USCG Harriet Lane Steam Paddle Cutter & Gunboat

The Harriet Lane is an early U.S. Navy steam-powered cutter in Coast Guard service from the 1850s. The ships were named after First Ladies, in this case the niece of the still unmarried President James Buchanan.

She was built in New York in 1857 for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, but later captured by the Confederacy in 1883 and used as a blockade runner to support the Southern Merchant Service. The Harriet Lane was powered by a combination of steam and sail. She was 180 feet long, had a beam of 30 feet, and carried a 30-pounder Parrott gun and three 9-inch smoothbore Dahlgren guns. The 95-man crew all carried handguns. Her design clearly illustrates the transition from sail to steam operation, as steam engines were not yet completely reliable and power was not yet sufficient to do away with sails.At the end of the war, she was recaptured by Union forces. The Navy declared the ship unfit for service and sold her to new owners from Philadelphia, who renamed her Elliot Ritchie. She carried general cargo and coal for a few years. After 23 years of service, the Elliot Richie was abandoned at sea in 1881 when her cargo caught fire.

The kit is of chipboard construction all components are neatly prefabricated by laser cut. Linden plywood is used for the superstructure and deck. Ladders, anchors, guns and other fittings are cast in fine, detailed, lead-free Britannia metal. Some ornamentation is reproduced with brass etched parts. The assembly instructions are available in English only and consist of very richly illustrated step-by-step instructions and large-format plans.

Technical data:

Scale: M 1:96
Length: 711mm
Width: 203mm
Height: 406mm