Samuel Humphreys designed these cutters for roles as diverse as fighting pirates, privateers, combating smugglers and operating with naval forces.

Ordered to Mobile, Alabama, in December 1844, she was driven ashore in Pensacola Bay on the coast of Florida during a storm.

After repairs, she was attached to the United States Navy for service during the Mexican War to carry dispatches in the Gulf of Mexico.

In June 1849, Wolcott was laid up in Mobile for repairs, and on 3 July 1849 she was transferred to the United States Coast Survey.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.