Based on the Coast Guard Historian’s timeline, https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/
With inspiration from Mike Kelso

1877  The French steamer Amerique grounded off Sea Bright, New Jersey.  Saved were 189 persons, rescued by the Life-Saving Service crew.  Despite their efforts, three died.

First Reel of the 1948 Academy Award winning documentary “The Secret Land.” Coast Guard icebreaker USCGC Northwind featured. 

1947  During Operation Highjump, Coast Guard icebreaker USCGC Northwind rescued submarine USS Sennet (SS-408) and Navy supply ships USSYance and USS Merrick that had been stuck in Antarctic ice.

Sennet (SS-408) in the Antarctic Ocean during Operation HighJump, 1946

A portrait of Coast Guard Lt. Colleen Cain by Leonora Rae Smith.

1982  LT Colleen A. Cain, the Coast Guard’s first female HH-52 helicopter pilot, died in the line of duty when HH-52 CG-1420, on which she was co-pilot, crashed into a mountainside 50 miles east of Honolulu.  The pilot, LCDR H. W. Johnson, and aircrewman AD2 D. L. Thompson, were also killed.

CG 1420, source: http://www.heligraphx.com

1994  The barge Morris J. Berman, carrying a cargo of 750,000 gallons of oil, struck a reef off Puerto Rico.  Coast Guard units, including the National Strike Force, responded.

Barge MORRIS J. BERMAN incident, San Juan, Puerto Rico, January 1994. The MORRIS J. BERMAN barge off the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. NOAA photo