From http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/Chronology_Apr.html DAILY CHRONOLOGY OF COAST GUARD HISTORY: APRIL DAILY CHRONOLOGY of COAST GUARD HISTORY APRIL 1 April 1897- Civil Service rules applied to Life-Saving Service (under Executive Order May 6, 1896). 1945- Invasion of Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands. 1946- A tsunami swept away the light station at Scotch Cap, Alaska. The entire five-man crew was killed. They were: BMC Anthony L. Petit, MoMM 2/c Leonard Pickering, F 1/c Jack Colvin, SN 1/c Dewey Dykstra, and SN 1/c Paul James Ness. 1967- On April 1, 1967, the Coast Guard ended its 177-year association in the Treasury Department to enter the newly-created Department of Transportation. 2 April 1924- Congress appropriated ($13,000,000) for ten air stations and equipment. Congress first authorized the station on 29 August 1916 but did not provide for sufficient funding until now. 1982- The newest addition to the Coast Guard's air fleet, the HU-25A Guardian, was dedicated and christened at Aviation Training Center Mobile. 1983- The State Department forwards a request for assistance from the United Arab Emirates to help prepare for an oil spill cleanup in the Persian Gulf. Coast Guard pollution experts respond to the request. 3 April 1882- The schooner Morris was unable to effect to enter Muskegon, MI between the piers and was aided by the lookout of Station No. 8, Eleventh District. He used a heaving-stick and throwing a line to get a hawser to the vessel. The same service was rendered later in the day by two of the station men to the schooner Willis Smith of South Haven. 4 April 1912- President Taft recommended abolishing Revenue Cutter Service. His actions led to the creation of the Coast Guard by merging the Revenue Cutter Service and the Life-Saving Service on 28 January 1915. 1933- Navy airship USS Akron crashed off the Barnegat Lightship. The search employed over 20 Coast Guard vessels under Navy supervision. 5 April 1950- The Coast Guard announced that former enlisted women of the Coast Guard Reserve could apply for enlistment in the Women’s Volunteer Reserve SPARS. Enlistments would be for a three-year period with written agreement to serve on active duty in time of war or national emergency. 6 April 1894- President authorized to enforce Paris Award concerning the preservation of fur seals in Alaska. 1917- The United States declared war on Germany and joined the Allied Powers in World War I. The Coast Guard, which at that time consisted of 15 cruising cutters, 200 commissioned officers, and 5000 warrant officers and enlisted men, became part of the U. S. Navy. 1949- A US Coast Guard H035-1 helicopter completed the longest unescorted helicopter ferry flight on record. The trip from Elizabeth City, NC to Port Angeles, WA via San Diego, a distance of 3,750 miles, took 10 1/2 days to complete and involved a total flight time of 57.6 hours. 7 April 1938- Alien Fishing Act (Alaska) passed. Enforced by Coast Guard. 1942- Coast Guard plane directs British trawler to boat with 24 survivors. 1952- The breakup of ice in the Mississippi River and its tributaries at Bismarck, ND, and above, and on the Big Sioux, created the worst flood conditions in that area in thirty years. U.S. Coast Guard personnel rendered assistance in that major disaster, utilizing small boat equipment, mobile radio stations, automotive equipment, helicopters, and fixed wing aircraft. The Coast Guard evacuated stranded persons, transported critical relief supplies, evacuated livestock from low ground, transported personnel engaged in levee construction, and generally assisted the Red Cross, local, state, civil, and military authorities. 8 April 1909- Race Point, MA-The sloop Keewaydin IV’s mast was carried away and the sloop anchored 2 miles SW of station, but dragged ashore. Station crew was on the beach when she struck and the keeper rowed out surf and threw a heaving line on board. One of the 2 men was rescued by this means. The other jumped overboard and was pulled ashore by the keeper. The sloop drifted up on the beach and became a total wreck. 1913-USRC Seneca, a derelict destroyer, inaugurated the service’s participation in the International Ice Patrol. 1941- "Agreement relating to the defense of Greenland" signed with Danish minister to United States Included Greenland in the U .S. system of cooperative hemispheric defense. 9 April 1941- The Coast Guard took part in the hemispheric defense system. 10 April 1941- The President transferred ten Coast Guard cutters to England, stating that he found the defense of the United Kingdom vital to the defense of the United States. The cutters were of the 250-foot Lake class, consisting of Cayuga, Itasca, Saranac, Sebago, Shoshone, Champlain, Mendota, Chelan, Pontchartrain, and Tahoe. Coast Guardsmen trained British crews in Long Island Sound to operate the cutters. 11 April 1862- The Revenue steamer E. A. Stevens, laying close aboard the USS Monitor, fired four or five rounds at the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia when the latter approached the Union fleet in Hampton Roads. The Virginia had fired a single round at the Stevens. After a historic battle between the Monitor and the Virginia, the first ever between two "ironclads," the Virginia retreated. 1917- With the outbreak of World War I, the President issued an executive order transferring 30 lighthouse tenders to the War Department. All were subsequently assigned to the Navy Department and 15 lighthouse tenders, four lightships, and 21 light stations to the Navy Department. One more tender was transferred on 31 January 1918 making a total of 50 vessels and 1,132 persons. The War Department used those assigned in laying submarine defense nets during and in removing these defenses after the war. Other duties performed by these vessels were placing practice targets, buoys to mark wrecks of torpedoed vessels and other marks for military purposes, as well as being employed on patrols and special duty assignments. 1952- Immediately following the crash of a commercial overseas transport aircraft off the San Juan Harbor, Coast Guard forces coordinated with those of the US Air Force and US Navy to rescue 17 of the 69 persons on board. 12 April 1808- Subsistence for Army officers fixed at 20 cents per ration, later that year applied to all officers of the revenue cutters. 1843- Captain Alexander V. Fraser, Revenue Cutter Service, appointed Chief of newly- created Revenue Marine Bureau of Treasury (first "Commandant"). 1861-Revenue cutter Harriet Lane fires first shot from a naval vessel in the Civil War across the bow of the merchant vessel Nashville when she attempted to enter Charleston Harbor. 1900- An Act of Congress (31 Stat. L., 77, 80) extended the jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Service to the noncontiguous territory, of Puerto Rico and adjacent American waters. 1902- Retirement of officers at 3/4 pay for incapacity authorized; promotions subject to examinations (mental and physical). 1902- Commissioned officers of Revenue Cutter Service granted same pay and allowances "except forage" as officers of corresponding rank in Army including longevity pay. 1979- LT(jg) Beverly Kelly assumes command of the USCGC Cape Newagen, becoming the first woman to command a U.S. warship. 13 April 1909- Cleveland, Ohio, Lake Erie, Skiff, no name. Two boys were unable to pull against the wind, were in danger of drifting on the breakwater. Life-saving crew went out, took the 2 boys in the power lifeboat, and towed their boat to East Ninth street pier. 14 April 1876- An Act of Congress (19 Stat. L., 132, 139) provided that any person "who shall willfully and unlawfully injure any pier, break-water, or other work of the United States for the improvement of rivers or harbors, on navigation in the United States, shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars." 1912- RMS Titanic sunk on maiden voyage from Southampton to New York by collision with iceberg off Newfoundland. There were 1517 lost including 103 women and 53 children out of total passenger and crew of 2207. Ice patrol started. 15 April 1909- Point Judith, RI- The schooner G.A.Hayden stranded NE of station. The sea being too rough for surfboat, life-saving crew took the beach apparatus to the wreck and succeeded in reaching her with the second shot. The first of her crew was landed in the breeches buoy at 12: 10 am. After 4 trips the last one came ashore at 12: 45. The vessel was a total loss. 1912- RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg off Newfoundland while on her maiden voyage from England to New York and sank in 2 1/2 hours. Titanic was considered to be a state-of-the-art vessel and unsinkable, but 1,500 of 2,224 perished. Subsequently, certification and life saving devices were improved and an International Ice Patrol was established to insure such a disaster never happened again. The Coast Guard took over the operation of the Patrol. 1986- The Libyan military (on orders from dictator Moammar Gadhafi) fired a missile (or missiles) at the Coast Guard LORAN Station Lampedusa, off the coast of Italy. The missile(s) missed by a wide margin and there were no casualties. 16 April 1908- Congress authorized creation of office of Captain Commandant; engineer in chief; commanding officers of vessels to administer oaths of allegiance and other oaths for service requirements and generally in Alaska. 1947-The French-owned Liberty ship Grandcamp exploded while loading ammonium nitrate at Texas City, TX. Over 500 died and thousands were injured. 17 April 1851- The Minots Ledge Lighthouse, the first one built in the United States that was exposed to the full force of the ocean, was swept away by a storm with the loss of the two men manning it. 19 April 1909- Pamet River, MA- The sloop Stranger was anchored 3/4 mile SE of station. The Life-saving crew boarded her from a surfboat. The 2 men on board wished to be taken ashore, as their sails were poor and they had no provisions. They made the sloop more secure by running out second anchor and landed the men. In the morning they helped get sloop underway. 20 April 1871- Secretary of Treasury authorized to employ crews of experienced surfmen at lifeboat stations at maximum rate of $40 per month, marking end of volunteer system. Beginning of direct Federal control over life-saving activities. 1997: Dikes along the Red River in North Dakota give way causing dangerous floods. The Coast Guard responds to calls for assistance and rescues more than 200 people from danger. 21 April 1910- U.S. Government took over sealing operation of Pribiloff Islands from private lessees. 1924- Navy vessels authorized transferred to Coast Guard for law enforcement; temporary Coast Guard officers authorized. 1980: Boats with Cuban migrants on board begin departing Mariel, Cuba. The first two boats arrive in Miami the same day, marking the largest Cuban migration to the U.S. to date. Cuban leader Fidel Castro then declared the port of Mariel "open", increasing the number of boats involved in the exodus and giving the exodus its name. This becomes the largest Coast Guard operation ever undertaken to date. 22 April 1790- Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, submitted a bill to Congress to create a "system of cutters" to enforce tariff and customs laws along the nation's coastline. Congress passed his bill on 4 August of the same year. 1944- Invasions of Aitape and Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea. 1965-USCG and US Navy agree on the deployment of 82-foot patrol and 40-foot utility boats to support Operation Market Time. 23 April 1790- Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton received authorization from Congress for a "system of (10) cutters" for "securing the collection of the revenue." The President was authorized to appoint collectors of customs and establish ports of entry. 1924- A tube transmitter for radio fog-signal stations, developed to take the place of the spark transmitters in use, was placed in service on the Ambrose Channel Lightship and proved successful. 24 April 1909- White Head, ME- The schooner Eliza Levensaler anchored in a dangerous position near Clam Ledge, 3 miles E of station. The life-saving crew responded in a surfboat, but before reaching her the anchor dragged and she went ashore. Surfmen remained aboard until the gale abated and at 2 am high water ran out an anchor, hove her afloat, hoisted sails, and worked her out through the channel. 25 April 1956- The U.S. Coast Guard issued new regulations for security screening of merchant seamen. Changes in the screening program were made for the purpose of conforming with a recent U .S. Court of Appeals ruling (Parker V. Lester) which, held that procedures used by the Coast Guard did not meet the minimum requirements of due process of law. The legal background for the Coast Guard security program stems from the Magnuson Act, which authorized the President to issue rules safeguarding vessels and waterfront facilities when he found security endangered by a subversive activity. The President made such a finding in 1950 by Executive Order No. 10173 and directed the Coast Guard to set up and conduct the program. 26 April 1898- Morrill, Hudson, and Hamilton, formerly Revenue Cutters and recently armed for service in the Mosquito Fleet, passed through Hampton Roads and after asking formal permission of the Commodore, proceeded to Key West. From that point they joint the Cuban blockading fleet. 1909- Quoddy Head, ME- The schooner General Scott dragged her anchors during the night and drifted into a dangerous position 3 miles NE of station. At 7: 00 am the life-saving crew went to her assistance in the surfboat. Nothing could be done until flood tide when surfmen piloted a towboat in to her. She was towed out to safety. 27 April 1949- When a C-47 of the Military Air Transport Service developed engine trouble and ditched near USCGC Sebago on Weather Station DOG, some 380 miles from Newfoundland, a motor self-bailing boat from the cutter immediately picked up the plane crew of four. Although the C-47 sank within 12 minutes, there were no injuries or casualties. 1966- After a US Air Force B-57 became reported overdue, the US Coast Guard Eastern Area Commander commenced an intensive air search. The 2-day, large-scale, over water search for the missing aircraft, all of which was coordinated by the U.S. Coast Guard, unfortunately, yielded negative results. 28 April 1908- Secretary of Commerce and Labor authorized to patrol regattas and transfer authority to another Department. Revenue Cutter Service enforced. (See Act of May 19, 1896). 1918- USCGC Seneca saves 81 survivors from the torpedoed British naval sloop Cowslip while on convoy route to Gibraltar. Cowslip was attacked by three German U-boats. 2001-A LEDET assigned to the USS Rodney M. Davis, with later assistance from the USCGC Active made the largest cocaine seizure in maritime history when they boarded and seized the Belizean F/V Svesda Maru 1,500 miles south of San Diego. The fishing vessel was carrying 26,931 pounds of cocaine. 29 April 1909- Burnt Island, ME- The schooner Regina stranded 5 miles N of station. The Life-saving crew, in a small power boat, arrived at the same time as the tug Bismarck. After the tug had pulled her afloat, keeper piloted them out into clear water. 30 April 1789- President George Washington was inaugurated and the U.S. Constitutional government began. 1818- Congress authorized use of "land and naval forces of the United States to compel any foreign ship to depart United States in all cases in which, by the laws of nations or the treaties of the United States, they ought not to remain within the United States." This was the basis of neutrality enforcement. 1832- All commissions of naval officers in Revenue Cutter Service revoked. Vacancies filled by promotion for first time. 1875- The first Gold Life Saving Medal ever awarded was presented to Captain Lucien M. Clemens of the U.S. Life-Saving Service in Marblehead, Ohio, who was captain of one of the first life saving stations on the Great Lakes. Medals were also given to his brothers, Al and Hubbard. They rescued six crew and a female cook from the sinking schooner Consuelo in an open rowboat. 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