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1880 — An Act of Congress (21 Stat. L., 259, 263) provided that "masters of light-house tenders shall have police powers in matters pertaining to government property and smuggling."
1966 — The freighter Alva Cape and tanker Texaco Massachusetts collided in New York Harbor near Third Coast Guard District Headquarters on Governor's Island. Thirty-three crewmen perished in the ensuing explosion. Coast Guard units responded and the rescue effort garnered significant national media attention.
1974 — Romana Borrego (Dubinka) became the first known Hispanic-American woman to enlist in the active duty Coast Guard. On 1 Aug 1988 Borrego earned promotion to YNC, becoming first Hispanic-American woman service member to advance to E-7. And on 1 Oct 1998, Borrego earned promotion to YNCS and was the first Hispanic-American woman to reach E8.
Coast Guard miscellany
Re: Coast Guard miscellany
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1832 — The practice of utilizing "surplus" naval officers as officers of the Revenue Marine was discontinued. Revenue officer vacancies were henceforth filled by promotion from within the service.
1910 — An Act of Congress (36 Stat. L., 534) abolished the Lighthouse Board and created the Bureau of Lighthouses to have complete charge of the Lighthouse Service. This law constituted the organic act under which the Lighthouse Service operated thereafter.
1942 — The Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet ordered the organization of coastal pickets to combat the "submarine menace" off the Atlantic Coast. The hodge-podge fleet of primarily small private recreational craft taken into government service under Coast Guard direction became known as the "Corsair Fleet."
1832 — The practice of utilizing "surplus" naval officers as officers of the Revenue Marine was discontinued. Revenue officer vacancies were henceforth filled by promotion from within the service.
1910 — An Act of Congress (36 Stat. L., 534) abolished the Lighthouse Board and created the Bureau of Lighthouses to have complete charge of the Lighthouse Service. This law constituted the organic act under which the Lighthouse Service operated thereafter.
1942 — The Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet ordered the organization of coastal pickets to combat the "submarine menace" off the Atlantic Coast. The hodge-podge fleet of primarily small private recreational craft taken into government service under Coast Guard direction became known as the "Corsair Fleet."
Re: Coast Guard miscellany
Painting of U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear, circa 1890, on patrol off Alaska by James A. Mitchell III. (U.S. Coast Guard)
Bear Hunt — the search for Healy’s legendary cutter
(Editor’s note: This essay first appeared in the pages of Sea History (Spring 2022) and is reprised courtesy of that magazine.)
Re: Coast Guard miscellany
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1874 — An Act of Congress provided for lifesaving stations on the coasts of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida, as well as on the Great Lakes and the Pacific Coast.
1874 — The first Life Saving Medal enactment was passed, which was updated in 1878 and 1882. Ship masters were also required to report accidents and death in order to gather data to aid in evaluating sites for search and rescue stations.
1906 — Congress passed the Sponge Fishing Act and directed that the Revenue Cutter Service enforce it.
1874 — An Act of Congress provided for lifesaving stations on the coasts of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida, as well as on the Great Lakes and the Pacific Coast.
1874 — The first Life Saving Medal enactment was passed, which was updated in 1878 and 1882. Ship masters were also required to report accidents and death in order to gather data to aid in evaluating sites for search and rescue stations.
1906 — Congress passed the Sponge Fishing Act and directed that the Revenue Cutter Service enforce it.
Re: Coast Guard miscellany
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1818 — Boarding parties from the Revenue cutter Dallas seized the privateer Young Spartan, her crew, and the privateer's prize, the Pastora, off Savannah, Georgia. The crew of the Pastora had been set adrift and their fate remained unknown. The New York Evening Post noted that the crew of the privateer had committed offenses "that can only be expiated by making their exits on the gallows." (July 3, 1818 issue).
1936 — Congress passed an act to define jurisdiction of Coast Guard. In one of the most sweeping grants of police authority ever written into U.S. law, Congress designated the Coast Guard as the federal agency for "enforcement of laws generally on the high seas and navigable waters of the United States."
1940 — Port Security responsibilities were undertaken again for the first time since World War I when President Franklin Roosevelt invoked the Espionage Act of 1917. The Coast Guard was to govern anchorage and movement of all vessels in U.S. waters and to protect vessels, harbors, and inland or coastal waterways of the U.S. The Dangerous Cargo Act gave the Coast Guard jurisdiction over ships with high explosives and dangerous cargoes.
1948 — Congress enacted Public Law 738, which authorized the operation of floating ocean stations for the purpose of providing search and rescue communication and air-navigation facilities, and meteorological services in such ocean areas as are regularly traversed by aircraft of the United States.
1818 — Boarding parties from the Revenue cutter Dallas seized the privateer Young Spartan, her crew, and the privateer's prize, the Pastora, off Savannah, Georgia. The crew of the Pastora had been set adrift and their fate remained unknown. The New York Evening Post noted that the crew of the privateer had committed offenses "that can only be expiated by making their exits on the gallows." (July 3, 1818 issue).
1936 — Congress passed an act to define jurisdiction of Coast Guard. In one of the most sweeping grants of police authority ever written into U.S. law, Congress designated the Coast Guard as the federal agency for "enforcement of laws generally on the high seas and navigable waters of the United States."
1940 — Port Security responsibilities were undertaken again for the first time since World War I when President Franklin Roosevelt invoked the Espionage Act of 1917. The Coast Guard was to govern anchorage and movement of all vessels in U.S. waters and to protect vessels, harbors, and inland or coastal waterways of the U.S. The Dangerous Cargo Act gave the Coast Guard jurisdiction over ships with high explosives and dangerous cargoes.
1948 — Congress enacted Public Law 738, which authorized the operation of floating ocean stations for the purpose of providing search and rescue communication and air-navigation facilities, and meteorological services in such ocean areas as are regularly traversed by aircraft of the United States.
Re: Coast Guard miscellany
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1716 — The Province of Massachusetts authorized the erection of the first lighthouse in America. It was built on Great Brewster Island in Boston Harbor.
1934 — CGC Nike departed on a thousand-mile trip to the sea after it became the Coast Guard's first patrol boat built on an inland waterway. It was built at Point Pleasant, West Virginia and was launched into the Ohio River after being christened by Mrs. Charles O. Weisenberger, wife of the president of the Marietta Manufacturing Company which built Nike. The cutter was bound for Pascagoula, Mississippi to replace the recently decommissioned cutter Tuscarora, which itself had been in service for over 35 years.
1716 — The Province of Massachusetts authorized the erection of the first lighthouse in America. It was built on Great Brewster Island in Boston Harbor.
1934 — CGC Nike departed on a thousand-mile trip to the sea after it became the Coast Guard's first patrol boat built on an inland waterway. It was built at Point Pleasant, West Virginia and was launched into the Ohio River after being christened by Mrs. Charles O. Weisenberger, wife of the president of the Marietta Manufacturing Company which built Nike. The cutter was bound for Pascagoula, Mississippi to replace the recently decommissioned cutter Tuscarora, which itself had been in service for over 35 years.
Re: Coast Guard miscellany
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1914 — Congress authorized the Secretary of Treasury to "detail for duty on revenue cutters such surgeons and other persons of the Public Health Service as…necessary" and for cutters with such medical personnel aboard to extend medical and surgical aid to crews of American vessels engaged in deep sea fisheries. This Act of Congress (38 Stat. L., 387) regularized procurement and assignment procedures of Public Health Service personnel to revenue cutters, launching a partnership between the two services that continues to this day.
1930 — An Act of Congress provided "that light keepers and vessel officers and crews, who during their active service were entitled to medical relief at hospitals and other stations of the Public Health Service, may be given such relief after retirement as is now applicable to retired officers and men in other branches of the Government service, under joint regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce."
1938 — Under an Executive Order of this date, "about 35 positions of steward on lighthouse tenders were brought under the classified civil service."
1914 — Congress authorized the Secretary of Treasury to "detail for duty on revenue cutters such surgeons and other persons of the Public Health Service as…necessary" and for cutters with such medical personnel aboard to extend medical and surgical aid to crews of American vessels engaged in deep sea fisheries. This Act of Congress (38 Stat. L., 387) regularized procurement and assignment procedures of Public Health Service personnel to revenue cutters, launching a partnership between the two services that continues to this day.
1930 — An Act of Congress provided "that light keepers and vessel officers and crews, who during their active service were entitled to medical relief at hospitals and other stations of the Public Health Service, may be given such relief after retirement as is now applicable to retired officers and men in other branches of the Government service, under joint regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce."
1938 — Under an Executive Order of this date, "about 35 positions of steward on lighthouse tenders were brought under the classified civil service."
Re: Coast Guard miscellany
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1944 — LCDR Quentin R. Walsh and his commando unit forced the surrender of Fort du Homet, a Nazi stronghold at Cherbourg, France, captured 300 German soldiers and liberated 50 U.S. paratroopers who had been captured on D-Day. For his heroic actions, Walsh was awarded the Navy Cross.
1948 — In order to implement the expanded postwar activities of the Coast Guard in the field of aids to navigation, Congress approved Public Law 786, which provided legislative authority for the Coast Guard to establish and operate maritime aids for the armed forces and LORAN stations essential for the armed forces and maritime and air commerce of the United States.
1978 — The first U.S. ocean-monitoring satellite, SEASAT-A, was launched into earth orbit from Vandenberg AFB.
1944 — LCDR Quentin R. Walsh and his commando unit forced the surrender of Fort du Homet, a Nazi stronghold at Cherbourg, France, captured 300 German soldiers and liberated 50 U.S. paratroopers who had been captured on D-Day. For his heroic actions, Walsh was awarded the Navy Cross.
1948 — In order to implement the expanded postwar activities of the Coast Guard in the field of aids to navigation, Congress approved Public Law 786, which provided legislative authority for the Coast Guard to establish and operate maritime aids for the armed forces and LORAN stations essential for the armed forces and maritime and air commerce of the United States.
1978 — The first U.S. ocean-monitoring satellite, SEASAT-A, was launched into earth orbit from Vandenberg AFB.
Re: Coast Guard miscellany
https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
2014 — CGC Assateague returned to home port in Apra Harbor, Guam following a six-day exclusive economic zone enforcement patrol. While underway the cutter patrolled the western-most area of the exclusive economic zone extending 200 nautical miles west of Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana's Island chain, ensuring no foreign fishing vessels were fishing within waters of the United States and that all U.S. fishing vessels were doing so in accordance with the United States' applicable maritime laws. Additionally, during its transit north, the cutter transported supplies to the Pagan Installation Project, which consists of a joint partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, NOAA, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands government. The project, which is being done on the remote island of Pagan in the northern part of the CNMI chain, is being done to install seismic sensors, monitoring stations, and seismic cables in an effort to monitor volcanic activity. To facilitate their efforts, Assateague crewmembers met with project managers in Saipan to pick up 700 pounds of five gallon water jugs, 1,200 pounds of cement bags, tents and camping supplies, and various sized batteries, which were all then transported to Pagan. These items were greatly needed due to the sheer isolation and remoteness of Pagan, which houses only seven permanent residents and is 170 miles north of Saipan, the closest inhabited island with modern amenities.
2014 — CGC Assateague returned to home port in Apra Harbor, Guam following a six-day exclusive economic zone enforcement patrol. While underway the cutter patrolled the western-most area of the exclusive economic zone extending 200 nautical miles west of Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana's Island chain, ensuring no foreign fishing vessels were fishing within waters of the United States and that all U.S. fishing vessels were doing so in accordance with the United States' applicable maritime laws. Additionally, during its transit north, the cutter transported supplies to the Pagan Installation Project, which consists of a joint partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, NOAA, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands government. The project, which is being done on the remote island of Pagan in the northern part of the CNMI chain, is being done to install seismic sensors, monitoring stations, and seismic cables in an effort to monitor volcanic activity. To facilitate their efforts, Assateague crewmembers met with project managers in Saipan to pick up 700 pounds of five gallon water jugs, 1,200 pounds of cement bags, tents and camping supplies, and various sized batteries, which were all then transported to Pagan. These items were greatly needed due to the sheer isolation and remoteness of Pagan, which houses only seven permanent residents and is 170 miles north of Saipan, the closest inhabited island with modern amenities.
Re: Coast Guard miscellany
https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
1820 — The Revenue cutter Dallas captured the 12-gun brig-of-war General Ramirez, which was loaded with 280 slaves, off St. Augustine. The July 8, 1820 issue of the Savannah Republican noted:
"On the 28th ultimo, while the Cutter DALLAS was lying in the St. Mary's River, Captain Jackson received information that the Brig of war GENERAL RAMIREZ, supposed to be a piratical vessel was hovering off St. Augustine. The Cutter forthwith got under way in pursuit of the Brig having first obtained 12 United States soldiers from Fernandina to strengthen the Cutter's force. At half past three the next day, she hailed the Brig and received for answer, "This is the Patriot Brig GENERAL RAMIREZ----." Captain Jackson finding a number of blacks on board took possession of the vessel and brought her into St. Mary's, arriving on the 1st instant. Captain Jackson found on the Brig about 280 African slaves. The Captain and crew, 28 in number, acknowledged themselves Americans."
1820 — The Revenue cutter Dallas captured the 12-gun brig-of-war General Ramirez, which was loaded with 280 slaves, off St. Augustine. The July 8, 1820 issue of the Savannah Republican noted:
"On the 28th ultimo, while the Cutter DALLAS was lying in the St. Mary's River, Captain Jackson received information that the Brig of war GENERAL RAMIREZ, supposed to be a piratical vessel was hovering off St. Augustine. The Cutter forthwith got under way in pursuit of the Brig having first obtained 12 United States soldiers from Fernandina to strengthen the Cutter's force. At half past three the next day, she hailed the Brig and received for answer, "This is the Patriot Brig GENERAL RAMIREZ----." Captain Jackson finding a number of blacks on board took possession of the vessel and brought her into St. Mary's, arriving on the 1st instant. Captain Jackson found on the Brig about 280 African slaves. The Captain and crew, 28 in number, acknowledged themselves Americans."
Re: Coast Guard miscellany
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1932 — The Steamboat Inspection Service and Bureau of Navigation were combined to form the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection (47 Stat. L., 415). The new agency remained under the control of the Commerce Department.
1942 — The Coast Guard's Beach Patrol Division was established at Coast Guard Headquarters under the command of Captain Raymond J. Mauerman, USCG.
1946 — The general World War II demobilization task was completed with all Separation Centers decommissioned, resulting in a reduced number of Coast Guard personnel to 23,000 officers and enlisted personnel from a wartime peak of about 171,000 on June 30, 1945.
1946 — By this date, all lightships removed from their stations as a war measure had been restored, except Fire Island Lightship which had been replaced by a large-type whistle buoy offshore and a radio-beacon on shore at Fire Island Light Station, New York.
1946 — The U .S. Navy returned the Coast Guard’s eleven air stations to the operational control of the Coast Guard.
1932 — The Steamboat Inspection Service and Bureau of Navigation were combined to form the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection (47 Stat. L., 415). The new agency remained under the control of the Commerce Department.
1942 — The Coast Guard's Beach Patrol Division was established at Coast Guard Headquarters under the command of Captain Raymond J. Mauerman, USCG.
1946 — The general World War II demobilization task was completed with all Separation Centers decommissioned, resulting in a reduced number of Coast Guard personnel to 23,000 officers and enlisted personnel from a wartime peak of about 171,000 on June 30, 1945.
1946 — By this date, all lightships removed from their stations as a war measure had been restored, except Fire Island Lightship which had been replaced by a large-type whistle buoy offshore and a radio-beacon on shore at Fire Island Light Station, New York.
1946 — The U .S. Navy returned the Coast Guard’s eleven air stations to the operational control of the Coast Guard.
Re: Coast Guard miscellany
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1918 — Congress directed that retired officer personnel may be recalled to active duty during war or national emergency.
1924 — An adjustment of the compensation of vessel officers in the Lighthouse Service was made effective in order to bring the pay of these positions more nearly on a level with that of similar Positions in the U .S. Shipping Board, the Lake Carriers Association, and other shipping interests.
1946 — As a final step in the return of the Coast Guard to the Treasury Department from wartime operation under the Navy Department, the Navy's direct control of the following Coast Guard functions was terminated: search and rescue, maintenance and operation of ocean weather stations, and air-sea navigational aids in the Atlantic, continental United States, Alaska, and Pacific east of Pearl Harbor.
1958 — The new Atlantic merchant vessel position reporting program (known by the acronym AMVER) was established. It was aimed at encouraging domestic and foreign merchant vessels to send voluntary position reports and navigational data to U.S. Coast Guard shore based radio stations and ocean station vessels. Relayed to a ships' plot center in New York and processed by machine, these data provided updated position information for U.S. Coast Guard rescue coordination centers. The centers could then direct only those vessels which would be of effective aid to craft or persons in distress. This diversion of all merchant ships in a large area became unnecessary.
1918 — Congress directed that retired officer personnel may be recalled to active duty during war or national emergency.
1924 — An adjustment of the compensation of vessel officers in the Lighthouse Service was made effective in order to bring the pay of these positions more nearly on a level with that of similar Positions in the U .S. Shipping Board, the Lake Carriers Association, and other shipping interests.
1946 — As a final step in the return of the Coast Guard to the Treasury Department from wartime operation under the Navy Department, the Navy's direct control of the following Coast Guard functions was terminated: search and rescue, maintenance and operation of ocean weather stations, and air-sea navigational aids in the Atlantic, continental United States, Alaska, and Pacific east of Pearl Harbor.
1958 — The new Atlantic merchant vessel position reporting program (known by the acronym AMVER) was established. It was aimed at encouraging domestic and foreign merchant vessels to send voluntary position reports and navigational data to U.S. Coast Guard shore based radio stations and ocean station vessels. Relayed to a ships' plot center in New York and processed by machine, these data provided updated position information for U.S. Coast Guard rescue coordination centers. The centers could then direct only those vessels which would be of effective aid to craft or persons in distress. This diversion of all merchant ships in a large area became unnecessary.