What's New on the Historian's Office Website?
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We're pleased to post the first installment of a new two-part photo essay on the history of Coast Guard patrol vessels over 100-feet in length from 1915-2012 by noted author James Flynn, USNR (Ret.)
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Noted lighthouse researcher and scholar Ms. Candace Clifford recently sent us a copy of an important document written by Captain Winslow Lewis. In 1815-1816 he visited every lighthouse in the country and reported to the Commissioner of Revenue on the keepers' annual salaries and if such salary was appropriate depending upon the location of the light.
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Here's a list of U. S. Revenue Cutter Prisoners of War--they were captured during the War of 1812 by the Royal Navy. The list was researched and developed by William J. Nelson, USCGAUX Sector Long Island.
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We've posted an article written by Staff Historian Chris Havern on the historic rescue operations undertaken by the Coast Guard in response to the devastating flood of the Mississippi river in 1937.
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We've just added the official summary of the 1948 Study of U.S. Coast Guard by Ebasco Services, Inc. This was the first of many studies of the roles, missions and organization of the Coast Guard conducted after World War II.
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We've added General Order No. 1 that effectively created the Coast Guard on 28 January 1915.
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We've posted the drawings used to create the first Coast Guard Seal!
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Researcher James Flynn, a retired Navy HMC, compiled a history and list of small harbor cutters and AB boats used by the Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard.
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The Official Chronology of the Cuban Boatlift: "Cuban Boatlift From Mariel, Cuba to Key West, Florida, Chronology from April 21, 1980 to June 30, 1980 with an after summary up to September 28, 1980."
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An article on the history of the Coast Guard's training at Camp Lejeune, which began during World War II and continues to this day. It was written by Lieutenant Colonel L. J. Kimball, USMC (Ret.).
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A paper entitled "The Seaplane in the U.S. Coast Guard," presented at the SAE National Aeronautic Meeting, New York City on 16 April 1951 by one of the Coast Guard's most famous seaplane pilots, Captain Donald B. MacDiarmid. In the article MacDiarmid discusses the history and current capabilities of seaplanes and their use for search-and-rescue missions at sea.
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An article entitled "Eyes of the Icebreakers" that was published in 1958. It describes the CGC Mackinaw and its use of a helicopter during ice-breaking missions on the Great Lakes.
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What happened with the United States' lighthouses during World War II? Find out here.
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Captain Don Taub, USCG (Ret.), wrote an article entitled "The Greenland Ice Cap Rescue of B-17 'PN9E' November 5, 1942 to May 8, 1943." In it he describes the long, difficult and dangerous attempts to rescue the crew of a downed B-17 Flying Fortress on Greenland during World War II. One of those attempts led to the loss of two Coast Guard aviators, LT John Pritchard and RM1 Benjamin Bottoms, who remain missing.
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We've scanned and posted the following volumes of the Official History of the Coast Guard in World War II Series: Greenland Patrol (Volume II); Alaska (Volume III); Pacific Landings (Volume VI); Weather Patrol (Volume VII); Lost Cutters (Volume VIII); North African Landings (Volume IX); Sicily-Italy Landings (Volume X); Landings in France (Volume XI); Intelligence (Volume XII); Marine Inspection (Volume XIII); Assistance (Volume XIV); Aids to Navigation (Volume XV); Beach Patrol (Volume XVII); Port Security (Volume XVIII); Auxiliary (Volume XIX); Temporary Reserve (Volume XX); Women's Reserve SPARs (Volume XXII); Personnel (Volume XXV).
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New information on small boats & craft: Small Boat Disposition Inventory: an official inventory of U.S. Coast Guard small boat from about 1945 until 1982 that lists the ultimate disposition of each & Standard Boats Allowance List, from 1944.
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The first African-American Coast Guard officers: "Pioneers of Ethnic Diversity in the American Sea Services: Trained at the Academy, they broke barriers while serving their country." An article published in the October 2011 issue of the Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association Bulletin by Dr. William Thiesen on Joseph C. Jenkins, Harvey C. Russell, Jr., Clarence Samuels, Javis Leon Wright, Jr. & Merle J. Smith, Jr.
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General Orders 43 (1920), 77 (1921) and 90 (1921) establishing the ratings for enlisted personnel and the warrant officer grade of the Coast Guard.
- We've added the complete flight manuals for two of the Coast Guard's most famous aircraft--the PBY Catalina and HH-52 Seaguard: Consolidated PBY-5A Navy Model Pilot's Handbook of Flight Operating Instructions; 1945; (AN 01-5MA-1) & Sikorsky HH-52A Flight Handbook & Standardization Manual; 1963 (Amended 1971, CG-384-1)--both courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Association.
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An illustrated history of the Coast Guard's Diver Program in San Francisco during the height of the Cold War.
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Interview with GM3 Lyle J. Bercier, USN, who served on board USS Quail (AM-15) along with shipmate LT T. James Crotty, USCG in the Philippines before the fall of Corregidor in 1942. LT Crotty was the only Coast Guard prisoner-of-war during the twentieth century.
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Index to Lighthouse Service Bulletin, Volumes I-V (1912-1939); a complete copy of each of the 5 indexes of the official publication of the U.S. Lighthouse Service scanned by our intern, Ms. Joyce Steinmetz.
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The official histories of each 83-foot cutter. These workhorses first saw service in World War II combating U-boats off the Atlantic Coast, patrolling the beaches of France on and after D-Day, and guarding Pacific Theatre convoys. After the war they continued in service as the Coast Guard's premiere patrol boat until the 95 and 82-footers entered service.
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"LCDR Edward 'Iceberg' Smith, '13, and the 1931 Arctic Expedition of the German Airship Graf Zeppelin," an article by William H. Thiesen as published in the April 2010 issue of the Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association's publication The Bulletin, pp. 58-62.
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Coast Guard aviation history: a new Photo Gallery, first volume covering the beginnings through 1941; second volume covering the years through World War II; and a third volume covering the post-war years through 2000.
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Two reports for the Congressional Research Service on migrant policy: Cuban Migration to the United States: Policy and Trends (CRS Report 40566, 2 June 2009) & U.S. Immigration Policy on Haitian Migrants (CRS Report 21349, 21 January 2011); both authored by Ruth Ellen Wasem, the CRS's Specialist in Immigration Policy.
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A presentation on the history of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service & U.S. Lighthouse Service in the Civil War: (PowerPoint) (PDF).
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"Register of the Commissioned Officers of the United States Revenue Marine To April 1, 1875"; the official list of all of the officers and administrators serving with the Revenue Marine ten years after the end of the Civil War!
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"Pioneers of Diversity: African Americans in the U.S. Coast Guard": a tri-fold, illustrated historical (and printable) pamphlet.
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"Pioneers of Diversity: Hispanic Americans in the U.S. Coast Guard:" a tri-fold, illustrated historical (and printable)pamphlet.
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A history of the activities of the Coast Guard on City Island, New York, during World War II by CDR Timothy Dring, USNR (Ret.) a noted small boat and small boat station expert.
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A new and important oral history: Lieutenant Junior Grade Gordon M. Gillies, executive officer of CGC Point Cypress, describes his Coast Guard career that included service in Vietnam. He commanded the small boat operation during the combat action that left him and another officer severely wounded and crewman Eddie Hernandez dead.
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A comprehensive list of cutters and their commanding officers that saw service during the War of 1812.
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A new article by the Coast Guard's Archivist, Ms. Nora Chidlow, entitled: "The Inauguration of the Coast Guard's Only Air-Land Rescue Unit at CGAS Port Angeles: The Rescue of the Crew of a Navy Bomber." Ms Chidlow delves into the history of a daring Coast Guard rescue in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest in 1945!
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"Moments in History" publication produced for the Coast Guard Bicentennial.
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"Record of Movements: Vessels of the United States Coast Guard, 1790-December 31, 1933"; an important official publication taken from Treasury Department records regarding the movements of all cutters of the Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard through 1933.
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Historical Chronology of the Revenue Marine and Lighthouse Service during the Civil War.
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George Keyes wrote about his experiences serving on board the schooner Mohawk when it was taken into Coast Guard service for the Picket Patrol during World War II as the CGR-2453. Read about how our nation first responded to the U-boat threat off the coast and what it was like to go to war against Hitler's top-line submarines on board a lightly-armed and barely heated wooden sailing vessel during the winter off New England!
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The 1965 Memorandum of Agreement between the USN and the USCG regarding the operation of the nation's icebreaker fleet solely to the USCG!
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Official letter from the Secretary of the Treasury and a portrait photograph accompanying the Gold Lifesaving Medal for Surfman Ingar Olsen, USLSS, in which the Secretary recounts Olsen's heroic actions on 19 April 1893 that led to his being awarded the prestigious award.
- Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Jonathan Collom, commanding CGC Point Cypress, describes his Coast Guard career, including his time as a member of the Academy's Class of 1966 and his tour of duty in Vietnam, including the combat action that took the life of one of his crewmen.
- Larry Fuchs, Executive Officer of the CGC Point Banks, describes his Vietnam tour on board the WPB assigned to Squadron One, in his article entitled "Squadron One Duty on Board the Point Banks."
- A great new resource: the transcribed and illustrated "Seaman's Journals" of Captain Leonard S. Grant, a pilot with the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service & U.S. Coast Survey. Read in his own words what it was like to sail & steam along the east coast aboard the cutters Woodbury, McCulloch, Dallas & the Survey Schooner Benjamin Pierce from 1860-1877.
Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF)