OCR Text |
Show Coast Guard's i54th Birj3 Finds Itjighting Axis On Seven Seas, in Acrditiofi to Peacetime Duties Y i;l I i Service Originated As Ann of Treasury To Check Smuggling Soon after ho took over di-; di-; rcction of the treasury in George Washington's cabinet,' Alexander Hamilton discovered discov-ered that the government was losing a lot of sorely needed revenue because of the brisk smuggling that was going on along the coast. Accordingly, he told the President that something would have to be doneWashington brought the matter to the attention of congress), and that body, acting act-ing with remarkable celerity, provided funds for the establishment estab-lishment of the Revenue Cutter Cut-ter Service. So it was that on August 4, 1790, the U. S. coast guard was born. The service were placed In convoj and escort service. ' The period following the Armistice saw the construction of the modern coast guard fleet. New Diesel and Steam cutters were designed and built. Smaller, fast, patrol boats were developed. New equipment was installed on shore stations Air power was made a vital part of the coast guard with the construction of bases on the Atlantic and Pacific. A fleet of planes of the newest design de-sign were assigned to the service and so coast guard aviation, long a cherished dream, was a reality, j When the country thinks of coast 1 guard law enforcement, it usually j associates it with Prohibition. Although Al-though the coast guard was given i the unpopular Job of enforcing that unfortunate act it managed to make the best of it. In fact through Prohibition Pro-hibition the coast guard developed"; a valuable intelligence unit which ! today serves the cause of national 1 defense as part of the naval intelli- j gence. But prohibition was only one j of the law-enforcine lobs of the EXPERTLY handling their landing land-ing craft, coast guardsmen bring barge loaded with soldiers to shore through the treacherous surf of the South Pacific. ; This boat was swamped, but the crew managed to land the troops entrusted to their care. were ..decommissioned. But when, during the coming years, fears of versatile coast guard. The Narcotics, Nar-cotics, Oil Pollution, Whaling and Alien Smuggling are Just a few of the marine laws enforced by the nation's na-tion's maritime police force. But greatest of all the hundred ' fifty-four years of the coast guard ; history has been this great global war that will rid the world of tyr- is celebrating its 154th anniversary anni-versary this year. fit has the longest record of all the nation's na-tion's sea forces, having tak-, tak-, en part in every war since the Revolution. From post - Revolutionary days when it. operated a handful of tiny 48-foot cutters concentrating on the collection of import duties for the Infant republic, the coast guard has expanded in scope of its activities .and in size until today it has more than 200,000 officers and enlisted men, and is fighting the Axis all over the world. Actually, the Tariff Act of 1790 merely authorized the building of six revenue cutters to insure the collection of customs. But our founding fathers realized that this little fleet might prove valuable as a defense unit. So it was decided to organize the men and ships on a a war with England caused anxious naval' authorities to survey our naval strength, additional cutters were authorized and built, all of which served with distinction in the War of 1812. The Civil war wrought havoc with the revenue cutter service, although all its vessels fought on the side of the Union. Trained crews and officers, of-ficers, torn between divided loyalties, loyal-ties, left the service to join thefr I respective sides. To fill trie places, of these men, having decades of service and experience, relaxed i standards made possible the admission admis-sion of some unfit, morally and mentally, men-tally, and soon after the war a complete com-plete reorganization of the service was necessary. And this reorganization reorgani-zation was thorough. New ships were constructed and in 1876 an academy was established to train officers. Although at first the academy was merely a barken- Y '.v-iJ New Bedford and later the "Chase" at Baltimore, no move did more to establish the "esprit de corps'.' of the coast guard, -retain and pass on its traditions and raise the service to the high standards of unity that it has achieved today. . The present coast guard academy 'at New Lon- '.miljtary basis., m President Wo shin g- ton commissioned Hopley Heaton of New Hampshire "to command a cutter cut-ter in the scrvie'e of the United States." One hundred and fifty-four years later coast guard vessels are operating operat-ing as part of the navy, sweeping the seas of enemy subsv and coast guard landing craft are spear-head-" ing invasions, putting marines ashore in the South Pacific and the army In France. The coast guard has fulfilled the fondest hopes of its founders. But the military usefulness of the coast "guard, which has reached a peak in this war, was apparent soon after its organization. In 1797, American ships bound for England were seized and bqarded by privateering priva-teering French vessels, operating with tacit blessing of the Revolutionary Revolution-ary government of France. Fought French Privateers. RELAXING with a bit of nonsense, non-sense, a coast guardsman on Saipan dolls up in Japanese garments. He is garbed in a silk -kimono and brocaded obi. "He shades himself with a fancy parasol while he takes aim at a parakeet with a Jap machine ma-chine gun. rany and oppression. Three of the guard's cutters made naval history by signal success against the sub-' sub-' marine. First it was the Campbell, which in 12 hours of gruelling action ac-tion , depth-bombed five enemy U-boats and shelled, rammed and don, Conn., compares favorably with Annapolis and West Point. , Police Duty in Alaska. Meanwhile the service was entrusted en-trusted with new duties, while its old functions were enlarged with the growth of the nation. The acquisition acquisi-tion of Alaska was an important event for the coast guard, for to it was given the obligation of enforcing enforc-ing law and order in the territory. When the Japs invaded the Aleutian Aleu-tian Islands; the decades of experience experi-ence of the coast guard in the wild unpredictable waters of the Arctic is bearine fruit. sank a sixth in a running (battle while guarding a convoy. 'Then followed the Icarus,. 165 feet of fighting fight-ing fury, which sank a U-boat off the Carolina coast and Jook33. pris- oners. The Spencer, sister ship of the Campbell, reached her peak of glory iyy sinking a sub stalking a convoy. t jBCach-Patrol.. . The famed beach patrol reached its heights with the capture, conviction convic-tion and elimination of the sub-landed, would-be saboteurs who were trapped by an alert coast guardsman on Long Island's desolate shores. On guard against otherrlandings coasts guard dogs and horse patrols now are ready to give any intruder a warm reception. The port security force, a similar unit, protects piers and harbors. This war has seen the full 'development 'develop-ment of coast guard aviation1. Where I When in 1799, the U. S. navy was finally organized and new ships were sent out to aid the cutters in their ! battle against the French. But it is lintecesting- tanole.thatof ther.22 . ships captured, 18 were taken by the coast guard, which also assisted in the capture of two' more. The undeclared war against France saw the establishment of the precedent of transferring the coast guard from the treasury department to the navy in time of war. Ever since this date, the alert, trim, fighting fight-ing coast guard cutters and men have joined the navy by presiden-i presiden-i tiaf proclamation on the outbreak of : hostilities. j . When peace with France was re-i' re-i' stored in istfi, the"cutters were re- turned to the treasury-department ; and in an economy measure' by the hard-pressed government several In 1915 the coast guard wasmerged with the life saving service and for the first time the name "COAST GUARD" was officially recognized. . The merger .at these-1 wo- unUs-wa a logical development, for the cutter and life saving units were both branches of the treasury department and had operated closely for many years. -The lighthouse division was not made an official member of the coast guard "family" until 1939. , World War I found the coast guard,-'as usual, ready for anything. A terse presidential message "Plan One . I Acknowledge," transferred trans-ferred the coast-guard ships and personnel into the navy for the duration-.' Coast guard, officers were assigned to duty . at naval stations and on naval ships throughout the world with many being given command com-mand posts. The cutters as usual . rs - - - - - n AH, r once coast guard fliers flew in bad weather on many an errand of mercy, mer-cy, they now skimver-Uie""vasF expanses of the ocean acting as air ' umbrellas for victory convoys, on constant alert for lurking subs. To the fleet of flying boats of peacetime . haw -beort added the deadly "King--fishers," sleek, trim planes flown by the same experienced men who fly' in any weather, under .any condi tions. . One more new branch of the service serv-ice is the SPARS, the women's re-'serve re-'serve of the coast guard, aimed at replacing coast guardsmen on shore stations throughout the . country, ; SPAR officers train at the academy " at New London "asa emistedpersbri-" nel at the new training schooj at Palm" Beach." FlaY' - Over' 7,000 SPARS arejpovv on duty but by the end of the year 9,000 will be wearing wear-ing the coast guard blue. So, whether in peace or war, the coast guard's greatest pride" is to Me faithful to its motto, "Semper Paralus," "Always Ready." And coast guardsmen are always ready . j to savd lives, pairol beaches, cap- i ture smugglers, watch for icebergs, or fight their (country's enemies. ( lIUttMl -N on. a i-oast-guard cutter assigned to rescue work in the Knglish channel, keep anxious watch as they scan the choppy waters for soldiers ho were tossed' into the "sea v. lien their invasion barge was" sunk. This ilqtilla of cutters saved hundreds of men during the D-Day period. , |