joined the crew on the homebound voyage that included a tour of the Channel Islands and a stop at Catalina Island before making port in San Diego on September 20.
The San Diego Maritime Museum operates the Californian as an educational vessel and historic asset to promote and encourage an appreciation of the maritime heritage and coastal resources of the State of California. The Californian will continue to sail along the California coast to visit other ports and nautical museums so that all Californians can learn about the proud nautical heritage of California. The building of the Californian restored to California’s shores the grace, beauty, and indomitable spirit of the single Coast Guard cutter that maintained law and order during the frenzy of California’s Gold Rush. The Californian has served as a valuable resource for all Californians. Its voyages have enabled students and adults to develop an appreciation for the maritime heritage and coastal resources of the state.
The Maritime Museum plans to use the Californian to extensively introduce the youth of San Diego to exciting and varied educational and skills-based curriculum. Some of the programming planned includes supplementary science based experiences for elementary school children as well as programs for “at risk” youth. Also planned are extensions of the existing overnight living history program and making the ship available for receptions, charters, and day sails
The Californian has nine sails, carries 7,000 square feet of canvas, measures 145 feet in length and weighs 130 tons. Today the Californian is armed for ceremonial purposes with four of her original eight 6 pound guns and two swivel guns. The guns were cast for the Nautical Heritage Society by Captain Stan Pietrucki, skilled craftsman and owner of Pirates Cove Arms. She casts a distinctive and instantly recognizable silhouette and has become one of the country's most well known tall ships.
Chronology
1790 Aug. 4 – Congress passes Revenue Cutter Bill proposed by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton creating the U. S. Revenue Cutter Service with a fleet of 10 Vessels
1848 Congress approves construction of seven new “Campbell” Class Revenue Cutters. Aug. 20 – C .W. Lawrence launched ad Easby’s Shipyard, New York Nov. 18 – The Lawrence departs Washington DC bound around Cape Horn to San Francisco
1849 Oct. 31 – The Lawrence arrives in San Francisco
1851 Jan. 19 / Feb. 15 The Lawrence visits San Diego Nov. 25 – The Lawrence parts her mooring cable and is driven up on the beach south of San Francisco
1915 U. S. Revenue Cutter Service merges with the Lifesaving Service to become U. S. Coast Guard.
1982 Nautical Heritage Society founded. Planning for the Californian project begins.
1983 July 4 – Californian keel laid. Construction begins on the beach at Spanish Landing Park, San Diego.
1984 May 29 – Californian launched at Coast Guard Air Station, San Diego. July 4 – Californian leads Tallship parade to kick off Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles.
1985 Californian makes her 1st voyage to Hawaii. Californian delivers 8 tons of medical relief supplies to Acapulco to aid victims of devastating earthquake in Mexico City.
1986 Californian makes her 2nd voyage to Hawaii.
1989 Californian makes her 3rd voyage to Hawaii.
1992 Californian makes her 4th voyage to Hawaii.
1993 Californian visits Isla Guadalupe off the coast of Mexico.
1994 Californian visits Isla Guadalupe for 2nd time
1997 Californian stars as the “Amistad” in the Dreamworks movie directed by Steven Spielberg.
1999 Californian participates in California’s Sesquicentennial (150 year) Anniversary
2000 Californian transits Panama Canal en route to participate in OpSail 2000 and visit various east coast ports.
2002 Californian acquired by San Diego Maritime Museum Association and undergoes a period of maintenance and restoration before participating in educational outreach programs. Californian Specifications
Length on Deck 93 feet 6 inches
Waterline Length 83 feet 4 inches
Beam 24 feet
Draft 9 feet 6 inches
Displacement 98 gross tons
Height of Masts 101 feet
Sparred Length 145 feet
Sail Area 7,000 square feet
Number of Sails 9
Speed Under Sail 13.5 knots
Auxiliary Engine 100 horsepower Caterpillar 3404
Speed Under Power 6 knots