During a search on the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, Dennis Noble unearthed a rescue by a forgotten hero. This forgotten hero will soon have a fast response cutter named after him: Charles C. Moulthrope.
Tag: The Long Blue Line
The Revenue Cutter Service purchased the first Reliance at the start of the Civil War. Since then, the service has commissioned three cutters bearing the namesake “Reliance.” Soon, the fifth cutter to bear the name Reliance as one of the Coast Guard’s newest 360-foot Offshore Patrol Cutters. Learn more about Reliance’s distinguished history in this week’s Long Blue Line blog.
This week’s Long Blue Line article reminds us how powerful and destructive hurricanes can be. In 1938, the Great New England Hurricane blew in from North Carolina and made its way to Massachusetts. This was the most destructive storm to hit New England.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s predecessor service, U.S. Life Saving Service, headed by Sumner Kimball was divided into a unique district system to administer its network of boat stations. By 1881, the Life Saving Service had 183 stations that were organized into 12 districts. Today the Coast Guard operates with nine districts that make up the Area command structure (Atlantic and Pacific areas). Learn more about the changes in organization in this week’s Long Blue Line blog.
During World War II, the Coast Guard cutter Thetis (WPC-115) was one of 11 cutters credited with sinking U-boats. One of the “B”-Class 165-foot cutters and the namesake of its class, Thetis is all but forgotten by most histories of the Coast Guard.
In 1925 during the height of Prohibition, Coast Guard Ensign Charles L. Duke make the most famous single-handed seizure in Coast Guard history. Duke gave no quarter to the crew of the SS Greypoint who were bound for Nassau with 1,400 50-gallon drums of alcohol worth an estimated half a million dollars.
Coast Guard aviators have always been at the forefront of technological change. So it should come as no surprise that 100 years ago, Elmer F. Stone became a driving force behind early Coast Guard aviation and served as a pilot in the Navy’s NC Seaplane Squadron One where he became the first man to pilot an aircraft across the Atlantic.
In October 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed Public Law 87-726 designating May 15 of each year as Peace Officers Memorial Day to honor federal, state and municipal officers who have been killed or disabled in the line of duty. The act also designates the calendar week during which May 15 occurs as “Police Week” in recognition of the service given by the men and women who serve in law enforcement. During this week, the law enforcement community lays a wreath at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial where 23 Coast Guard names are inscribed on the memorial. We honor those who have served and sacrificed including the 23 Coast Guardsmen who gave the final measure.
The U.S. Coast Guard has been the steward of the nation’s maritime environment for nearly 200 years. As a vital component of the National Response System and homeland security mission, the National Strike Force minimizes the human and environmental impact of oil discharges, hazardous material releases, Weapons of Mass destruction (WMD) incidents, and other natural and man-made disasters. The National Strike Force remains Semper Paratus, “always ready,” to expand and adapt its mission to ever-changing natural and man-made threats to the nation and its environment. The National Strike Force remains “Ready Relevant and Responsive” for any hazard, any place.
As some North Carolinians were returning to their homes and recovering from 2016’s Hurricane Matthew, a new storm was tracking towards the East Coast. On Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, at 7:15 a.m., Hurricane Florence made landfall at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, with sustained winds of 90 mph. However, the flooding associated with Florence would prove more devastating than just hurricane-force winds. Hurricane Florence dropped more than 33 inches of rain in portions of North Carolina, causing widespread destruction that people could never have imagined.