May 27

1796  Congress passed “An Act relative to Quarantine” and assigned “officers. . .[of the] revenue cutters, to aid in the execution of quarantine, and also in the execution of the health laws of the states.” This Act was repealed with the 1799 Act (1 Stat. L., 619).

1919  The U.S. Navy’s flying boat NC-4, piloted by First Lieutenant Elmer F. Stone, USCG, landed in the Tagus River estuary near Lisbon, Portugal on May 27, 1919, thereby completing the first successful trans-Atlantic flight.  Stone was decorated that same day by the Portuguese government with the Order of the Tower and Sword.

1936  Public Law 622 reorganized and changed the name of the Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection Service to Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation (49 Stat. L., 1380).  The Bureau remained under Commerce Department control.

1943  Douglas Munro’s posthumous Medal of Honor was given to Douglas Munro’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Munro of South Cle Elum, Washington, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a ceremony at the White House on Thursday, May 27, 1943.  The citation read: “Awarded posthumously to DOUGLAS ALBERT MUNRO, SIGNALMAN FIRST CLASS, U.S. COAST GUARD ‘For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry in action above and beyond the call of duty as Office-in-Charge of a group of Higgins boats, engaged in the evacuation of a Battalion of Marines trapped by enemy Japanese forces at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal, on September 27, 1942.  After making preliminary plans for the evacuation of nearly 500 beleaguered Marines, Munro, under constant risk of his life, daringly led five of his small craft toward the shore.   As he closed the beach, he [signaled] the others to land, and then in order to draw the enemy’s fire and protect the heavily loaded boats, he valiantly placed his craft with its two small guns as a shield between the beachhead and the Japanese.   When the perilous task of evacuation was nearly completed, Munro was killed by enemy fire, but his crew, two of whom were wounded, carried on until the last boat had loaded and cleared the beach.  By his outstanding leadership, expert planning, and dauntless devotion to duty, he and his courageous comrades undoubtedly saved the lives of many who otherwise would have perished.  He gallantly gave up his life in defense of his country.'”

1954  The aircraft carrier USS Bennington (CV-20), with about 2,000 persons aboard, suffered an explosion and fire 35 miles south of Brenton Reef Lightship, injuring some 100 persons.  U.S. Coast Guard aircraft from Salem Air Station and Quonset Point proceeded to the scene, assisted in transporting medical personnel to Bennington and provided air cover for all helicopter operations.  One of the Coast Guard’s helicopters made seven landings aboard the aircraft carrier and transported 18 injured to the hospital; another transported 14 injured.

1965  Coast Guard Squadron One was commissioned for service with Operation Market Time in Vietnam.

1996  While on leave, Coast Guardsman Kevin S. DeGroot rescued 12 people who had been thrown into the water when their boat capsized.  For his “extreme and heroic daring” that day, he was awarded the Gold Life-Saving Medal.

Date of Award: January 24, 1997

For extreme and heroic daring on 27 May 1996, when a 17-foot pleasure boat capsized, throwing 12 people into the violently surging waters of Pensacola Bay, Florida.  Petty Officer DeGroot was on leave, sightseeing in downtown Pensacola, when he was alerted to the overturned vessel with people in the water, directly off the seawall.  He immediately ran to the scene and joined others in pulling the victims out of the choppy water.  Alerted to the possibility of three children trapped under the boat, Petty Officer DeGroot jumped into the 6-foot swells, swam to the overturned vessel, and repeatedly dove under the boat as it pounded against the seawall, searching for the missing children.  On his fourth dive Petty Officer DeGroot located a 5-year-old girl, unconscious and tangled in the boat’s lines.  He fought to free her enough to bring her from under the capsized vessel.  Once again treading the rough water at the surface, he struggled to keep her head above the swells while he disentangled her from the lines around her legs.  Petty Officer DeGroot swam with the unconscious girl to rescuers waiting to assist on the seawall.  Climbing hand-over-hand up a lowered set of automotive jumper cables, Petty Officer DeGroot raised the young girl to the point where a hopeful rescue team could pull her to the top of the wall.  A waiting paramedic was able to successfully resuscitate the young victim after she had been underwater for at least 15 minutes.  Although suffering from extreme exhaustion, Petty Officer DeGroot remained in the water to attach a towline to the drifting boat and retrieved a life preserver for another victim struggling to stay afloat until rescued.  Petty Officer DeGroot’s determined efforts, outstanding initiative and fortitude during this rescue resulted in the saving of one life.  His unselfish actions and valiant service, despite imminent personal danger, reflect great credit upon himself and are in keeping with the highest traditions of humanitarian service.

2008  CGC Dallas departed Charleston, South Carolina for a planned 4-1/2 month deployment to conduct maritime safety and security exchanges with countries along the central and west coasts of Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea.  It was an historic voyage that included delivering relief supplies to Georgia after that country was attacked by Russia in “Operation Assured Delivery (she was the second U.S. military ship to deliver relief supplies to Georgia) and a port visit to Sevastopol, Ukraine.

May 26

1906  Congress passed an act to regulate enlistments and punishments in Revenue Cutter Service was passed.

1924  Congress passed the “Immigration Act of 1924,” (Pub. L. 68-139; 43 Stat. 153) that limited the number of immigrants annually who could be admitted to the U.S. to two percent of the number of people from that country who were already living in the U.S. in 1890.  This was a one percent reduction from the three percent limit established by Congress in 1921.

1988  Admiral Paul Yost, Commandant, explained the new “Zero Tolerance” initiative to Congress’s Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Navigation.  Yost noted: “The Coast Guard Zero Tolerance policy is that, subject to statutory and jurisdictional limitations, individuals possessing measurable quantities of controlled substances aboard vessels will be subject to the full extent of available criminal and civil sanctions…Zero Tolerance means that the Coast Guard, in the course of its regular patrols, boardings and inspections, will now, within the limits of the law, seize vessels and arrest individuals when ‘personal use’ quantities of illegal drugs are discovered.”

1995  The Secretary of Transportation authorized the involuntary recall of 300 reservists to assist in the relief efforts in the Midwest after the Missouri and Mississippi rivers flooded.  However, only 143 were called to duty.  (See the May 2, 1995 entry.)

Text below the line is quoted from MyCG. I hesitate to call it a news release, but I don’t think anyone will object to my passing it along.

The phase I see applied to the Coast Guard in discussions of Force Design 2028 is “Fighting Force.” 

• “A More Agile, Capable, Responsive Fighting Force”
• “You are the finest fighting force,”
• “Force Design leaders emphasized the need to transform the Coast Guard into a stronger, more ready, and more reliable fighting force.”

Perhaps missile systems (or even torpedoes) will no longer be anathema to the Coast Guard.

I have long felt the Coast Guard is not currently properly armed to carry out its peacetime counter terrorism duties, much less its military readiness function. Hopefully we will see some movement in that direction along with mobilization planning that will assign the Coast Guard specific wartime missions and that would allow Coast Guard Units to host Navy Reserve equipment (like helicopters) and personnel upon mobilization for a large scale conflict.

Also discussed is growing the Coast Guard by 15,000 members. It is not yet clear if those will be regulars, reserves, civilians, or auxiliary.

No indication yet which programs will be deemed “non-essential or obsolete.”

---

A new type of ice capable combatant is emerging. There is nothing else quite like it.

While it is not an icebreaker, I don’t know of any other combatant that combines relatively high speed and robust AAW, ASW, and ASuW capability with the ability to operate in ice.

No US Navy combatants are designed to operate in areas where they might encounter ice, even if assisted by an icebreaker. 

This isn’t just about hull thickness,

In addition to structural details, the Polar Class rules have requirements for machinery systems such as the main propulsion, steering gear, and systems essential for the safety of the crew and survivability of the vessel. For example, propeller-ice interaction should be taken into account in the propeller design, cooling systems and sea water inlets should be designed to work also in ice-covered waters, and the ballast tanks should be provided with effective means of preventing freezing.

What makes these really unique, and perhaps of interest to the USCG, is the Ice Class requirement which translates to non-consolidated (refrozen) ice channels with a thickness of 1.0 meter (3.3 ft) in the middle.

(“Consolidated ice: Floating ice in which the concentration is 10/10 and the floes are frozen together. Compact ice. Floating ice in which the concentration is 10/10 and no water is visible.”)

Since the Finnish-Swedish ice class 1A is considered comparable to Polar Class 7 they should also be capable of operating in thin (30 to 70 cm (0.98 to 2.30 ft)) first year ice without icebreaker assistance.

Unlike ships we have seen designed for Arctic patrol the naval warfare capabilities of these ships are not compromised by the fact that they are designed to operate in ice.

The Coast Guard is already sending National Security Cutters North of the Arctic Circle. With the possibility of fisheries extending into the Arctic, the Coast Guard will want to be able to do fisheries patrols anywhere fishing vessels may go in the US EEZ including Alaskan Arctic waters that open seasonally but where ice may be encountered.

Since the graphic above, some specifications have changed. 

• Displacement: 4300 tons
• Length: 117 m (384′)
• Width: 16 m (52.5′)
• Draught: 5 m (16.4′)
• Power: 29,000 kW (39,000 HP)
• Speed: 26 knots (48 km/h)
• Crew: 73

We first talked about this unique class almost ten years ago. The initial request for information went out in December 2015.

In 2017 we found out,

“…work on the propellers that was done in conjunction with the USN to make props to meet conflicting requirements…

The propellers are a minor project on their own, and are set to be of a highly advanced design. This is due to the somewhat conflicting demands of high top-speed, small diameter (due to overall draught requirement), and low noise (and high cavitation margin). All this, while at the same time being strong enough to cope with ice.”

The props are variable pitch. CODELAG (Combined Diesel Electric and Gas) propulsion includes a gas turbine for high speed and heavy ice conditions and electric motors for cruise speeds.

Our Situation:

The President has said he wants to build 40 icebreakers. While these would not be true icebreakers they can break ice.

The Icebreaker Collaboration Effort, or ICE Pact, provides a legal basis for technology transfer and collaboration in construction between Finland and the US.

The Coast Guard needs more ships capable of conducting law enforcement in the Arctic.

The Coast Guard needs more large cutters in the Pacific Area than the ten currently planned.

In the not too distant future the US may need combatants capable of fighting in Arctic or even Antarctic waters.

The US certainly would need more escort vessels to protect logistics across the vast distances of the Pacific in the event of a conflict with China.

Conclusion:

Ships like the Pohjanmaa class can meet many of the Coast Guard’s current and possible future needs.

We seem to have a confluence of political will and diplomatic possibilities that would allow the Finns to build ships for the US Coast Guard. They have a hot production line that will probably start production of the fourth and last Pohjanmaa class for the Finnish Navy in 2026.

The Coast Guard would probably want a ships with greater endurance and range but that could probably be provided by lengthening amidships.

If we could move fast enough, we might see steel cut for the first Coast Guard modified Pohjanmaa class in 2027 and delivery in 2031.