World War II
History
In 1941, the Coast Guard had about 25,000 men in Treasury. In May 1941, with war looming on the horizon, President Roosevelt began transferring Coast Guard units to the Navy, beginning with ocean going cutters. With Japan exhibiting belligerence, in August the 14th District, headquartered in Honolulu, went under the Navy. The entire Coast Guard …
Major Actions
The Coast Guard gained an enviable reputation during the war Some of the high points include: Name Action Model Cutters Credited With WWII Sinkings Icarus Sank U-352 on 9 May 1942 McLane Sank RO-32 on 9 July 1942 Ingham Sank U-626 on 17 December 1942 Spencer Sank either U-225 or (more likely) U-529 on 21 …
Losses
Cutters Sunk By Enemy Action Alexander Hamilton Sunk by U-132 on 30 January 1942 Acacia Sunk by U-161 on 15 march 1942 Muskeget Sunk by U-755 on 9 September 1942 Escanaba Sunk by either U-334 or U-388 on 13 June 1943 Other Cutters Lost Natsek Lost without a trace off Greenland in January 1943 Wilcox …
7 December 1941
On 7 December 1941 Japanese naval aircraft and submarines attacked the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hickam Army Airfield, and several other American units in the Hawaiian Islands. America was at war and the Coast Guard was fighting from day one. Coast Guard units assigned to the 14th District included the new 327’ Cruising …
Beach Patrol
The sudden appearance of German u-boats off the East Coast raised a specter just as frightening as the flaming ships off the coast; flaming ports devastated by German agents landed by those u-boats. Japanese i-boats had already shelled coastal cities in California and Oregon. To counter this threat, the Coast Guard organized a Beach Patrol. …
Port Security and Commercial Vessel Safety
Port Security On 31 July 1916, a massive explosion destroyed the port facility on Black Tom’s Island, New Jerseyand sent a million dollars worth of glass cascading onto the streets of New York and New Jersey cities. Only the fact that it happened at 0200 prevented the loss of thousands of lives. Sabotage was suspected, …
Aviation
As WWII approached, the Coast Guard had operational air stations at Biloxi, Brooklyn, Elisabeth City, Miami, Port Angeles, St. Petersburg, Salem, San Diego, San Francisco, and Traverse City. The inventory of aircraft included the Grumman J4F1 Widgeon (8), Grumman JRF2 Goose (7), Douglas RD4 Dolphin (7), Grumman JF2 Duck (6), Hall PH2 (5), Hall PH3 …
Helicopter Development
In 1938, Congress authorized $2,000,000 to conduct research on rotary-winged aircraft. The Army was designated the lead agency because the Navy initially could see no use for the technology. On 14 September 1939, Igor Sikorsky flew the first rotary-winged aircraft, the VS-300, in a tethered test flight. The first untethered flight came on 20 May …
LORAN
Although the Coast Guard played a vital combat role during WWII, one of the most lasting legacies of the war was LORAN. LORAN used radio signals to help ships and aircraft obtain an accurate position. Clearly, any devise that could help navigation in the vast expanse of the Pacific would be beneficial to the war …