USRC Dexter (1874)

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 United States Revenue Cutter Service to bear the name. The other Dexter-class cutters, all commissioned in 1874, were the Dallas and the Rush.

Dexter was built by the Atlantic Works Company at Boston, Massachusetts. Revenue Captain J. A. Henriques accepted her for service on 6 June 1874, and she was commissioned into the Revenue Cutter Service on 18 June 1874.

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, outside of Long Island, New York.

In 1904 Dexter was ordered to Puerto Rico. She returned to Newport in 1905.

Dexter was decommissioned at Arundel Cove, Maryland, in 1908. She was sold on 18 July 1908.