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

Men killing fur seals on St Paul Island, Alaska, 1890s.

1897  Congress prohibited the killing of fur seals in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean.  The Revenue Cutter Service was tasked with enforcing the law.

Circa 1940 photograph showing keepers quarters and “U.S. Coast Guard” painted on the side of the storage shed. (Photo courtesy of the Guantanamo Public Memory Project)

1903  An Executive Order extended the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Service to Guantanamo, Cuba.

29 December 1998 — The 578-foot cargo vessel Violetta caught fire in the Houston ship channel. 
Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick Montgomery

1998  The 578-foot cargo vessel Violetta caught fire in the Houston ship channel.  Twenty-three of her crew were rescued.  CGC Point Spencer spent several days fighting the fire on board the vessel.

Foundation for Coast Guard History

29 December 1998 — The 578-foot cargo vessel Violetta caught fire in the Houston ship channel. Twenty-three of her crew were rescued. U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Point Spencer (WPB-82349) spent several days fighting the fire on board the vessel.

Sudden waling of sirens on December 28 disturbed a peaceful morning in Galveston, Texas. The 578-foot cargo vessel, Violetta, caught fire and was burning in the Houston ship channel. As rescue units began to arrive, thick black smoke filled the air and hung over the bay like a black velvet veil.

VioIetta suffered an engine room fire that claimed the lives of two crewmembers. Days would pass before the last hot spot was finally extinguished.

Coast Guard Station Galveston, Texas., rescued 23 of 25 crewmembers of the Cypriot-flagged vessel in those early morning hours on December 28, 1998. Coast Guard Cutter Point Spencer, an 82-foot patrol boat from Galveston, Texas, one 55-foot aids to navigation boat and two 41-foot utility boats from Station Galveston quickly set up a safety zone of 500-yards.

The fire broke out at about 5 a.m. in the engine room of Violetta. The vessel was empty except for the 165,000 gallons of diesel and fuel oil onboard. The VIOLETTA was scheduled to take on corn and wheat as cargo in Galveston.

(Information courtesy of the Coast Guard Historian’s Office and DVIDS)

Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick Montgomery

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

December 28

1835  The “Dade Battle” occurred when Seminole Indians ambushed and killed Major Francis Langhorne Dade and his Army command while they were on the march on Fort King Road from Fort Brooke to reinforce the troops at Fort King (Ocala).  This battle was the immediate cause of the Second Seminole War, a war in which the Revenue Cutter Service played an important role.

Cape Flarry Lighthouse

1857  The light was first illuminated in the Cape Flattery Lighthouse, located on Tatoosh Island at the entrance to the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Washington.  “Because of Indian trouble it was necessary to build a blockhouse on Tatoosh Island before even commencing the construction of the lighthouse. Twenty muskets were stored in the blockhouse, and then the lighthouse work began.”

Light House Service Seal

Barbers Point Light, Barbers Point, outside of Kalaeloa, Oahu, Hawaii

1903  An Executive Order extended the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Service to the non-contiguous territory of the Hawaiian Islands.

USCGC Tahoma (WMEC-908)

2014  CGC Tahoma returned safely to its homeport of Kittery, Maine after a 55-day patrol conducting operations and training in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank.  Tahoma’s law enforcement teams conducted boardings of commercial fishing vessels to inspect safety gear and enforce marine resource management to ensure sustainable fisheries in the North Atlantic.  On December 1, 2014 Tahoma’s crew assisted the disabled F/V Madison Kate following an engine casualty.  Tahoma’s crew put the vessel in tow and safety and transferred it to a Coast Guard Station Brant Point motor life boat.

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

December 24

It was just minutes past midnight of Christmas Eve 1955 when the Gum Tree Levee on the Feather River in Sutter County collapsed, sending a 21-foot wall of water into Yuba City. In the darkness of the night, the town would go into complete chaos, with families fleeing from their homes to escape the deadly flood.

1955  A Coast Guard helicopter was the first rescue unit to reach a flood disaster scene in Yuba, California.  Its crew hoisted 138 persons to safety within 12 hours.  The first 58 were made possible because of the light from a small handheld searchlight from positions of peril among chimneys, television antennas, and trees.  In all, the Coast Guard assisted Federal, state, and local agencies in saving over 500 persons by helicopters and boats.

December 25

1944  Allied forces liberated and occupied Palompon and Leyte in the Philippines.

1998  Coast Guard helicopters from Air Station Barbers Point rescued balloonists Richard Branson, a British billionaire, American millionaire Steve Fossett, and Per Lindstrand when bad weather forced them to ditch their balloon off Hawaii during their attempt to be the first balloonists to circle the globe.

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

December 22

1819  The revenue cutter Dallas seized a vessel laden with lumber that had been unlawfully cut from public land in what was one of the first, if not the very first, recorded instances of a revenue cutter enforcing an environmental law.

1837  Congress authorized President “to cause any suitable number of public vessels, adapted to the purpose, to cruise upon the coast, in the severe portion of the season, and to afford aid to distressed navigators.”  This was the first statute authorizing activities in the field of maritime safety, thus interjecting the national government into the field of lifesaving for the first time.  Although revenue cutters were specifically mentioned, the performance of this duty was imposed primarily upon the Revenue Marine Service and quickly became one of its major activities.

December 23

1904  Near Oak Island and Fire Island, New York the American schooner Frank W. McCullough ran aground on Fire Island Bar, 2 miles from the former station and 4 from the latter, at about 9 am.  The Oak Island crew reached the vessel at 10:30 am and the Fire Island crew a half hour later.  They found her pounding heavily and leaking badly. They manned the pumps and assisted the crew in throwing overboard the cargo of lumber; but on the flood tide the sea began to break over the wreck and they were obliged to give up for fear of being washed overboard.  The Fire Island surfboat filled in the seaway and foundered.  At midnight the sea moderated and all hands, 14 surfmen and 5 of schooner crew, abandoned the wreck in the Oak Island surfboat and at 2 a.m. reached the shore.  The vessel was lost.

USCGC Lagare

2014  CGC Legare returned to its homeport of Portsmouth, Virginia following a 52-day patrol through the Caribbean and into the eastern Pacific Ocean.  During their patrol, Legare’s crew transited through the Panama Canal and coordinated with multiple countries in Central and South America, along with partner agencies to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.  The unified effort resulted in the interdiction of multiple suspected drug smugglers and vessels transporting approximately 1200 kilograms, or approximately 2,645 pounds of cocaine, worth an estimated estimated street value of $40 million.

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

USRC Seminole, Amerioca’s Cup Races 1901, Library of Congress

1907  The Commandant, Captain Worth G. Ross, USRCS, by letter, advised the Chamber of Commerce of Baltimore, Boston and Philadelphia, the New York Maritime Exchange and the Navy’s Chief Bureau of Equipment that wireless telegraph sets had been installed on the following Revenue cutters operating on the Atlantic coast and would use the following call letters: USRC Algonquin: RCA; USRC Gresham: RCG; USRC Mohawk: RCM; USRC Onondaga: RCO; & USRC Seminole: RCS.

1936  Executive Order No. 7521 authorized ice breaking operations by the Coast Guard.

1960  The tanker Pine Ridge, with 37 crewmen on board, reported it was breaking in two about 120 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.  Immediately, the Coast Guard dispatched aircraft and vessels to the scene and alerted nearby US Navy and merchant vessels.  After the arrival of a Coast Guard UF-2G amphibian aircraft, the bow section of the Pine Ridge capsized, throwing some members of the crew overboard; the stern section, however, remained afloat and upright.  Mountainous seas rebuffed every attempt of the tanker Artemis to rescue the seamen in the water.  Life rafts and emergency equipment, meanwhile, were airdropped, and the helicopters from the aircraft carrier Valley Forge successfully removed the 28 survivors from the still floating stern section.  Of the bow section and the 9 missing crewmen, only debris and lifejackets were found, despite a widespread air and surface search.

RVNS Tran Binh Trong (HQ-5) es-USCGC Castle Rock moored outboard of ex-USCGC Cook Inlet (WHEC-384) in South Vietnamese naval service as RVNS Tran Quoc Toan (HQ-6) and ex-USCGC Bearing Strait (WHEC-383) in South Vietnamese naval service as RVNS Tran Quang Khia (HQ-2) at Saigon in May 1972.

1971  The last two cutters of Coast Guard Squadron Three (RONTHREE) in service in Vietnamese waters during the war, CGC Cook Inlet (WHEC 384) and CGC Castle Rock (WHEC 383) were decommissioned and transferred to the South Vietnamese Navy.

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

December 20

Elmer Stone, Coast Guard Aviator #1

1934  Coast Guard pilot CDR Elmer F. Stone set the world record for amphibian airplane speed.  Over a measured three-kilometer course at Langley Field CDR Stone attained a maximum speed of 196.89 miles an hour and an average speed of 191.17 while flying a Grumman JF-2 “Duck” amphibian, besting the previous record set by Alexander P. De Severesky the previous year.

USCGC BODEGA (WYP-342) Aground off Fort Randolph, Canal Zone, on 21 December 1943, with her survivors coming ashore at right. The SS JAMES WITHY COMBE, which she was attempting to assist, is aground in the background.

1943  CGC Bodega grounded off the Canal Zone. No lives were lost.

The crew of the USCGC Alex Haley (WMEC 39) transfers custody of the detained fishing vessel Run Da to a People’s Republic of China Coast Guard patrol vessel in the Sea of Japan, June 21, 2018. The Alex Haley and PRC Coast Guard crews detained the Run Da suspected of illegal high seas drift net fishing. U.S. Coast Guard photo. Petty Officer 1st Class William Colclough

1991  The United Nations adopted General Assembly Resolutions (UNGAs) 44-225, 45-197, and 46-215, thereby establishing a worldwide moratorium on all high seas drift net fishing that was to be in effect by December 31, 1992.

USCGC ALERT departing Astoria for the last time, currently homeported in Cape Canaveral.

2013  CGC Alert returned to its homeport of Astoria, Oregon, following an 81-day deployment.  While away Alert covered more than 12,000 miles, conducting a counter-drug enforcement patrol in the Eastern Pacific and a rigorous training assessment by the Afloat Training Group in Everett, Washington.  Alert’s crew conducted law enforcement operations off the coast of Central America in early October 2013.  An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and a fast response boat crew conducted multiple at sea boardings from Alert, disrupting more than 4,000 pounds of illegal drug shipments.  Additionally, Alert’s crew rescued six Ecuadorian fishermen who had spent a week stranded adrift on the open ocean.  The crew participated in several community relations events, while taking time to resupply the cutter and provide crew rest.  While on a port call in Golfito, Costa Rica, Alert’s crew competed against Costa Rican Coast Guard crewmembers in a soccer tournament.  In Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Alert’s crew helped complete a restoration and painting project for a local park.  After two months of conducting maritime law enforcement and search and rescue operations, Alert traveled to Everett to complete three weeks of required training.  Every 18 months, Coast Guard cutters undergo Tailored Ships Training Availability to ensure crew proficiency and readiness.  Experienced Coast Guard and Navy inspectors evaluated Alert’s ability to respond to situations involving weapons proficiency, seamanship, navigation, damage control, emergency medical treatment, and engineering casualty response.  Alert successfully completed 118 drills and exercises with an impressive overall score of 96-percent, earning the coveted “Battle E” award for operational excellence in all mission areas.  As per tradition, Alert flew a broom from its port yardarm, signifying a “clean sweep” of certification in all mission areas.

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

December 18

USLHT Amaranth, by Jerry McElroy

1912  The Lighthouse Service suffered its first gas-powered buoy accident when one exploded during maintenance.  The explosion killed a machinist, John A. Dunbar, who was a member of the crew of the Lighthouse Tender Amaranth.

2014  The Coast Guard issued the following statement regarding “The Coast Guard on Cuba Policy Changes” announced by President Barack Obama on December 17, 2014: “Coast Guard missions and operations in the Southeast remain unchanged. The Coast Guard strongly discourages attempts to illegally enter the country by taking to the sea. These trips are extremely dangerous.  Individuals located at sea may be returned to Cuba.”

December 19

Gurnet Pt Lifesaving Station, Plymouth, MA

1881  While the head keeper and six men of his crew were conducting drills away from their Gurnet Point, Massachusetts, Life-Saving Station, the surfman who remained in charge at the station saw a schooner standing inside of Brown’s Island Shoals.  He realized that unless the vessel was warned she would go aground.  So he rowed out to the schooner in a small boat and piloted her clear.  She proved to be the schooner Milton and had mistaken the channel entrance to Plymouth Harbor.

USCGC Decisive on the day of her decommissioning, March 2, 2023

2014  CGC Decisive returned to its homeport in Pascagoula, Mississippi, following a six-week patrol in the Caribbean Sea supporting the Joint Interagency Task Force-South.  During the deployment, the 70-member crew of Decisive was primarily responsible for conducting counter drug operations in support of U.S. and international laws.  Decisive worked directly with federal and international partners at JIATF-S and the 7th Coast Guard District to combat transnational organized crime networks operating in the Caribbean Basin.  Decisive’s efforts directly contributed to the prevention of more than 4,100 pounds of contraband from reaching American shores.  During Decisive’s 39-day deployment, the cutter’s crew also conducted a professional exchange with members of the Honduran Navy.  These interdictions were part of Operation Martillo, an international operation focused on sharing information and bringing together air, land, and maritime assets from the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as Western Hemisphere and European partner nation agencies, to counter illicit trafficking.

A Coast Guard Station Boston crew transits between Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba and Coast Guard Cutter Spencer in Boston on Nov. 24, 2014. The Escanaba and Spencer are 270-foot Famous-class medium endurance cutters. U.S. Coast Guard / Petty Officer 3rd Class MyeongHi Clegg

2015  CGC Escanaba returned to its homeport in Boston following a successful 52-day deployment in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.  During the patrol, Escanaba steamed more than 11,200 miles, successfully transited the Panama Canal for the first time in more than 10 years, and interdicted 1,009 kilograms of cocaine, two vessels, and five narcotic smuggling suspects.  Escanaba’s crew worked in partnership with an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from the Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron, based out of Jacksonville, Florida, to pursue and conduct boardings of eight vessels in five cases.