From http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/Chronology_Jun.html DAILY CHRONOLOGY OF COAST GUARD HISTORY: JUNE Daily Chronology of Coast Guard History June 1 June 1874-The light was first shown at Spectacle Reef Lighthouse, located on a limestone reef at the northern end of Lake Huron, near the Straits of Mackinac, ten miles from land. The structure of this lighthouse was similar to that of Minots Ledge, and its construction was "a notable engineering work." 1941-South Greenland Patrol organized with 3 cutters and a Navy vessel. 1948- The US Coast Guard Training Center at Cape May, NJ, was established as a receiving center for the initial classification, outfitting, and indoctrination of recruits. The primary reason for this move from the training station at Mayport, FL, which would now be decommissioned, was to locate more centrally the Service's facilities for handling recruits. 3 June 1882-At 8 in the morning the three-masted schooner, J.P. Decamdres, bound for Milwaukee with a cargo of cord-wood and railroad ties, stranded about one mile north of the life-saving station at the entrance to Milwaukee Harbor (No. 15, Eleventh District) and became a total wreck. Her crew of six men and a passenger were rescued by the lifesaving crew. 1941-President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order making 2,100 USCG officers and men available to man four transports, USS Leonard Wood, Hunter Liggett, Joseph T. Dickman, and Wakefield along with 22 other ships manned by USN personnel. 1982- The USS Farragut towed two vessels seized by the Coast Guard in to San Juan, PR, marking the first time that a Navy ship took an active role in law enforcement and interdiction of drug smuggling in the Caribbean. 4 June 1954-USS Asterion and SS Kokoku Maru collided in a heavy fog 40 miles west of San Francisco, killing one crewman of the latter ship and injuring three others. The Coast Guard cutters Magnolia, Comanche, Avoyel, and patrol boat CG-95311, as well as two commercial tugs, converged on the scene. Comanche and Magnolia successfully removed all 43 survivors from the disabled Kokoku Maru, all of whom were subsequently delivered safely ashore. Although Asterion was able to proceed under its own power, the Japanese ship had to be towed by the commercial tugs to San Francisco. When the bilge pumps on one of the tugs failed, Coast Guard aircraft dropped emergency pumping equipment to control the flooding. The two tugs then successfully towed the Kokoku Maru into San Francisco harbor. 5 June 1794- The Third Congress authorized an additional 10 revenue cutters and gave the Treasury Department the responsibility for lighthouses, beacons, buoys, and piers. 1912-Senator Charles E. Townsent of Michigan Introduced a bill to consolidate Life Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service to form Coast Guard. Bill became law 28 January 1915. 6 June 1900-Secretary of Treasury authorized to establish anchorage grounds at Kennebec River, Maine. 1944-Over 100 Coast Guard manned warships and cutters participate in the landings at Normandy, France. CAPT Miles Imlay takes commands of one of the assault groups attacking Omaha Beach during the invasion of Normandy. He directs the invasion from his command LCI(L)-83. LCI(L)s 85, 91, 92, and 93 (Coast Guard-manned) are lost at the Omaha beachhead that day. 60 cutters sail in support of the invasion forces, acting as search and rescue craft off each of the landings. A Coast Guard manned assault transport, the USS Bayfield, served as the command and control vessel for the assault at the Utah beaches. 1945-USS Sheepscot (AOG-24) (Coast Guard-manned) went aground and was lost off Iwo Jima. No lives lost. 1993- M/V Golden Venture ran aground on a beach in New York with some 300 illegal Chinese migrants on board. Most are rescued by the Coast Guard and local agencies. 7 June 1902-Alaskan Game Law passed to be enforced by Revenue Cutter Service "on request" of Secretary of Agriculture. It, however, was not effectively enforced by Coast Guard until 1925. 1924-Oil Pollution Act passed. It was enforced by the Coast Guard. 1924-Protection of halibut In North Pacific Ocean placed under Bureau of Fisheries (Coast Guard- enforced since 1926). 8 June 1882-The sloop-rigged yacht Circe, of Cleveland, was dismasted at 1 o’clock in the afternoon about a mile outside of Cleveland Harbor. The crew of Station No. 8, Ninth District (Cleveland), discovered the accident and towed her safely into the harbor. 9 June 1910-Motorboat Act Passed. Enforced by Revenue Cutter Service. 1990- The Norwegian tanker Mega Borg explodes near Galveston, TX, killing two of her crew. Coast Guard units fought the resulting fires and recovered spilt oil. 10 June 1872-Life-Saving Station to be erected "under supervision of two captains of the revenue service." An Act of Congress authorized government life-saving stations on Cape Code and Block Island. 1922-Congress readjusted pay and allowances of Coast Guard commissioned and enlisted personnel on basis of equality with other services. 11 June 1764-The Sandy Hook Lighthouse, at the south point of the entrance to New York Harbor, was first lighted. Today, its octagonal tower, built by Mr. Isaac Conro of New York City with money collected by a group of New York merchants, is the oldest original light tower still standing and in use in the United States. 1941-Amendment to act creating Coast Guard (January 28, 1915) provided "The Coast Guard shall be a military service and constitute a branch of the land and naval forces of the United States at all times." 1966- Finding itself disabled and adrift two miles from Cape Kubugakli, Alaska, the fishing vessel Katy C radioed for assistance. A US Coast Guard helicopter, after ascertaining that the ship was unable to anchor by herself, took her in tow until she was out of danger. 12 June 1813- USRC Surveyor with 15 men fought 50 men from British Narcissus in York River and, after capture, the sword of Surveyor’s Captain William Travis was returned by the British commander for his gallantry. 1917- An Act of Congress appropriated $300, 000 to enable the U .S. Coast Guard to extend its telephone system to include all Coast Guard stations not then connected as well as the most important light stations with no means of rapid communication. 1925- Lake Huron Lightship radio fog signal was placed in commission, being the first signal of this kind on the Great Lakes. 13 June 1942-John C. Cullen, Seaman 2/c discovered Nazi saboteurs landing on beach at Amagansett, Long Island. 1942-USCGC Thetis sank German U-157 in Atlantic. 1943-USCGC Escanaba sinks off Ivigtut, Greenland, with only two survivors. The cause for the loss has never been confirmed. 14 June 1906-First regulatory fishing law for Alaska passed. This was enforced by the Revenue Cutter Service. 15 June 1944-Invasion of Saipan, Marianas. 1949-Two hundred and forty-eight unidentified victims of the explosion of the U.S. Coast Guard-manned Serpens in 1945 at Guadalcanal were buried in Arlington National Cemetery in what was described as the largest recommittal on record. Commandant ADM Paul Yost bans the wearing of beards by Coast Guard personnel. 16 June 1880-An Act of Congress (21 Stat. L., 259, 263) provided that "masters of light-house tenders shall have police powers in matters pertaining to government property and smuggling. 17 June 1832- The practice of utilizing "surplus" naval officers as officers of the Revenue Marine was discontinued. Revenue officer vacancies were henceforth filled by promotion from within the service. 1910-An Act of Congress (36 Stat. L., 534) abolished the Lighthouse Board and created the Bureau of Lighthouses to have complete charge of the Lighthouse Service. This law constituted the organic act under which the Lighthouse Service operated thereafter. 1942-Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet directs organization of coastal pickets to combat submarine menace of Atlantic Coast. 1983- National Narcotics Border Interdiction System (NNBIS) began operations under the direction of Vice President George Bush and the executive board consisting of Secretaries of State, Transportation and Defense, the Attorney General, the Counselor to the President, the Director of Central Intelligence, and the Director of the White House Drug Abuse Policy Office. U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps airborne and seaborne craft, intelligence, technology, surveillance, and manpower now are used to augment operations by the U.S. Coast Guard, Customs Service, the Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Border Patrol, and the U.S. Attorney's Office. The system provides a coordinated national and international interagency network for prioritizing interdiction targets, identifying resources, recommending the most effective action, and coordinating joint special actions. Illegal drug trafficking in the U.S. in 1983 was estimated at $5 billion. 18 June 1812- War declared against Great Britain. 1878- Life-Saving Service created by Act of Congress. 1878- The 45th Congress enacted a rider on an Army appropriations bill that became known as the Posse Comitatus Act [Chapter 263, Section 15, U.S. Statutes, Vol. 20.] This act limited military involvement in civil law enforcement leaving the Revenue Cutter Service as the only military force consistently charged with federal law enforcement on the high seas and in U.S. waters. The rider prohibited the use of the Army in domestic civilian law enforcement without Constitutional or congressional authority. The use of the Navy was prohibited by regulation and the rider was amended in 1976 outlawing the use of the Air Force. In 1981, however, new legislation allowed the Secretary of Defense to bring Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps support to civilian authorities in intelligence, equipment, base and research facilities, and related training. 1903- Alaska’s first coastal lighthouse, Scotch Cap Lighthouse, located near the west end of Unimak Island on the Pacific side of Unimak Pass, the main passage through the Aleutian Islands into the Bering Sea, was lit. 1930- An Act of Congress provided "for the transfer of the old lighthouse at Cape Henry, Virginia, to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities." 1938- The first low power, unattended "secondary" radio aid to navigation was established at St. Ignace, MI. 19 June 1845 The Secretary of the Treasury had Lieutenants Thornton A. Jenkins and Richard Bache detailed from the Navy and sent abroad to procure information that might tend to the improvement of the lighthouse system of the United States. Subsequently, when the Secretary submitted the report of these two naval officers and asked that a board be appointed to consider thoroughly the matter of lighthouse improvements, Congress reacted as it had with previous reports, and no legislative action resulted. 20 June 1874- An Act of Congress provided for lifesaving stations on the coasts of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida, as well as on the Great Lakes and the Pacific Coast. 1874- Casualty reports of accidents at sea inaugurated. Volunteer crews for life saving stations and medals of honor authorized. 1882- The first Life Saving Medal enactment was passed, which was updated in 1878 and 1882. Ship masters were required to report accidents and death in order to gather data to aid in evaluating sites for search and rescue stations. 1906- Sponge fishing act passed. To be enforced by Revenue Cutter Service. 1918- An Act of Congress (40 Stat. L., 607, 608) changed the designation of Lighthouse Inspectors, who were in charge of the 19 lighthouse districts, to that of Superintendents of Lighthouses. 1966- USCGC Point League attacks and cripples a North Vietnamese junk attempting to run the Navy’s blockade. The action continued into the next day as the junk stranded itself on the shore and its crew fired a demolition charge, destroying their ship. 21 June 1944-USCGC's 83415 and 83477 wrecked off coast of France - no lives lost. 22 June 1936- Act to define jurisdiction of Coast Guard passed. 1940- Port Security responsibilities are undertaken again for the first time since World War I when President Franklin Roosevelt invoked the Espionage Act of 1917. The Coast Guard was to govern anchorage and movement of all vessels in U.S. waters and to protect vessels, harbors, and inland or coastal waterways of the U.S. The Dangerous Cargo Act gave the Coast Guard jurisdiction over ships with high explosives and dangerous cargoes. 1948- Congress enacted Public Law 738, which authorized the operation of floating ocean stations for the purpose of providing search and rescue communication and air-navigation facilities, and meteorological services in such ocean areas as are regularly traversed by aircraft of the United States. 1977- Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams introduces Ensign Beverly G. Kelley and Boatswain's Mate 3/c Debra Lee Wilson during a press conference as two of 14 women who have been assigned to sea duty. "This is the first time in Coast Guard history that women have been sent to sea." Both women had orders to report of the USCGC Morgenthau later that year. 23 June 1716-Province of Massachusetts authorized erection of first lighthouse in America on Great Brewster Island, Boston Harbor. 1939-Congress created Coast Guard Reserve which later became what is today the Coast Guard Auxiliary. 24 June 1914-Secretary of Treasury authorized to use cutters to extend medical and surgical aid to crews of American vessels engaged in deep sea fisheries. 1930-An Act of Congress provided "that light keepers and vessel officers and crews, who during their active service were entitled to medical relief at hospitals and other stations of the Public Health Service, may be given such relief after retirement as is now applicable to retired officers and men in other branches of the Government service, under joint regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce." 1938-Under an Executive Order of this date, "about 35 positions of steward on lighthouse tenders were brought under the classified civil service." 1995- The cutter CGC Juniper is launched, the first of the new 225-foot Juniper Class buoy tenders. 25 June 1936-"The act of June 25, 1936 was in reality an amendment to the Seamen’s Act of 1915, and had been called the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. This law provided for (1) "qualifications, examinations, and issuance of certificates of service or efficiency to unlicensed personnel; (2) the issuace of continuous discharge books to all seagoing personnel," a three-watch eight-hour day, and certain citizenship requirements. The act greatly increased the workload of the shipping commissioners, particularly in providing for the issuance of discharge books and various certificates. This had the effect of both increasing the efficiency of unlicensed personnel and raising the dignity of the profession." 26 June 1948-In order to implement the expanded postwar activities of the Coast Guard in the field of aids to navigation, Congress approved Public Law 786, which provided legislative authority for the Coast Guard to establish and operate maritime aids for the armed forces and LORAN stations essential for the armed forces and maritime and air commerce of the United States. 27 June 1851-The British bark Henry stranded off Bridgehampton Beach, Long Island with 204 persons on board. All were safely landed with government surf boat. 28 June 1946-Peacetime cruises for the cadets of the U.S. Coast Guard. Academy at New London Conn., were revived. 29 June 1944-CDR Frank A. Erickson landed a helicopter on the flight deck of USCGC Cobb. This was the first rotary-wing shipboard landing by Coast Guard personnel. 1950-The Coast Guard adopted a Navy directive relative to security measures, including precautions against possible sabotage at installations and aboard ships. The Soviet Union launched COSPAS I, the first search and rescue satellite ever launched. In combination with later SARSAT satellites, a new multi-agency, international, search and rescue service was made operational. 30 June 1933-The airways division, which had been conducted as a division of the Lighthouse Service, but under the administrative supervision of the Assistant Secretary for Aeronautics, Department of Commerce, was separated from the Lighthouse Service. (USLHS AR 1933, p. 97). C-A/N 1939-"The total personnel of the Service as of June 30, 1939, was 5,355, consisting of 4,119 full—time and 1,156 part—time employees, the former including 1, 170 light keepers and assistants; 56 light attendants; 1,995 officers and crews of lightships and tenders; 113 Bureau officers, engineers and draftsmen, and district superintendents and technical assistants; 226 clerks, messengers, janitors, and office laborers; 157 depot keepers and assistants, including watchmen and laborers; and 482 field-force employees engaged in construction and repair work." 1939-"At the end of the year, the total number of lighthouse tenders was 65, of which 64 were in commission and ‘.1 was out of commission and advertised for sale. Of the vessels in commission, 42 were steam-propelled, 18 had diesel engines, and 4 had Diesel-electric drive. The average age of the fleet of tenders is 19.52 years. There are 10 tenders, aggregating 8,535 tons, 35 years of age and over. Thirty lighthouse tenders are equipped with radiotelegraph; 38 with radio direction finders; and 55 with radiotelephones." 1939-"Lightships were maintained on 30 stations during the year. At the close of the year, the total number of lightships was 43, which included 9 relief ships and 4 ships out of commission." 1939-"The total number of aids to navigation maintained by the Lighthouse Service at the close of the fiscal year was 29,606, a net increase of 849 over the previous year." 1942- Beach Patrol Division is established at Coast Guard Headquarters under the command of CAPT Raymond J. Mauerman. 1946-The general World War II demobilization task was completed with all Separation Centers decommissioned, resulting in a reduced Coast Guard personnel 23, 000 officers and enlisted personnel from a wartime peak of about 171, 000 on 30 June 1945. 1946-By this date, all lightships removed from their stations as a war measure had been restored, except Fire Island Lightship. which had been replaced by a large-type whistle buoy offshore and a radio-beacon on shore at Fire Island Light Station, New York. 1946-The U .S. Navy returned the Coast Guard’s eleven air stations to the operational control of the Coast Guard. [Daily Chronology] [Historians' Office] [USCG Home Page] Added: January 1998 Updated: August 2002