Miami-class cutter USCGC Tampa photographed in harbour, prior to the First World War. Completed in 1912 as the U.S. Revenue Cutter Miami, this ship was renamed Tampa in February 1916. On 26 September 1918, while operating in the English Channel, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German Submarine UB-91. All 131 persons on board Tampa were lost with her, the largest loss of life on any U.S. combat vessel during the First World War. Official U.S. Navy photo NH 1226 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command

1918 The Imperial German Navy submarine UB-91 torpedoed and sank CGC Tampa with a loss of all hands. Tampa was steaming alone to Milford Haven, Wales, after being detached from ocean escort duty when attacked.  On board were 111 Coast Guardsmen, four U.S. Navy personnel, and 15 British passengers, bringing the total of men lost that night to 130.  One body was recovered and buried at sea while the bodies of two of the Coast Guard crew washed ashore in Wales and were buried in a small church yard in Lamphey, Pembrokeshire, Wales.  One body was returned to the family in the U.S. after the war while one, who was never identified, is still interred in Lamphey to this day.  Local residents care for the grave.

USCGC Ingham (WPG-35) underway in heavy seas, circa 1941-1944, location unknown.
US Coast Guard photo # 2000225945

1942 CGC Ingham rescued eight survivors from the torpedoed SS Tennessee.

1994 Coast Guard forces departed for Haiti in support of Operation Restore Democracy.

A boat crew from Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg, Florida, conducts training near the station on a new 29-foot response boat-small II Aug. 25, 2014. The Coast Guard placed a delivery order for 20 additional boats Jan. 12, 2018. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Meredith Manning.

2011 The U.S. Coast Guard awarded a delivery order on this date to Metal Shark Aluminum Boats for the production of 38 Response Boats-Small (RB-S). “The RB-S will have an approximate length of 28 feet, be capable of at least 40 knots, a minimum range of 150 nautical miles and accommodate a crew of four.  The RB-S will also have a standardized communications and navigation suite as well as an increased emphasis on ergonomics and crew comfort.  The current RB-S fleet was originally procured in 2002, following the attacks of September 11, 2001.  In addition to bringing a higher level of standardization to the Coast Guard’s small boat fleet, the RB-S has proven to be a tremendous asset in a wide variety of Coast Guard missions, especially ports, waterways and coastal security.”

Coast Guard Academy Cadets climb the rigging of Coast Guard Cutter Eagle (WIX 327) while underway July, 30, 2024. The Eagle serves as a classroom at sea for Academy Cadets and future leaders in the Coast Guard. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Matt Thieme)

2014 CGB Eagle began the first phase of a four-year project to extend the cutter’s service life and recapitalize major ship systems at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland.  The scheduled work included lead ballast replacement, berthing area renovations, and inspection and maintenance of the rudder, hull and rigging.  On this same day the Yard also marked the completion of the Mission Effectiveness Project (MEP) to modernize the Coast Guard’s medium endurance cutter fleet.

The Coast Guard Cutter Sapelo transfers 38 Haitian migrants to the Coast Guard Cutter Bear Sept. 9, 2013, north of the Dominican Republic as part of the repatriation process, which included a second transfer of the migrants, who repatriated, to the Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant and turned the migrants over to authorities in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Sept. 12, 2013. The 38 migrants originally belonged to a group of 41 migrants interdicted by the Coast Guard Cutter Sapelo Sept. 7, 2013, near Mona Island, Puerto Rico. Three of the migrants, of Dominican Republic nationality, in the group were taken into custody by Customs and Border Protection authorities in Puerto Rico. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

2014 CGC Bear returned to its homeport in Portsmouth, Virginia following a two-month long patrol in the Western Caribbean Sea. During the patrol, Bear’s crew 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 3,519 kilograms of cocaine.  In addition to its seizures, the crew of Bear saved two Nicaraguan fishermen that were stranded at sea for over two weeks.  Bear’s interdictions were a part of Operation Martillo, which is an international effort to counter illicit trafficking in the Caribbean Sea.

U.S. Coast Guard Cutters Stratton (WMSL 752) and Kimball (WMSL 756) steam in formation while patrolling the U.S.-Russian Maritime Boundary Line (MBL), in the Bering Sea, Sept. 26, 2022. This marked the first time two national security cutters jointly patrolled the MBL above the Arctic Circle. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo).

2022 CGC Stratton (WMSL 752) and CGC Kimball (WMSL 756) jointly patrolled the US-Russian maritime boundary line in the Arctic Circle. Stratton and Kimball performed a series of tactical maneuvers following standard NATO phraseology. The operation furthered US national security strategy and projected US sovereignty in the Arctic Circle. Following the evolution, Kimball turned south to transit the Bering Strait and Stratton turned north towards the Chukchi Sea to continue on its patrol throughout the Arctic Ocean.

Boston Light, America’s First Aid to Navigation, now over 300 years old.

1916 The beginning of lighthouse work in the United States was commemorated, when a bronze tablet was unveiled at the Boston Light Station on the 200th anniversary of its establishment.

Cutter Yocona towing environmental bouy (EB-16) off of San Diego underway for deployment. May 19,1975.

1959 A U.S. Navy P5M seaplane that had ditched off the Oregon coast was located through radio contact by a Coast Guard UF-1G Albatross aircraft.  After sighting 10 survivors in two rafts 110 miles offshore, the Albatross crew directed CGC  Yacona to the scene, where a successful night rescue was affected.

“Coast Guard Cutter Forward and Coast Guard Cutter Bear, homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia, finish an at-sea transfer while underway on a two-month patrol. Coast Guard Cutter Forward returned to homeport on April 10, 2021.” (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

1980 CGC Bear was launched at Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, Inc., in Tacoma, Washington.  Bear was the first in its class of new 270-foot medium endurance cutters.  It was sponsored by Mrs. John B. Hayes, the wife of the Commandant. All thirteen ships of the class are still in Coast Guard service.

2014 The Commandant, ADM Paul Zukunft, signed the U.S. Coast Guard Western Hemisphere Strategy.  The Strategy emphasized that although the Coast Guard performs “diverse maritime missions over vast geographic areas” the Coast Guard’s primary operating area “will remain in the Western hemisphere.”

2016 The U.S. Coast Guard found an overturned boat following a boating incident on Government Cut that left three deceased, including Miami Marlins’ baseball pitcher José Fernández.  A boat crew from Coast Guard Station Miami was heading out on a law enforcement patrol at approximately 0330 when they passed a jetty along Government Cut and discovered an overturned 33-foot center console boat on the jetty with three deceased aboard.

The ship’s sponsor, “Mrs. Harry J. Trainor, christening LST-167 prior to the ship’s launching, 25 February 1943, at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Company, Shipbuilding Division, Evansville, IN. Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library.

1943 The Coast Guard-manned USS LST-167 (Commissioned 27 April 1943, LT Edward C. Simons, USCG commanding) and the USS LST-334, with a partial Coast Guard crew, landed troops during the invasion and liberation of Vella Lavella in the central Solomons despite fierce resistance from the Japanese defenders. September 25, Japanese aircraft attacked the invasion fleet, hitting LST-167 with two bombs. The ship was refloated but found uneconomical to repair, struck from the Naval Register, 6 December 1943. Purple Hearts (KIA-8, WIA-2, MIA-5). KIA – ENS. Miller, Robert W.; ENS Wells , Harry F.; F1/c Anderson, Roy; Cox Bubeck, Sheldon T.; WT1/c Hammond, Gerald G.; EM3/c Poi, Giovanni; Y2/c Rieckert, Frederick; S1/c Sexton, Donald A. (1 additional enlisted man was killed in action. 1 enlisted man died of wounds. 5 enlisted men were missing in action.

1947 The Coast Guard announced that it had virtually completed the return of United States buoys, lights, and other aids to navigation to a peacetime basis.

Antenna of USCG Rescue 21 system at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

2002 The Coast Guard announced the award of a $611 million contract for the production, deployment and support of “Rescue 21,” a modernization of the National Distress and Response System.  “Rescue 21” was planned to be the nation’s primary maritime “911” system for coastal waters of the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and navigable rivers and lakes within the United States.

Pseudo-color IRF image of Rita from NASA GOES-12; processing by University of Wisconsin, Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies; used by implicit permission.

2005 Hurricane Rita made landfall just east of Sabine Pass, on the Texas-Louisiana line, as a Category 3 hurricane with top sustained winds of 120 mph.  Coast Guard units, some still in the area from Hurricane Katrina rescue and relief efforts, responded.  They saved 138 lives and evacuated 53 people.

A crewmember aboard a 26-foot over-the-horizon boat prepares to come alongside Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley (WMEC 30) while underway in the Bering Sea in this 2019 photo. U.S. Coast Guard / Ensign Richard Zogby

2014 CGC Alex Haley returned to Kodiak following a successful 68-day deployment patrolling more than 12,000 miles throughout the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.  Alex Haley, known as the “Bulldog of the Bering,” departed Kodiak in July 2014 and spent two months conducting operations in the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands.  During the deployment, Alex Haley’s crew performed more than 40 at sea domestic fisheries enforcement boardings, four search and rescue cases, and one rescue and assistance operation.

September 23

1967 Coho Salmon Fishing Disaster: On this date a severe squall carried through the Frankfort River Platte area of northern Lake Michigan. Twenty-five-foot waves generated by the squall caught off guard an estimated 1,000 small boats fishing for Coho salmon.  Between 150 and 200 boats were beached and many more were either capsized or otherwise in distress.  During the next four days Coast Guard aircraft flew 33 sorties for a total of 55 hours.  State and Local police provided beach patrols and private individuals also aided in the operation.  One of the greatest problems faced by the Coast Guard was the confusion created by the hundreds of people unaccounted for after the storm, most of whom were not in trouble but had just not contacted their friends or family.  Each report of a missing person was carefully followed through so that within four days it was determined that seven had been recovered and only one person remained unaccounted for.  The Coho salmon which attracted the large number of boats to the area remained in season for another three weeks and during this time the Coast Guard maintained daily aircraft and small boat patrols of the area.

2014 CGC Key Largo collided with the 42-foot commercial fishing vessel Sea Shepherd, sinking the fishing vessel approximately nine nautical miles east northeast of Vieques, Puerto Rico. Key Largo was on a routine patrol when the collision happened. Sea Shepherd’s two crewmembers were safely recovered by the crew of Key Largo.

September 22

1943 Coast Guardsmen participated in the invasion and liberation of Finschafen, New Guinea.  An Allied invasion fleet, including Coast Guard-manned landing ships, landed Australian troops.  Coast Guard-manned ships in the invasion fleet included USS LST-18, LST-67, LST-168, and LST-204.  There were no casualties among the Coast Guard vessels.

A United States Coast Guard (USCG) Port Security Unit (PSU) boat crew pictured while undergoing a tactical training exercise.

1990 PSU 301 became the second reserve Coast Guard port security unit deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield.  PSU 301 was staffed by reservists from Buffalo, New York.  They were stationed in Al-Jubayl, Saudi Arabia