From http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/Chronology_Jan.html DAILY CHRONOLOGY OF COAST GUARD HISTORY: JANUARY DAILY CHRONOLOGY of COAST GUARD HISTORY JANUARY 1 January 1831- A contract was made to provide the Portland Harbor (Barcelona) Lighthouse, on the south shore of Lake Erie in New York, with natural gas "at all times and seasons" and to keep the apparatus and fixtures in repair at an annual cost of $213.00. 1850- The light in the Minots Ledge Lighthouse was first shown. This lighthouse was the first one built in the United States in a position directly exposed to the sweep of the open sea. It was destroyed and two keepers were killed in a great gale in April 1851. 1937- Effective this date, the dividing point between the 6th and 7th Lighthouse Districts on the east coast of Florida was moved northward from Hillsboro Inlet to St. Lucie Inlet. This change was made so that the trans-Florida waterway through Lake Okeechobee so that the entire waterway would be under one jurisdiction. 1946- The U.S. Coast Guard, which had operated as a service under the U.S. Navy since 1 November 1941, was returned to the U .S. Treasury Department, pursuant to Executive Order 9666, dated 28 December 1945. 1946- The International Load Lines Convention, which had been suspended since 9 August 1941, was restored to full effectiveness by a Presidential proclamation dated 21 December 1945. The U .S. Coast Guard resumed assumed the enforcement of the convention’s requirements in the interest of safe loading. 1954- The "Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1948" commonly known as the "Revised lnternational Rules of the Road" became law. These were a result of the International Conference on the Safety of Life at Sea, 1948. 1958: The U.S. Coast Guard ceased listening continuously for distress calls on 2670 kilocycles. Although the countries of the world had agreed at the Atlantic City Convention of the International Telecommunication Union in 1947 to use 2182 kilocycles for international maritime mobile radiotelephone calling and distress, the U.S. Coast Guard had continued listening on the old frequency until the public had had sufficient time to change to the new one. 1985- The cutter Citrus was rammed by the M/V Pacific Star during a boarding incident. The Pacific Star then sank after being scuttled by her crew. There were no casualties. The seven crewmen were arrested on drug charges. 2 January 1909- Cleveland, Ohio, Lake Erie, the gas launch Junk Boy was damaged in the ice and started a bad leak. It was drifting before the wind when discovered by the keeper. He went to the aid of the occupant who had kept the launch afloat by bailing. The keeper towed the launch to the dock, passed straps under the hull, and hoisted her out. He then patched the leaks with sheets of tin and the owner ran his boat up the river. 1956- Captain Chester Edward Dimick, retired professor, died of a heart attack at age 75 on Jan. 2 at his home in Twin Gates, Tryon, North Carolina. As instructor and Head of the Mathematics Department of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy at New London, CT from 1906 to 1945, he contributed more to the education and development of Coast Guard officers than any other officer in the Service. He was affectionately known as the "Dean" to the cadets. 3 January 1882- The watch at Station No. 13, Second District, Massachusetts, reported at about 4 p.m., the collision of two schooners, two and a half miles east southeast of the station. Launching the surfboat, the crew proceeded to the vessels. The smaller vessel, the British schooner Dart, was boarded first. She was out from Saint John, NB and bound for New York with a cargo of lumber and a crew of four persons. The vessel was badly damaged, having her bowsprit, jib boom, and headgear carried away. The life-saving crew at once set to work. They cleared away the wreck and weighed her anchor, which had been let go in the collision. By this time, the steamer Hercules, of Philadelphia had come alongside and Dart’s master arranged for a tow to Vineyard Haven. The life-saving crew ran the hawser from the schooner to the steamer and sent them on their way. The other schooner, in the meantime, had sailed away. 1944 -CDR Frank Erickson flies plasma in a Coast Guard HNS-1 helicopter from Brooklyn to a hospital in Sandy Hook, NJ in the first recorded mission of mercy conducted by a rotary wing aircraft. 4 January 1897- Assistance to lost persons near Oak Island, New York. At 8:30 p.m. the keeper received word by telephone that about a gentleman and two ladies, who had left the station at 4 p.m. In a small boat making for the mainland, they had not yet reached their home. As the weather was foggy and with the bay full of floating ice, it was feared they were lost. He at once set out to their assistance with one of his crew in a rowboat and carrying a shotgun. With frequent gunfire the bewildered party was located and assisted in reaching their destination. 5 January 1883- At 1 o’clock in the afternoon, the crew of the Quoddy Head Station discovered a schooner at anchor. The weather was bitter cold, with a gale from the northwest. The men got the boat out and pulled to the vessel. She proved to be Clara Dinsmore from Boston. There were four men on board, one of them a passenger. With her sails iced up and splitting, she was in need of assistance. The keeper took charge and got the vessel under way with the sails she had left and beat her up the bay to her destination at 6 in the evening 6 January 1934- The United States Line SS Washington came within inches of ramming the new Light Vessel No. 117 on the Nantucket Station. The liner scraped the lightship’s side, shearing off davits, a lifeboat, antennas, etc. Five months later it was sunk by RMS Olympic with the loss of seven men. 1973- The USCG Academy at New London, Connecticut, announced that its cadets were served "meals for the first time by female civilian employees." The Academy had "recently became the first of the nation’s service schools to contract their food services to a civilian company." Previously, USCG personnel had done the serving. 7 January 1877- The French steamer Amerique grounded off Sea Bright, New Jersey. 189 persons were rescued by the USLSS crew, three died. 1947- Icebreaker Northwind successfully completed first major rescue mission involving a submarine. Stennet and supply ships Yance and Merrick were stuck in ice flow at Antarctic Circle. 1994- The barge Morris J. Berman, carrying a cargo of 750,000 gallons of oil, struck a reef off Puerto Rico. Coast Guard units including the National Strike Force responded. 8 January 1958- The Coast Guard LORAN Station at Johnston Island began transmitting on a 24-hour basis, thus establishing a new LORAN rate in the Central Pacific. The new rate between Johnston Island and French Frigate Shoal gave a higher order of accuracy for fixing positions in the steamship lanes from Oahu, Hawaii, to Midway Island. In the past, this was impossible in some areas along this important shipping route. 9 January 1945- Invasion of Luzon, Philippines. 1952- The SS Pennsylvania broadcasted that she had sustained a 14-foot crack in her port side. A tremendous sea was running, and the wind exceeded 55 miles per hour. The master advised that the vessel was foundering and that 45 men were abandoning ship in four lifeboats 665 miles west of Cape Flattery, WA. The Coast Guard used all the facilities at its command in the area, as well as coordinating the use of U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Royal Canadian Air Force facilities in an attempt to locate and rescue the survivors of the vessel. Fifty-one aircraft from all services and 18 surface vessels participated in the search. Some of the debris was located, including one over-turned lifeboat, but no survivors were found. 10 January 1844- First annual report of newly organized Revenue Marine Bureau transmitted to Congress by Alexander Fraser. 11 January 1882- At 9 a.m during a thick snowstorm, the schooner A .F. Ames of Rockland, Maine, was bound from Perth Amboy to Boston with a crew of seven persons. She stranded during a thick snowstorm five hundred yards east of Race Point and one mile and three-quarters west of Station No. 6, Second District. The vessel was discovered by the patrol and the life-saving crew boarded her at 9:15 o’clock. She was leaking and pounding heavily. The pumps were manned to keep the water down. The vessel was floated on the rising tide and made sail. She was piloted into deep water. The leak, however, was gaining rapidly. After consulting with the captain, the vessel was put on the beach. The crew was sheltered at the station until the 13th when the keeper sent them to Boston. 1991- After receiving a distress call from the sinking fishing trawler Sea King off of Peacock Spit, near the mouth of the Columbia River, a Coast Guard helicopter and the motor lifeboat [MLB] 52314 "Triumph II" from the Cape Disappointment Lifeboat Station were dispatched to the rescue. The crew of the helicopter transferred three of the Triumph II's crew and several pumps to the sinking trawler despite the 20-foot seas. They then began hoisting the trawler's crew to safety and managed to hoist one safely. On the next attempt, however, the rescue basket's cable became entangled in the trawler's rigging and snapped, injuring the fisherman being hoisted. Another Coast Guardsman from the Triumph II jumped onto the trawler to assist him. The Triumph II then took the Sea King, with the emergency pumps operating, under tow. But while waiting for the tide to ebb before heading in the Sea King sank. The Triumph II's crew pulled the four Coast Guard personnel and two of the trawler's remaining crew out of the water. Nevertheless, one of the Coast Guard personnel and one of the trawler's crew succumbed. Another crewman from the Sea King went down with the trawler and was not recovered. 12 January 1850- The wreck of Ayrshire on Squan Beach N.J. 201 of 202 persons on board were saved by the life car. First use of the life car in the U.S. 1923- Title "Commandant" authorized. He was to be selected from active list of line officers not below grade of commander. 1943- Landings at Amchitka, Alaska 1961- Two Coast Guard craft from the Cape Disappointment Lifeboat Station [LBS], CG-40564 and CG-36454, answered a call for assistance from the 38-foot crab boat Mermaid, with two crew on board, which had lost its rudder near the breakers off Peacock Spit. CG-40564 located the Mermaid and took her in tow. Due to adverse sea conditions the crew of CG-40564 requested the assistance of CG-52301 "Triumph," stationed at Point Adams LBS, which took up the tow upon her arrival on scene. Heavy breakers capsized CG-40564 and battered the CG-36454 but the 36-foot motor lifeboat [MLB] stayed afloat. The crew of 36454 then located and rescued the crew of the 40564 and then made for the Columbia River Lightship. The crew of the 36454 managed to deposit safely all on board the lightship before it too foundered. Soon thereafter a heavy breaker hit the Triumph which parted the tow line, set the Mermaid adrift, and capsized the Triumph. The crew of the Mermaid then rescued one of the six crewman on board Triumph. CG-36554 and CG-36535, also from the Point Adams LBS, then arrived on scene and 36535 took the Mermaid in tow. Another large breaker hit, snapping the 36535's tow line and sinking the Mermaid. The cutter Yocona arrived on scene soon after CG aircraft UF 2G No. 1273 from Air Station Port Angeles and began searching for survivors. Other CG aircraft, including UF 2G 2131, UF 2G 1240 and HO 4S 1330, arrived and began dropping flares. Foot patrols from the life-boat stations searched the beaches as well and recovered one Coast Guard survivor. Ultimately five Coast Guard crewman, all from MLB CG-52301 Triumph, drowned, as did both of the Mermaid's crew. 13 January 1853- The ship Cornelius Grinnell grounded in a heavy surf off Squan Beach New Jersey. A surf car was used to rescue all 234 persons on board. 1925- Alaskan Game Law enforced by Coast Guard. 1982- Air Florida Flight 90 crashes into the Potomac River. Coast Guard units, including the cutters Capstan and Madrona, assist in the rescue of surviving passengers and the recovery of the aircraft's wreckage. 14 January 1942- Coast Guard plane, a Hall PH-3 No. V-177, dropped food to raft with 6 persons. 15 January 1966- When winds of 30 to 50 knots hit the southern California coast, surface craft off the 11th Coast Guard District rendered assistance to six grounded vessels, three disabled sailboats, and three capsized vessels. They also responded to seven other distress cases. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter played a prominent role in one of the cases by evacuating the five-man crew of the vessel Trilogy that had gone aground and broken up on Santa Cruz Island. 1974- The first group of women ever enlisted as "regulars" in the U.S. Coast Guard began their 10-weeks of basic training at the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May. Thirty-two women were in the initial group and formed Recruit Company Sierra-89. 1983- A C-130 from Air Station Barbers Point makes the first aerial seizure in Coast Guard history when it ordered the Japanese fishing vessel Daian Maru #68 to sail to Midway Island to await a Coast Guard boarding team. 1993- In response to a massive increase in the number of Haitians fleeing their country beginning in October, 1991, President William Clinton orders the commencement of Operation Able Manner, the largest search and rescue operation ever undertaken by the Coast Guard prior to this time. 16 January 1948- The list of nominations for appointments and promotions of Coast Guard officers transmitted to Congress by the President on this date represented the first permanent advancements of U .S. Coast Guard regular officers since the summer of 1942. 1988- Coast Guard units responded to a report of a murder on board the container vessel Boxer Captain Cook. The ship's first officer apparently murdered the captain and threw his body overboard. A boarding party from the cutter Northland, offloaded onto the cutter Cape York, boarded the vessel on the high seas and captured the suspected murderer and collected evidence of the crime. 1990- The CGC Mellon fires a Harpoon missile, the first cutter to do so. 17 January 1832- Secretary McLane discontinued practice of using naval officers in Revenue Marine. Ordered vacancies filled by promotion. 1994- Coast Guard units and family members assist those in need after an earthquake hits Los Angeles, CA. 18 January 1953- A Coast Guard PBM seaplane crashed during takeoff after having rescued 11 survivors from a ditched U .S. Navy aircraft shot down off the coast of mainland China. 19 January 1937- USCG units initiate flood relief operations in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. These operations lasted until 11 March and resulted in the rescue of hundreds of citizens along and thousands of farm animals. 1946- Staged jointly by the USCG and USN, the first public demonstration of LORAN was held at Floyd Bennett Field in New York. 1949-The tanker Gulfstream collided with USCGC Eastwind. The collision and resulting fire resulted in the deaths of 13 men, 9 of whom were chief petty officers. 1969- The USCGC Absecon, while on ocean station duty, was directed to assist the sinking M/V Ocean Sprinter. The Absecon launched a small boat and rescued all of the merchant vessel's crew. The five Coast Guardsmen manning the small boat received the Coast Guard Medal for their actions. 1996- The tug Scandia and its barge, the North Cape, ran aground on the shore of Rhode Island, spilling 828,000 gallons of oil. This was the worst spill in that state's history. The Coast Guard rescued the entire crew, pumped off 1.5 million gallons of oil and conducted skimming operations. 20 January 1914- International Ice Patrol Convention signed. 21 January 1881- The light was first shown at Tillamook Lighthouse, located 19 miles south of the Columbia River entrance. 1897- Secretary of Treasury empowered to bestow life-saving medals. 1969-USCGC Point Banks while on patrol south of Cam Rahn Bay received a call for help from a 9-man ARVN detachment trapped by two Vietcong platoons. Petty Officers Willis Goff and Larry Villareal took a 14-foot Boston whaler ashore to rescue the ARVN troops. In the face of heavy automatic weapons fire, all 9 men were evacuated in two trips. For their actions Goff and Villareal were each awarded the Silver Star for their actions. The citation stated, "The nine men would have met almost certain death or capture without the assistance of the two Coast Guardsmen." (Alex Larzelere, The Coast Guard at War: Vietnam, 1965-1975; Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press,1997, p. 86) 22 January 1944- Anzio-Nettuno Landings. 1987- The Coast Guard established a new aviation facility, named the Air Interdiction Facility at Norfolk Naval Air Station. The aircrews flew Navy E-2C Hawkeye aircraft on narcotics interdiction patrols. 23 January 1909-The schooner Roderick Dhu was discovered in distress on the bar by a Life-Saving Service patrol from the Point Bonita, California station. The schooner had been in tow by a tug, but parted hawsers when 5 1/2 miles SW of a LSS station. She hoisted a signal, and the keeper reported her condition to the Merchant's Exchange. A tug was sent out and the schooner was towed to sea. The next day she was towed into port, leaking badly, and convoyed by the USRC McCulloch. 24 January 1968- Seifu Maru, a Japanese refrigerator vessel, reported a fire and requested clearance to enter Dutch Harbor, Alaska to combat it. They also reported that two crewmembers had been overcome by smoke and requested their evacuation for hospital treatment. Clearance was granted and USCGC Citrus was ordered to proceed and assist in fighting the fire. The burning ship arrived in Dutch Harbor on Jan 24 and advised that the fire was raging between the decks. Fire fighting parties from Citrus began assisting the crew of the Japanese vessel. USCG aircraft evacuated three patients from Seifu Maru to Kodiak for hospitalization. The fire assistance rendered by Citrus in a 4-Day operation saved the Japanese vessel. 25 January 1799- Congress made first reference to "revenue cutters" in legislation. 26 January 1953- U .S. Coast Guard forces assisted civilian authority in evacuating 191 persons from the Coxuille Valley flood area. 1991- Upon receiving a request from the Saudi government, the Bush Administration determines that the Coast Guard will head an interagency team that will assist the Saudi government in an oil spill assessment and plan for a clean-up operation. 27 January 1909-The schooner Nelson Y. McFarland issued a distress call after dropping anchor near the White Head, Maine, Life-Saving Service station. Although anchored against the tide, she was becalmed, yet her stern swung so close to the ledge that "a change of wind or tide would have thrown the vessel upon the rocks. A pulling boat and crew from the station responded to the call and the men rowed to the ship's aid. After a 3-hours' pull the surfmen succeeded in towing the schooner to a safe anchorage in Seal Harbor." 28 January 1885-Keeper Marcus Hanna of the Cape Elizabeth Light Station saved two men from the wrecked schooner Australia. For this rescue Hanna was awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal. He was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Port Hudson in 1863. He is the only person to have ever received both awards. 1915- Congress creates the United States Coast Guard by consolidating Life-Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service. [Act to Create the Coast Guard, passed by the House on 20 January, 1915 and signed by President Woodrow Wilson on 28 January 1915] 1980- The CGC Blackthorn sinks in Tampa Bay after colliding with the tanker Capricorn. 23 Coast Guard personnel are killed in the tragedy. 1986- NASA's space shuttle Challenger exploded after lift-off, killing the crew. Coast Guard units conducted the initial search and rescue operation and later assisted in the recovery of much of the shuttle's wreckage. 30 January 1861- Secretary John A. Dix of Treasury ordered Lt. Caldwell "to arrest Capt. Breshwood (Confederate sympathizer) assume command of cutter (McClelland) and if anyone attempts to haul down the flag, shoot him on the spot." [emphasis added] The message was not delivered by the telegraph office. Breshwood turned McClelland over to the State of Louisiana. 1942- The capsized hulk of the USCGC Alexander Hamilton is sunk by the US Navy after she was torpedoed off the coast of Iceland by the U-132 the previous day. She is the first cutter sunk by enemy action during World War II. 26 of her crew perish. 1942- USS Wakefield (USCG-manned), having disembarked 20,000 British troops, was bombed by the Japanese in Singapore. Five were killed. The ship later evacuates 500 women and children to Bombay before the port falls to the Japanese. 31 January 1942- HMS Culver (ex-USCGC Mendota--she was one of the "Lake" Class cutters transferred to the Royal Navy in 1941 under the Lend-Lease program) was torpedoed with 13 survivors. 1948- Mrs. Fannie M. Salter, keeper of the Turkey Point Lighthouse in upper Chesapeake Bay since 1925 and the last woman keeper of a lighthouse in the United States, retired from active service. This ended nearly 150 years during which women were employed as keepers of United States lighthouses. 2001- Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashes off the coast of California near the Channel Islands, killing all 88 on board. Coast Guard Channel Island Station crewmen respond. [Daily Chronology] [Historians' Office] [USCG Home Page] Added: January 1998 Updated: August 2002