Coast Guard Port Security &
Captain of the Port Operations:
A Historic Photo Gallery, Volume 3
The following are official U.S. Coast Guard photographs that illustrate the Coast Guard's port security mission as it has evolved since its introduction during World War I.
| Photographs [Click on the image to see in full-size] | Original photo caption; description (if any): |
|---|---|
| No caption; no photo
number; date/ photographer unknown.
Coast Guard port security personnel patrol the dockyards, insuring the safety of the cargo prior to its being loaded for shipment to the United Kingdom. |
| "PORT SECURITY'S A
COAST GUARD JOB: BOMB'S AWAY---First step in dropping blockbusters
on the enemy is getting them to Allied airbases for the
bombardiers. Here a U.S. Coast Guard shore patrolman watches
the 2,000-pound death capsules being hoisted aboard ship. A
large detail of Coast Guardsmen constantly patrol the docks as a
precaution against sabotage."
Coast Guard photo number 1674; no date; photographer unknown. |
| No caption; no photo
number; date/ photographer unknown.
Loading and stowing aerial bombs in an Allied freighter was a laborious and dangerous task. |
| No caption; no photo number; date/ photographer unknown. |
 |
"COTP: Left to
Right: Charles R. Hammond, BM1; Ivan E. Hilton, GM2. Checking
warehouse for proper stowage of cargo."
Coast Guard Photo Number 7CGD-011559-03; 15 January 1959; photographer unknown. |
| "PORT SECURITY WORK:
A Coast Guard boarding party assists Custom man in a search for
contraband goods on board a foreign vessel at the entrance to New
York Harbor. Collaborating with other government agencies
concerned in the protection of shipping and waterfront facilities is
one of the many duties of the Coast Guard Captain of the Port in
enforcing Port Security Regulations."
Coast Guard Photo Number 5654; released 4 October 1954; photographer unknown. [The following caveat was printed on the photo: "Use of M/V LISTA for this simulated series was made possible through cooperation of Cosmopolitan Shipping Company, Steamship Agents and Managers, 42 Broadway, New York City 4. This management has stipulated that in any release of still pictures or motion picture footage 'it be made very clear that the M/V LISTA is not a suspected vessel and that she was photographed and characterized in this instance, solely to demonstrate activities of the U.S. Coast Guard.'"] |
| No caption; no photo number; date/ photographer unknown. The Coast Guard scrutinized cargoes carried by merchant ships into US ports throughout the Cold War period, looking for anything hazardous, including nuclear material. Until the Soviet Union developed ballistic missiles and long-range bombers, the most likely method of successfully delivering a nuclear weapon to the US would have been placing one surreptiously on board a freighter bound for a U.S. port. Fortunately they never tried and the Coast Guard did not ever discover any instance where nuclear materials were smuggled through a U.S. port. |
| "PORT SECURITY:
CG-64305; 65-FT. HARBOR TUG INSPECTING PIERS: Among various types of
craft the U.S. Coast Guard uses to perform its Port Security--Law
Enforcement duties is the 65-ft harbor tug shown here inspecting the
piers at the Port of Philadelphia. The crew is alert to report
any fire hazards and ready to man the tug's firefighting equipment
in case of emergency. A sturdy and versatile worker, the tug
also is used for boarding pleasure craft in connection with
enforcement of motorboat safety laws, for towing disabled vessels,
and rescue work of other types."
Coast Guard Photo Number 5938; date/photographer unknown. |
| "PORT SECURITY: An
aerial shot of the U.S. Coast Guard 95-ft. patrol craft CAPE GULL
(WPB-95304) on port security patrol in New York Harbor. The
craft is stationed at the Coast Guard Base, Staten Island, New
York."
Coast Guard Photo Number CPI-05-20-64 (6); 20 May 1964; photographer unknown. |
| "PORT SECURITY: The
Chief Mate (seated) on a U.S. merchant vessel checks a manifest with
a U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer from the Captain-of-the-Port
Office in New York Harbor."
Coast Guard Photo Number CPI-05-18-64 (03) COL. - G.F.; 18 May 1964; photographer unknown. |
| Logo of Coast Guard
Explosive Loading Detachment 1
[On 17 February 1966, COMUSMACV requested CINPAC ask the Commandant for two Explosives Loading Detachments, each consisting of one officer and seven enlisted. The ELD’s were to be highly trained in explosives handling, port security and also be able to instruct others in these duties. Commander in Chief, Pacific forwarded the request to JCS and the Chief of Naval Operations requested that the Coast Guard provide them. The two ELD’s were sent, with ELD #1 located at Nha Be and ELD #2 at Cam Ranh Bay; as quoted in Tulich history.] No caption; no photo number; date/photographer unknown. |
| Cam Rahn Bay, Coast Guard
Explosive Loading Detachment 2
No caption; no photo number; date/ photographer unknown. Coast Guard experts supervised the loading of ammunition and other supplies in U.S. ports and their unloading in South Vietnamese ports during the entire conflict. |
| Cam Rahn Bay, Coast Guard
Explosive Loading Detachment 2
No caption; no photo number; date/ photographer unknown. Coast Guard experts supervised the loading of ammunition and other supplies in U.S. ports and their unloading in South Vietnamese ports during the entire conflict. |
| "Scituate,
Mass. November 27. . .Engineman First Class Robert J. Yered
receives the Silver Star medal from Rear Admiral William B. Ellis,
commander, First Coast Guard District in ceremonies today at the
Coast Guard station here. Engineman Yered distinguished
himself by exceptionally valorous actions on the morning of February
18, 1968, as the safety advisor to the United States Army
Terminal, Cat Lai, Vietnam. The terminal was attacked by
intense enemy rocket, mortar, and small arms fire. One
of the rocket rounds struck a barge on which there were several
hundred tons of mortar ammunition and immediately ignited a
fire. The blazing barge threatened to destroy three other
ammunition ships on which there were in excess of fifteen thousand
tons of high explosives. Engineman Yered, without regard for
his personal safety, exposed himself to the enemy gunfire as he
helped extinguish the fire on the burning barge. His
courageous act averted destruction of the ammunition ship, and the
Army Terminal."
No caption; no photo number; date/ photographer unknown. |
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