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

March 11

U.S.R.C. Gresham, flagship of the patrol fleet, America’s Cup races, 1901, Library of Congress. Yes, this is the same Gresham referred to below. She was decommissioned 7 April 1944, then almost 47 years old. 

1934  USCGC Gresham’s small boat crew defeated a team from the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Danae (5,603 tons full load) in a surfboat race over a two-mile course laid out in Mobile Bay.  Gresham and the City of Mobile had been hosting the British warship since March 8, 1934.

USCGC Itasca as HMS Gorlsston

1941  Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act.  Under the auspices of Lend-Lease all 10 of the Coast Guard’s famous Lake-class cutters were transferred to the Royal Navy.  Three were lost in action against Axis forces.  These 250-foot cutters had been designed by the Coast Guard Constructor RADM Frederick A. Hunnewell and featured a slightly raked stem and a cruiser stern.  Their innovative turbine-electric drive power plant was developed by Coast Guard CAPT Quincy B. Newman.  These were the first ships to have alternating current, synchronous motor for propulsion – the whole ship ran off the main turbine.  The auxiliary generators were tied into the main generator electrically, after sufficient speed was attained.  At that point, no steam was required to drive the turbines on the auxiliary generators.  The propulsion plant achieved remarkable efficiency.

USCGC Long Island. Photo from DAKOTA CREEK INDUSTRIES, INC. | P.O. Box 218 | Anacortes, WA 98221

2010  USCGC Long Island returned to its homeport of Valdez, Alaska, after providing patrol support to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  Long Island conducted patrols, boardings, and professional exchanges with Navy cruisers, destroyers, multi-agency aircraft and other Coast Guard units such as high endurance cutters, patrol boats, Maritime Safety and Security Teams, and the Maritime Security Response Team. The crew transited more than 2,500 miles roundtrip for the mission including underway maintenance and port calls to Washington state, Canada and Southeast Alaska.  They conducted periodic law enforcement boardings to ensure vessels were in compliance of all U.S. laws and regulations to assist their Canadian counterparts.  The Coast Guard was the lead for all U.S. maritime military naval forces supporting the 2010 Winter Olympics and had the dual responsibility of supporting Canadian Maritime operations while contributing to the larger Canadian government communications effort in promoting public confidence and security.  Vancouver, British Columbia, hosted the 2010 Olympics from February 12-28, 2010.