| Show with years of outstanding service in wars and peace coast guard has been big factor in present successful operations operation the united states coast guard on au august t 4 celebrates the anni V gus ar y of its founding f oun ding proud of being ng the nations a stio n s first s fleet and proud roud of f Us t firsts and d its ts distinguished service on an all fronts oi of world war II 11 most of the men who wear the coast guard shield on their uniform sleeves will celebrate the services birthday overseas for the coast guard created primarily to prevent smugglers from reaching the coast ranges far from home in time of war to fight alongside the army navy and marine corps the coast guards story really begins in 1787 when alexander hamilton first secretary of the tr treasury masury while urging adoption of the he t then pending constitution wrote of the need for a seagoing sea going service which would prevent material infractions upon the rights of the revenue A few armed vessels he wrote judiciously stationed at the entrance to our ports might at small expense be made useful sentinels of the laws with the constitution adopted the first congress elected under it in the spring of 1790 approved hamiltons idea for a marine law enforcement agency and on august 4 1790 the services birthday appropriated money to build 10 cutters and pay salaries to their officers and men for six years the small cutters were the only armed vessels under the united states flag the navy was created in 1794 by act of congress but its ships were not in service until 1797 given naval rank the possible defense value of the cutters was recognized early in suggesting establishment of the service hamilton asked that officers of the cutters be given in military lit a ry or naval rank which he said sad will not only induce fit men to engage but attach them to their duties with a nicer sense of honor in 1797 congress passed a temporary act to increase the strength of the cutters and cause said revenue cutters to be employed to defend J the seacoast sea coast and repel any hostility to their vessels and commerce within their jurisdiction having due regard to the duties of said cutters in the production of the revenue in 1798 during the undeclared naval war with france the president with a view ot of producing a concert of action of the naval forces of the united states placed the revenue vessels at the disposition of the secretary of the navy in the next year congress passed an act providing that the cutters were to operate cooperate co with the navy whenever the president should should so direct a precedent since followed in every war the cutter taney went through pearl harbor unscathed and the next day left the stricken pacific base on antisubmarine patrol the foot icarus received credit for sinking the first german submarine in united states waters when she blasted a U boat and took 33 prisoners off the carolina coast A coastguard manned destroyer escort with several navy ships was in at the kill on the last U boat sunk in the atlantic by american forces many ships lost A tragic first of the coast guard was the loss of the cutter hamilton torpedoed off iceland in january 1942 the first american america n warship lost to a submarine after the start of the war and unfortunately the first of a line of coastguard NO V V 1 LIM Q 1 W R it 1 1 I 1 A 7 xa V N aselman A seaman is ill re requiring quirin immediate medical attention coast guar guard vessel transfers doctor on a boatswains chair to the merchant ship an example of the work done by the coast guard in their years of service manned ships lost as the war progressed the acaccia the get the matsek the Es canaba the leopold and the to many in peacetime the coast guard was known as the mercy fleet and there is a long tradition behind its reputation for the saving of life and property at sea back in 1833 some of the cutters were assigned to aid distressed vessels and save lives a duty they had A i X 17 1 1 V e adm russell R commandant of the U S coast guar guard d with his third half inch stripe which designates him as a full admiral performed incidentally from time to time congress made this a regular duty by enactment in 1837 the combination st strengthened the services devotion to the saving of life and property a devotion amply demonstrated during this war in the normandy invasion a fleet of 83 foot coast guard vessels considered small craft now but more than twice the length suggested by hamilton in his recommendation for the first cutters which had been on an antisubmarine t isu amarine duty in the atlantic I 1 was designated as rescue flotilla I 1 and in the first days of the invasion pulled more than men to safety 11 7 Y VIP 4 E y IMP ev 1 I 1 t nil X Z faz a th first to drop their ramps at e among Coastguard manned are from the philippine alanola after american forces had driven the japs from channel waters the coast guard maimed manned assault transport bayfield flagship for utah beach cared for more than casualties during the three weeks it was anchored off the beachhead also serve in air outstanding also has been the coast guards initiative in the experiments with airplane parachute and helicopter rescue groups adm russell R first full admiral to head the coast guard also sits with the joint air sea rescue committee set up by all of the armed services to investigate and experiment with rescue techniques from the life saving savin stations the coast guard acquired personnel well versed in the knack of handling small boats in battling surf wind and tide the nation has drawn heavily on these men to participate in every invasion of 0 the war and to train others in amphibious landings many were am among ong the personnel of the boat pool set up under coast guard comar dwight H dexter at guadalcanal Guadal canal and tul agi in august 1942 the allies first successful amphibious operation aboard the coastguard manned assault transport samuel chase formerly the passenger ship african meteor the technique of loading small landing barges at the rail was first used in the invasion of sicily on july 10 1943 1913 the technique was decided upon after the vessels earlier experience in the african invasion in november 1943 1942 and speeded up such operations by many precious minutes the coast guard also has been called A seagoing sea going handyman and in in war or peace the service has become used to having new duties and functions added to its work after the titanic disaster nations of the world formed the international ice patrol and the duty of patrolling was delegated to the coast guard |
