This Day in Coast Guard History, May 8

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

May 8

Curtiss NC seaplane. Plane number four of four built, named NC-4, sometime after the translatlantic test flight, 1919. Visible is the fourth pusher engine which was added for that flight. US Navy photo.

1919  First Lieutenant Elmer F. Stone, USCG, piloting the Navy’s flying boat NC-4 in the first successful trans-Atlantic flight, took off from the Naval Air Station at Rockaway, New York, at 1000 hours on May 8, 1919, together with the NC-1 and NC-3.  Although the NC-1 and NC-3 did not complete the journey, the NC-4 successfully crossed the Atlantic and landed in Lisbon, Portugal on May 27, 1919.  Stone was decorated that same day by the Portuguese government with the Order of the Tower and Sword.

NC-4 in Naval Aviation Museum.

1926  Congress standardized the retired pay of Coast Guard officers with that of all the other armed services.

1975 – Overhead view bow-on of CGC Chase (WHEC 718). USCG photo 240220-G-G0000-1002.JPG

1985  CGC Chase was crippled by an engine room fire that put the cutter out of service for almost six months.  One crewman, MK3 Nicholas V. Barei III, was killed during the incident.

USCGC Cape Shoalwater (WPB 95324)

1985  The largest cocaine seizure by the Coast Guard (to date) was made when Coast Guard units seized the Goza Now with 1,909 pounds of cocaine.  The unlit speedboat, or “go-fast,” was first located by the CGC Cape Shoalwater as it raced towards Miami.  An AIRSTA Miami helicopter was dispatched to investigate and then began chasing it as it neared Miami Beach.  As they approached the shoreline, the three-man crew of the go-fast jumped overboard and escaped but a TACLET seized the abandoned Goza Now and her illicit cargo.  District 7 got a “Bravo Zulu” from Attorney General Edwin Meese.

USCGC Ocracoke ships out from Guantanamo Bay Monday, May 12. JTF Guantanamo photo by Army Pfc. Eric Liesse

1987  Coast Guard units, including USCGC Ocracoke (now Ukrainian Navy patrol vessel P192S Sumy), made the largest seizure of cocaine by the Coast Guard (to date).  They discovered 3,771 pounds (1.9 tons) aboard the La Toto off the northwest coast of St. Croix.

“Bollinger, Edison Chouest Offshore Team to Pitch Coast Guard Arctic Security Cutter Designs” –USNI

The US Naval Institute news service reports,

Two Louisiana-based shipbuilders are teaming up to pitch the Coast Guard on designs for the Arctic Security Cutter, according to a statement from the companies.

Bollinger Shipyards and Edison Chouest Offshore approached the service with multiple designs in response to the Coast Guard’s request for information for new designs for the icebreaker, a Bollinger spokesperson told USNI News Tuesday.

This Day in Coast Guard History, May 7

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

May 7

A HC-130H in a legacy paint scheme in the foreground, and a newer HC-130J

1969  HC-130H CGNR 1453, stationed at Air Station Kodiak, flew over the geographic North Pole, becoming the first Coast Guard aircraft to do so.  The aircraft commander was LCDR Melvin J. Hartman and the copilot was LT Larry Minor.  The purpose of the flight was ice reconnaissance of a potential route for super tankers from the North Slope of Alaska to the east coast of the U.S.  According to a summary of the flight published in the Commandant’s Bulletin: “COAST GUARD AIRCRAFT FLIES AROUND THE WORLD NONSTOP…During the course of this flight, the aircraft circled the north pole, crossing all meridians in eighty seconds.”

USCGC Southwind near port of USCG Base Berkley, after returning from a 27,000 mile tour of the Arctic.

1969  CGC Southwind returned to Baltimore, Maryland after circumnavigating the globe, becoming only the second cutter to do so.

USCGC Manitou (WYT-60) Operating in the Arctic Ice, during World War II. Note her ice-breaking bow. Photo was taken in Greenland. Catalog #: 26-G-3497

1979  During a city-wide strike by tugboat operators and longshoremen in New York City that began on April 1, 1979, Mayor Ed Koch of New York asked for federal assistance.  The Secretary of Transportation, Brock Adams, at the behest of President Jimmy Carter, ordered the Commandant, ADM John B. Hayes, to direct the commanding officer of the Third Coast Guard District, VADM Robert I. Price, “to cooperate with Mayor Koch in the movement of sanitation barges within the harbor.”  Beginning on May 7, 1979,  the cutters Sauk, Manitou, and Red Beech began moving 16 garbage scows from a Staten Island landfill site to refuse pick-up points in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.  Although the Group received an anonymous bomb threat that proved to be a hoax, the towing effort was carried out without incident.  These three cutters were relieved of “garbage duty” in June by the cutters Snohomish and Chinook.

Astronaut Commander Bruce E. Melnick, USCG

1992  Astronaut and Coast Guard CDR Bruce Melnick made his second space flight when he served as a Mission Specialist aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on her maiden flight, Space Shuttle Mission STS-49, which flew from May 7-16, 1992.  During this mission, astronauts rescued and repaired the Intelsat VI satellite.  Melnick, by this point, had logged more than 300 hours in space.

Crew of the Coast Guard Cutter James Rankin readies to set the Francis Scott Key buoy, June 2, 2017, where a ship carrying the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was anchored during the Fort McHenry bombardment in the War of 1812.

2004  CGC James Rankin set the historic “Francis Scott Key” buoy off of Fort McHenry, Maryland, near the Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland.  The buoy marks the spot where the British warship on which Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner, was held aboard during the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the Royal Navy during the War of 1812.  Each year the buoy is set in the spring, marking the historic location of the event, and is then removed in the fall.

This Day in Coast Guard History, May 6

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

May 6

1796  Congress increased the monthly compensation of Revenue Marine officers to masters $50; first mates $35; second mates $30; third mates $25 and mariners $20.

1896  President Grover Cleveland placed the Lighthouse Service within the classified federal civil service.

USRC MORRILL. Photographed by the Detroit Photographic Co. Library of Congress photo No. LC-D4-9016

1898  The cutter Morrill participated in an engagement at Havana, Cuba on May 6-7, 1898 during the Spanish-American War.  Her officers were awarded Bronze Medals by the authority of a joint resolution of Congress that was approved on March 3, 1901.

USS Moberly (PF-63) Off San Francisco, CA in early 1946.
Naval Historical Center photo NH 79077

1945  The Coast Guard-manned frigate USS Moberly (PF-63), in concert with USS Atherton, sank the U-853 in the Atlantic off Block Island.  There were no survivors.

USS Moberly and USS Atherton share credit for the sinking.

Lightship Huron LV 103/WAL 526

1958  During her 50 plus year career, the Huron Lightship WAL-526 at Port Huron, Michigan, survived many a Great Lakes storm without the loss of a single crewmember until on this date when Seaman (Boatswain Mate Striker) Robert G. Gullickson lost his life while attempting to swim for assistance to save another shipmate, CS1 Vincent Disch, after their small boat was swamped by a freighter’s wake and sank.  Disch was rescued, but Gullickson was lost at sea and his remains were never recovered.  Gullickson was posthumously promoted to BM3 for his rescue attempt and for sacrificing his life for his shipmate.

USCG HH-3F Pelican on the water, demonstrating its amphibious capability. This was also the first HH-3F delivered to the Coast Guard.

1994  The last HH-3F Pelican helicopter in Coast Guard service was retired.  This ended the Coast Guard’s “amphibious era,” as no aviation asset left in service was capable of making water landings.

2003  CGC Walnut completed its 20-day humanitarian mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Walnut marked the navigational channel of the Khawr Abd Allah waterway leading from the North Arabian Gulf to Iraq’s critical port of Umm Qasr.  The cutter completely replaced 30 buoys and repaired an additional five along the 41-mile waterway, vastly improving the navigational safety of the waterway for humanitarian aid sailing to the port and providing a critical step towards the economic recovery of the people of Iraq.  The majority of the equipment used in the navigational improvements was located in a warehouse in Umm Qasr and was inspected and upgraded to ensure that the buoys matched as closely as possible to the charted channel.  Walnut was originally deployed to the North Arabian Gulf with an oil spill recovery system in the event the regime of Saddam Hussein committed any acts of environmental terrorism. When those threats did not materialize, the cutter conducted maritime interdiction operations enforcing U.N. Security Council resolutions, participated in the search for two downed United Kingdom helicopters, and patrolled and provided assistance to captured Iraqi offshore oil terminals.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Active, a 210-foot Medium Endurance Cutter homeported in Port Angeles, Wash., conducts an at sea refueling of the Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Berry, a fast response cutter homeported in Honolulu, in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Sept. 17, 2017.
The Active’s crew recently returned home from a 65-day counter narcotics patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean where they interdicted more than 1,500 kilograms of cocaine valued at more than $49 million.
U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo.

2014  CGC Active returned to its homeport of Port Angeles, Washington, following a 70-day deployment.  During their deployment, the cutter and crew covered more than 11,500 miles on a counter-drug enforcement patrol in the Eastern Pacific, including patrolling waters off the coast of Central America.  The crew conducted multiple at sea boardings, seizing more than 2,300 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $37 million.  While on a port call in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to resupply the cutter, Active’s crew participated in a community relations event where they painted and helped set up a playground at the local Children’s Cancer Center.

New China Coast Guard Cutters

Another image of the Huangpu-build OPV for CCG at berth. Note rotating AESA on main mast. Image via Chinese social media.

A Naval News post, “New Offshore Patrol Vessel launched for China Coast Guard,” actually includes information about more than one new class of China Coast Guard cutters.

Notably, these new ships all have 76mm guns and modern multi-mode radars.

Looking at the photo below, I have used the same caption that is included in the post, and added some links, but it really appears too small to be based on the Type 052D destroyer design which is over 500 feet long and 7500 tons full load.

Take a look.

The Type 052D-derived CCG hull at Jiangnan. Note Type 382 radar on main mast, H/PJ-26 main gun, sizeable aviation hangar. Image Chinese social media.

This Day in Coast Guard History, May 5

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

May 5

John M. “Muddy” Waters Jr. USCG

1947  The first meeting of the permanent International Civil Aviation Organization was held in Montreal, Canada with the Coast Guard being represented by LT John M. Waters, USCG. (Great biography here.) His book, Bloody Winter, about the convoy battles during the Winter of 1942-43 is highly recommended.

1950  Congress approved the Uniform Code of Military Justice for the “government of the armed forces of the United States.”

1973  The last Coast Guard personnel assigned to Vietnam departed for the United States.

2004  The Coast Guard presented the Purple Heart to BM3 Joseph Ruggiero in Miami for injuries sustained in action against the enemy while defending the Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal in Iraq on April 24, 2004.  Ruggiero’s shipmate, DC3 Nathan Bruckenthal, was killed in this same bombing and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.  They were the first Coast Guard recipients of the Purple Heart since the Vietnam War.

This Day in Coast Guard History, May 4

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

May 4

1882  The Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to discontinue any lifesaving station, transfer apparatus, appoint keepers, etc.

1910  Congress required every passenger ship or other ship carrying 50 persons or more, leaving any port of United States, to be equipped with a radio (powerful enough to transmit to a 100-mile radius) and a qualified operator.


Members of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary anti-submarine forces, colloquially referred to as the “Corsair Fleet”

1942  ADM Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet, requested the Coast Guard organize a coastal picket force utilizing suitable civilian craft. The Coast Guard Auxiliary led the initial efforts with responsibility eventually falling to the Coast Guard officer in each Naval District. Many Auxiliarists volunteered both their vessels and crew for service in the Coast Guard Temporary Reserve. The signature vessels were the large, rugged sailing yachts assigned to offshore patrols, later nicknamed “The Corsair Fleet.”

Coast Guard manned USS Pride (DE-323) February / March 1945: underway in the North Atlantic. Photo credit Andy Cisternino
RM1c, USCG.

1944  The Coast Guard-manned destroyer escort USS Pride (DE-323), USS Joseph E. Campbell (DE-70), the American built Free French destroyer escort Sénégalais and the British escort destroyer HMS Blankney sank U-371 which had damaged Coast Guard manned USS Menges (DE-320) the previous day. USNI story about USS Pride by her CO, Captain Ralph R. Curry, U. S. Coast Guard (Retired), here.

Location where USS Menges was damaged and U-371 was sunk.

U-371 “… was unlucky enough to be the first victim to an Allied sub-hunting tactic in the Mediterranean Sea known as Swamp. This tactic simply called for the area of a known or suspected U-boat to be packed with surface escorts and patrol aircraft. They would then systematically and continually search the area and force the U-boat to remain submerged until its batteries ran out or try to escape at night on the surface. Either was almost hopeless.

U-371 was spotted recharging her batteries on the surface off Djidjelli on the Algerian coast during the night of 2/3 May 1944 and was immediately detected and the area was swamped with 6 escorts and 3 aircraft squadrons. They hunted the boat until the early morning of 4 May when Oblt. Fenski had to surface the boat and save his crew. He had managed to fight back and torpedoed and damaged the US destroyer escort USS Menges and the French destroyer escort Sénégalais before calling it quits.”

1963  CGC Morris and CG-95318 escorted the annual Newport Harbor, California to Ensenada, Mexico Yacht Race which commenced May 4, 1963 and upon conclusion of the race made an informal visit to Ensenada.

USCGC Morris

This Day in Coast Guard History, May 3

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

May 3

United States Revenue-Marine revenue cutter USRC Wolcott (1873) at her home port, Port Townsend, Washington.

1882  The Treasury Department reported that the crew of the cutter Oliver Wolcott deserted their ship.  No reason was given for this mass desertion.

Appearing very different from its last Greenland visit in 1884, the USS Bear returned in 1944. Unlike in 1884, the Bear relied on a Coast Guard crew during World War II. As part of the Greenland Patrol, it cruised Greenland’s waters and, in October 1941, brought home the German trawler Buskø, the first enemy vessel captured by the U.S. in WWII. (Coast Guard photo)

1885  The Navy transferred the USS Bear to the Revenue Cutter Service.  The Bear became one of the most famous cutters to sail under the Revenue Cutter & Coast Guard ensigns.

Coast Guard manned Destroyer Escort USS Menges, victim of a German Acoustic Homing Torpedo, May, 1944

1944  An acoustic torpedo fired by the U-371 hit and destroyed the stern of the Coast Guard-manned destroyer escort USS Menges while she was escorting a convoy in the Mediterranean, killing thirty-one of her crew. [see May 4, 1944 entry]  The Menges was later repaired and returned to service.  She assisted in the sinking of the U-866 on March 19,1945.

This Day in Coast Guard History, May 2

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

May 2

1882  An Act of Congress (22 Stat. L., 55, 58), in an attempt to protect the Lifesaving Service from the evils of the “spoils System,” declared that “the appointments of District superintendents, inspectors, and keepers and crews of life-saving stations shall be made solely with reference to their fitness and without reference to their political or party affiliations.”

1932  Northern Pacific Halibut Act re-enacted Act of June 7, 1924, after Convention with Canada and made it unlawful to catch halibut between November 1st and February 15th  each year in territorial waters of United States and Canada and on high seas, extending westerly from them, including the Bering Sea.  Coast Guard enforced this Act.

1942  Coast Guard plane V-167 rescued two from a torpedoed freighter.

1942  Coast Guard prewar search and rescue procedure discontinued for security reasons.

1943  CG-58012 exploded and sank off Manomet Point, Massachusetts.  No lives lost.

USCGC Sangamon

1995  Part of the Upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers rose above the flood stage, flooding areas in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky.  Coast Guard Disaster Response Units conducted SAR duties and assisted local authorities.  On May 16, MSO St. Louis closed all 366 miles of the Missouri River to all traffic.   The Secretary of Transportation authorized the involuntary recall of 300 reservists.  However, only 143 were called to duty.  Coast Guard Forces Paducah was at the epicenter of flood-relief operations with five DRUs working in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and the Olive Branch, Illinois, area.  Coast Guard aircraft, including an HH-60 Jayhawk from AIRSTA Clearwater (the 2nd District had no air station) provided daily over-flight and SAR missions.  CGC Sangamon was used as a staging platform for those working near Meridosa, Illinois.  Two DRU teams aided Meridosa and surrounding communities with emergency evacuations, ferrying emergency supplies, and reinforcing threatened levees.  Coast Guardsmen were also called in to Slidell, Louisiana, where the evacuated 285 flood victims to safety.