Revenue Cutters were first sent to the Caribbean Sea to protect American shipping from French warships in the spring of 1799. About 12 French warships were captured by Revenue cutters in 1799 in the Caribbean. Of these, the 6-gun "Bon Perre", captured by the USRC "Eagle", was put into service as a Revenue cutter and served until 1801. In 1800, the brigantine "Pickering" and the frigate "Insurgente" both departed the East Coast to join the fleet in the Caribbean. Both were lost at sea. There were no survivors to explain what happened to the two cutters. On February 3, 1801 the treaty with France was ratified. At this time many in Washington, D.C. thought that the Revenue Cutter Service should be reduced in size. Many of its larger cutters were too big and too expensive to maintain. Many of the larger and older cutters were sold and many junior officers were let go.