Happy Birthday to the U.S. Coast Guard, created by Congress at the request of Alexander Hamilton, as "a system of 10 cutters" on August 4, 1790. Initially referred to as the Revenue Marines and the primary mission was to stop smuggling. The service did such a good job that the fledgling federal government actually operated in the black for several years. The name was changed to Revenue Cutter Service by 1860 and to the U.S. Coast Guard on Jan. 28, 1915 when it was merged with the U.S. Lifesaving Service.
Some fun facts sure to irritate those who don't think the Coast Guard is a military service:
1. The Coast Guard is the oldest continuous U.S. military sea service. The Continental Navy was disbanded following the Revolutionary War and the last Continental Navy vessel was auctioned off in 1785. The U.S. Navy not established until 1794.
2. The Revenue Marine has served in every U.S. military conflict since 1790. Revenue Cutters participated in the Quasi-War with France, the First Barbary Way, the War of 1812, The Second Seminole War of 1836, the Mexican War of 1846, Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and military actions in Panama and Grenada. Coast Guardsmen also participated in the First Gulf War and are still serving in the Middle East today.
3. The Revenue cutter Harriet Lane fired the first shot from a naval vessel in the Civil War when she fired across the bow of the merchant vessel Nashville when the latter attempted to enter Charleston Harbor without displaying the national flag.
4. After the Danish government in exile asked the U.S. to protect Greenland, the cutter Northland seized the Norwegian sealer Buskoe, with Nazi agents on board trying to establish radio and weather stations in Greenland, in MacKenzie Bay, Greenland. The capture of the Buskoe was the first U.S. naval capture of World War II.
5 March, 1942: The first 150 African American volunteers who enlisted after the Coast Guard opened all rates began training at the Coast Guard’s integrated training facility at Manhattan Beach, New York City.
6. September 1942: Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro was killed in action and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Matanikau River, Guadalcanal. As coxswain of a 36-foot Higgins boat, Munro took charge of the dozen craft which helped evacuate the surrounded elements of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller. After the last Marine was evacuated, Munro was shot and killed by enemy fire. He is the only Coast Guardsman to receive the Medal of Honor.
Some fun facts sure to irritate those who don't think the Coast Guard is a military service:
1. The Coast Guard is the oldest continuous U.S. military sea service. The Continental Navy was disbanded following the Revolutionary War and the last Continental Navy vessel was auctioned off in 1785. The U.S. Navy not established until 1794.
2. The Revenue Marine has served in every U.S. military conflict since 1790. Revenue Cutters participated in the Quasi-War with France, the First Barbary Way, the War of 1812, The Second Seminole War of 1836, the Mexican War of 1846, Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and military actions in Panama and Grenada. Coast Guardsmen also participated in the First Gulf War and are still serving in the Middle East today.
3. The Revenue cutter Harriet Lane fired the first shot from a naval vessel in the Civil War when she fired across the bow of the merchant vessel Nashville when the latter attempted to enter Charleston Harbor without displaying the national flag.
4. After the Danish government in exile asked the U.S. to protect Greenland, the cutter Northland seized the Norwegian sealer Buskoe, with Nazi agents on board trying to establish radio and weather stations in Greenland, in MacKenzie Bay, Greenland. The capture of the Buskoe was the first U.S. naval capture of World War II.
5 March, 1942: The first 150 African American volunteers who enlisted after the Coast Guard opened all rates began training at the Coast Guard’s integrated training facility at Manhattan Beach, New York City.
6. September 1942: Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro was killed in action and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Matanikau River, Guadalcanal. As coxswain of a 36-foot Higgins boat, Munro took charge of the dozen craft which helped evacuate the surrounded elements of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller. After the last Marine was evacuated, Munro was shot and killed by enemy fire. He is the only Coast Guardsman to receive the Medal of Honor.
