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

January 16

1920  Prohibition, later called the “noble experiment” by President Herbert Hoover, became the law of the land on January 16, 1920, one year after the 36th state ratified the 18th Amendment to the Constitution.  Enforcement of the law fell to the Department of the Treasury and the Coast Guard was charged with interdicting the flow of “Demon Rum” at sea before it reached American shores.

Sikorsky HNS-1 “Hoverfly”

1944  LT Stewart R. Graham became the first person to make a helicopter take-off and landing aboard a ship underway at sea when he piloted a Sikorsky HNS-1 off of and back on the SS Daghestan in the North Atlantic.

1948  The list of nominations for appointments and promotions of Coast Guard officers transmitted to Congress by the President on this date represented the first permanent advancements of Coast Guard regular officers since the summer of 1942.

Coast Guard Cutter Northland (WMEC 904), Aug. 13, 2024, while underway in the Atlantic Ocean. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Anthony Randisi)

1988  Coast Guard units responded to a report of a murder on board the container vessel Boxer Captain Cook.  The ship’s first officer reportedly murdered the captain and threw his body overboard.  A boarding party from CGC Northland, offloaded onto CGC Cape York, boarded the vessel while it was underway on the high seas and captured the suspected murderer and collected evidence of the crime.

U.S. Coast Guard units responded to a report of a murder on board the container vessel Boxer Captain Cook.

Crew members aboard the British-registered Boxer Captain Cook said that the First Officer, Remigio Hernando, went berserk and attacked the ship’s Captain, Alistair McKinnon. The slaying occurred about a week after McKinnon dismissed Hernando because of a piloting error that caused the ship to briefly run aground off Cuba. The first officer reportedly murdered the captain and threw his body overboard.

After the slaying, some crew members locked themselves in their cabins while others sealed the bridge, kept the ship under control and radioed the Coast Guard.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Northland (WMEC-904), embarked a boarding party onto Cutter Cape York (WPB-95332), a 95-foot patrol boat, who came along side Boxer Captain Cook. The team boarded while the vessel was underway on the high seas. The boarding team captured the suspected murderer and collected evidence of the crime.

The Coast Guard searched unsuccessfully for Captain McKinnon’s body. The search was suspended on January 18th.

(Information courtesy of the Coast Guard Historian’s Office)–Foundation for Coast Guard History

Harpoon Missile Launch from USCGC Mellon

1990  CGC Mellon fired a Harpoon anti-ship missile in a live-fire test, becoming the first cutter to fire the missile.