The U. S. Coast Guard’s heritage dates back to Aug. 4, 1790, with the establishment of the Revenue Marine.  The first Congress authorized the construction of 10 vessels to enforce tariff and trade laws, prevent smuggling, and protect the collection of federal revenue.  The first vessel, the Revenue Cutter Massachusetts, was built in Newburyport, Mass., and home ported in Boston.
Known variously through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the Revenue Marine and the Revenue Cutter Service, the Coast Guard expanded in size and responsibilities as the nation grew.

The service received its present name in 1915 when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the U.S. Life-Saving Service.  This created a single maritime service dedicated to the safety of life at sea and enforcing the nation’s maritime laws. The Coast Guard also began to maintain and operate the nation’s lighthouses which assist with maritime navigation. President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the transfer of the Lighthouse Service to the Coast Guard in 1939.

Nearly 42,000 active duty, 7,484 reserve, 7,659 civilian and 29,000 auxiliary personnel use 247 cutters, 1,850 boats and 204 aircraft as the nation’s front-line agency enforcing our laws at sea, protecting the marine environment and our vast coastline and ports, and saving life.

Happy Birthday Coast Guard!

For detailed information on the history of the US Coast Guard, including pictures of artifacts from their collection, click here.

Tags: birthday, Coast Guard, history

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 11:05 am and is filed under Active Duty, National Guard, Reserves, Spouses. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.