Chapter XV
The United States Coast Guard

See HyperWar for Coast Guard history in World War II. --HyperWar

Relationship with U.S. Navy

DURING WORLD WAR II, the Coast Guard served as an integral part of the Navy and performed certain wartime duties assigned to it by the Secretary of the Navy in addition to its normal peacetime duties.¹ The principal wartime duties comprised the enforcement of port security regulations, the patrolling of beaches, convoy-escort duty, coastal anti-submarine patrolling, training for landing operations, participation later in such operations, and manning troop transports. The Coast Guard began these additional duties on 1 November 1941.²

The peacetime duties of the Coast Guard as a maritime law enforcement agency are covered by various statutes. Certain of these duties, such as international patrols, non-combat lifesaving, and law enforcement measures, had to be curtailed and modified during the war, and some were even discontinued entirely for the duration. Other peacetime duties, such as search and rescue, tending navigational aids, and maintaining weather patrols, were actually expanded. The transition from peacetime to wartime status was in some case simple because of pre-war Coast Guard training and experience (e.g., surfmen of the Coast Guard were already expert in the landing techniques of amphibious warfare). Thus, the mission of the Coast Guard within the Navy was in part a continuation of its normal peacetime activities and in part the assumption of many duties normally performed only by the Navy.

The Coast Guard was transferred from the Treasury Department to the Navy Department on 1 November 1941 for the duration of World War II. Provision had been made in the organic Act establishing the Coast Guard for such transfer although there was a first some doubt as to whether this could be done in peacetime.

Late in January 1941, the Secretary of the Navy requested an opinion from the Attorney General as to the legality of such a step. On 31 January 1941, the Attorney General rendered the opinion, "... the President is authorized to direct the Coast Guard to operate as part of the Navy in time of peace whenever in his judgment the exigencies require such action."³ this opinion was based upon the wording of Public Law 239, An Act to Create the Coast Guard, which states that the Coast Guar will "operate as a part of the Navy, subject to the orders of the Secretary of the Navy in time of war or when the President shall so direct."⁴

The Coast Guard was designated a "Service in the Navy Department," and, as such, wa analogous to the Marine Corps. Due to special equipment and training, both the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard were particularly well qualified to perform specialized operational functions involved in amphibious warfare. Administratively, Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., was comparable to a Navy Department Bureau insofar as Headquarters took care of the logistical needs of the Coast Guard.⁵

After the transfer wa made, the Coast Guard Commandant became responsible to the Secretary of the Navy for the administration of the Coast Guard, in accordance with certain directives issued to him by the Secretary, the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet (CominCh), and the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO).⁶ After Executive Order 9096 of 12 March 1942 combined CominCh and CNO in one person, many of the directives were issued in the name of CominCh-CNO. The Secretary delegated to CominCh-CNO the authority to assign Coast Guard units to naval commands and, in general, to utilize Coast Guard personnel and facilities as he deemed necessary. At the same time, however, CominCh-CNO was directed by the Secretary to give consideration to the responsibilities of the Coast Guard for carrying out functions specifically assigned to it by law.

The Coast Guard Commandant and his headquarters staff continued to exercise administrative control of Coast Guard district activities. Senior Coast Guard Officers (SCGO) who headed Cost Guard activities within the naval districts were under the direct administrative control of the Coast Guard Commandant, and were responsible to him for the

satisfactory performance of district Coast Guard duties. Militarily, however, the Senior Coast Guard Officers were responsible to their corresponding Naval District Commandants. Certain of the functions of the Coast Guard, such as recruitment and training of Coast Guard personnel, were administered directly by Coast Guard Headquarters without the intermediate supervision of the SCGO.

Normally, Naval District Commandants, the Bureaus and Offices of the Navy Department had no direct responsibility for the administration of the Coast Guard's assigned functions. There was, nevertheless, close liaison between the Coast Guard and these officers, both in Washington and on the district level.

Never before had the Coast Guard been accorded so much responsibility in wartime. Operationally, the Coast Guard was a specialized segment of the Navy Department. Administratively, the Coast Guard maintained its own organization and procedures, and was accorded a high degree of independent control over its assigned functions.⁷

Historical Background 1790-1939

A Congressional act of 28 January 1915 welded the Revenue Cutter Service and the Lifesaving Service into a single organization, named the United States Coast Guard, which assumed all of the functions of the parent Services.⁸ The organic act placed the Coast Guard under the Treasury Department in peace time but provided for its transfer to the Department of the Navy in war, or when so directed by the President.

The Revenue Cutter Service (designated Revenue Marine Service before 1894) had a long and honorable history. The Service was established under the Treasury Department in 1790 to enforce customs regulations and to defend coastal shipping against the lawless elements that abounded in coastal waters in the early days.

Up to the commissioning of the first frigates of the new United States Navy in 1797, the Revenue Marine Service constituted the nation's only sea going military force.⁹ The Quasi-War with France saw Revenue Marine cutters operating with Naval vessels in West Indian waters. It is probable that his experience prompted Congress in 1799 to authorize the President to transfer the Revenue Marine Service to the Navy in time of war or other similar emergency.¹⁰

Throughout its history there were sharp differences of opinion as to the logical military status of the Revenue Marine Service and of the Revenue Cutter Service after 1894. The controversy reached its peak during the Taft administration. There were those both in and out of Congress who advocated dissolving the multifunctional Revenue Cutter Service or at least reorganizing it drastically Some thought that the larger cutters should be turned over to the Navy for keep sea "marine police duties," and the rest to civilian maritime agencies such as the Lighthouse Service.

Secretary of the Treasury Franklin MacVeagh and Captain Commandant E.P. Bertholf of the Revenue Cutter Service objected to this proposal. THey argues that cutters once turned over to the civilian services would be lost to the Navy for use in time of war. Also they argued that the Navy, not being primarily dedicated to assisting vessels in distress and to marine police duties, would not be able to perform these duties as well as the Revenue Cutter Service.¹¹ The controversy led finally to passage of the act in 1915 which created the Coast Guard form the Revenue Cutter Service and the Lifesaving Service.

Initially, lifesaving along the coasts was entirely a local or State matter, but on 3 March 1847, Congress appropriated $5,--- to enable the Secretary of the treasury to begin furnishing lifesaving equipment to lighthouses on the Atlantic Coast. The Lifesaving Service was formally organized in 1871 as a branch of the Revenue Cutter Service. From 1878 until 1915, it was administered as a separate bureau within the Treasury Department. Lifesaving stations were built in strategic locations along the coast and manned by personnel who were trained in handling surf boats and in the various techniques of lifesaving. These skills found widespread application in amphibious warfare during World War II.¹²

The Coast Guard was organized in time to play a part in World War I. t the outset an attempt was made to use Coast Guard craft manned by Coast Guard personnel as complete units, but shortages and wartime demands on the Navy made this difficult. Coast Guardsmen, officer and enlisted, were thereafter assigned to duty in Naval ships, and conversely Naval personnel served in Coast Guard vessels as needed.

Although the Coast Guard was not used as a specialized service within the Department of the Navy during World War I, the experience of that conflict paved the way for a better arrangement in World War II.

Coast Guard Expansion July 1939 to November 1941

Joint Coast Guard-Navy Department Planning. Commencing in June 1940, a joint Coast Guard-Navy Board met almost daily in Washington, preparing plans for the temporary absorption of the Coast Guard by the Navy in the event of war. Even before that time a Coast Guard Liaison Officer was a member of the high-level War Plans Division of the Office of the CNO.¹³ District Coast Guard Commanders met frequently with their naval district counterparts to discuss district plans for wartime mobilization. Arrangements were made for Coast Guard aviators to be trained alongside of naval pilots at naval aviation training stations.¹⁴ Because of these early liaison relationships, the Coast Guard was better able to assume its new responsibilities when it was transferred to the Navy Department on 1 November 1941.

The joint Coast Guard-Navy Board prepared two wartime mobilization plans, the first in October 1940 and the second in November 1941. Both were entitled The U.S. Coast Guard District Manual and Mobilization Plan.¹⁵ It was largely under the latter that the Coast Guard mobilization within the Department of the Navy was effected. The 1941 District Manual and Mobilization Plan described alternative procedures (called Plan One and Plan Two) for bringing this about.

Plan One outlined procedures to be carried out in placing the entire Coast Guard under the Secretary of the Navy. It was to be invoked on declaration of war or other emergency requiring complete mobilization. Plan Two contemplated the transfer by Executive Order of individual Coast Guard units or activities if necessary during peacetime. An amplifying dispatch to the commander of units being transferred was to be originated by Coast Guard Headquarters specifying administrative and operational procedures to be followed in effecting the transfer.

Under Mobilization Plan One, after the Coast Guard became a part of the Navy, subject to Navy Regulations, it was nevertheless to retain administrative control of its own units. In exercising such control the Coast Guard Commandant was directly responsible to CNO. Upon receipt of the order to execute Plan One, the Commandant of the Coast Guard was to notify all Coast Guard activities to make the necessary changes and he

was then to report personally to the Chief of Naval Operations for further instructions. Similarly, each District Coast Guard Officer was to report for operational orders to the local Naval District Commandant.

Coast Guard Headquarters Administration under Plan One. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., was to continue under the direction of its Commandant as a Division of OPNAV.¹⁶ Liaison with and assistance from the Navy Department Bureaus and Offices was encouraged, but these agencies had no authority over the administration of Coast Guard activities. Most Coast Guard administrative directives and correspondence were to be prepared and routed as they were before mobilization with no change in record-keeping and correspondence filing.¹⁷

District Administration under Plan One. Upon receipt of a dispatch to execute Plan One, Naval District Commandants were to assume military control of all Coast Guard vessels, shore bases, stations, store depots, and training stations within their districts. Administrative supervision of all district Coast Guard activities, such as the supply depots, bases, and training stations, was to be the duty of the Senior Coast Guard Officer (SCGO, before mobilization called the Coast Guard District Commander) of the Naval District. A few activities, such as the Coast Guard Academy, Maritime Service, and the Coast Guard Yard at Baltimore, were administratively controlled directly from Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The SCGO was to maintain close liaison with the Naval District Commandant's staff and render administrative and operational assistance to Commander, Inshore Patrol. At all times the SCGO was militarily responsible to the Naval District Commandant.

The Captain of the Port (COTP), who was appointed by the Coast Guard Commandant, was in charge of district port security. This officer and his assistants (ACOTP), militarily responsible to the Naval District Commandant, and administratively responsible to the SCGO, were to provide assistance to the Naval Local Defense Forces and the inshore patrol organization.

Plan One Logistics. Coast Guard budgetary, accounting, and fiscal procedures compatible with the Navy's system were to be retained. Treasury Department appropriations, to meet Coast Guard operating costs, were to be continued. Bureau of Supplies and Accounts (BuSandA) procedures in budgetary estimating, fiscal and disbursing officer bonding controls, fund advancement, maintenance of accounts, and submission of reports were to

be followed closely by the Coast Guard under the supervision of the Coast Guard Commandant. The Navy Department was to be responsible for obtaining legislative authorization of the budget.

As far as practicable, all Coast Guard units were to remain within the allotment of funds made to them for the subsistence of personnel and the upkeep of their vessels and shore facilities. Gunnery and ordnance equipment was to be issued to the Coast Guard on custody receipt from naval sources, cost to be borne by the Navy.

Certain Naval appropriations were available to Coast Guard units serving operationally with the Navy. By Navy-Coast Guard agreement these funds were maintained in reserve for expensive or emergency projects that the Coast Guard was unable to pay for out of its own funds.

When necessary, Naval Supply activities were to furnish fuel, equipment, and provisions, to the Coast Guard, but Coast Guard units were enjoined to remain self-supporting as long as possible after mobilization.

Personnel and Equipment Build-up. As of 30 June 1939, the Coast Guard consisted of thirty-four cutters, 125 patrol boats, fifty aircraft, 200 lifesaving stations, and 10,064 officers and men.¹⁸ On 18 September 1939, Executive Order 8254 authorized an increase of 2000 in Coast Guard personnel and directed "... the present facilities of the Coast Guard shall be increased, repaired, modernized, enlarged, and equipped to the extent determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to be necessary to perform such additional duties and to accommodate such increased enlisted strength."

Further personnel increases followed in rapid order from September 1939 until 1 November 1941. Coast Guard reservists reporting for active and part-time duty and the inclusion of the Lighthouse Service were the principal additions. By 1 November 1941, Coastguardsmen numbered nearly 24,000.

In June 1939, a Congressional Act created the Coast Guard Reserve. It was a non-military, voluntary organization comprised of motorboat and yacht owners. The purpose of the act was to stimulate interest in the efficient and safe operation of motorboats and yachts on the coastal waters of the United States.¹⁹ Unfortunately the 1939 Reserve Act did not permit the use of Reserve craft for patrolling harbors and coastal waters. When the national emergency was declared, port security and neutrality patrol duties began to tax Coast Guard personnel and facilities to the limit. Congress

met this situation in February 1941 by passing legislation which changed the title of the Coast Guard Reserve to "Auxiliary," and authorized the Coast Guard to utilize Auxiliary motorboats and yachts for neutrality enforcement and harbor patrol duties.²⁰

The second portion of this February 1941 legislation for the first time created a military reserve in the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard Reserve was patterned closely after the Naval Reserve. Despite the basic similarity of the Coast Guard and the Naval Reserve , the Coast Guard Reserve Act included striking differences. Members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary were able to enlist or receive officer appointments in the Coast Guard Reserve as temporary members. The Reserve received many qualified personnel in this manner. These temporary Reservists were automatically assigned to the vessels they brought into the Reserve and carried out military patrol duties in their home areas. During the performance of these duties, temporary Reservists had status equivalent to regular Coastguardsmen, received Coast Guard uniforms, pay and privileges, and were subject to Coast Guard regulations. While serving in the Temporary Reserve, however, they were not exempt from Selective Service induction, and enrollments varied in accordance with Coast Guard needs (some enrollments were for periods as short as one month). SOmetimes regular Coastguardsmen and regular Reserve Coastguardsmen, were assigned to command Temporary Reserve crews. With the establishment of a military Reserve, both Coast Guard personnel and available patrol craft increased as a rapid rate.²¹

Congress, by an Act of 3 July 1941, authorized the construction of thirteen additional large-size cutters to replace ten 250-foot Cayuga class cutters transferred to Great Britain and empowered the President, through the Coast Guard Commandant, to purchase, requisition, charter, or take possession of any foreign vessel in U.S. waters which was suitable for Coast Guard use as a training ship for Coast Guard Cadets and merchant marine personnel.²² Coast Guard bases, training stations, depots, and the Curtis Bay Yard at Baltimore were modernized, and expanded, and a number of new facilities were constructed. Provision was made for private citizens to negotiate charter agreements with the Coast Guard for the use of their small craft. Under these agreements the owners had military status while serving on board their own craft.

Lighthouse Bureau--Coast Guard Amalgamation: Reorganization. In August

1789 a Congressional act established the Lighthouse Service to install and maintain aids to navigation in United States territorial waters. Various agencies within the Treasury Department administratively controlled the Lighthouse Service until 1903 when it was transferred to the Department of Commerce and Labor. Seven years later the Lighthouse Service became a Commerce Department Bureau and remained in that status until mid-1939.

The President's Reorganization Plan No. II of 9 May 1939 directed the transfer of the Lighthouse Bureau from the Department of Commerce to the Department of the Treasury to be completed by 1 July 1939. By this action Coast Guard responsibilities were extended to include the construction, repair, operation, maintenance, illumination and inspection of all aids to navigation. The consolidation incorporated some 5,200 Lighthouse personnel within the Coast Guard in addition to sixty-four buoy tenders, thirty depots, seventeen district offices, and thirty thousand aids-to-navigation which included lighthouses, lightships, beacons, buoys, markers, etc.²³

The Lighthouse Districts were abolished and thirteen Coast Guard Districts were established to carry out all Coast Guard functions. Rapid legislative action to integrate former Lighthouse Bureau personnel was taken. Ranks rates, ratings and other benefits were offered to those desiring to serve in the Coast Guard.²⁴

Neutrality Enforcement and Harbor Security. On 5 September 1939, the President proclaimed the neutrality of the United States (Proclamation 2348) and issued Executive Order 8233 which made the Treasury Department responsible for the prevention of unneutral acts by merchant vessels of the United States or other neutral countries, and the protection of United States shipping and waterfront areas from the hostile acts of vessels of warring nations. Specifically these responsibilities included:

1. The control of radio transmissions of belligerent vessels in U.S. Waters.

2. The surveillance of all merchant vessel movement.

3. The examination of merchant vessel deck and communication equipment.

The Treasury Department set up a system for clearing ship departures and for keeping track of the movement of merchant vessels in territorial waters. The Coast Guard was made primarily responsible also for inshore and harbor patrolling.

The Espionage Act of 1917 was invoked by Presidential Proclamation of 27 June 1940 to take measures against possible sabotage.²⁵ The

Proclamation of June 1940 made the Secretary of the Treasury responsible for the control of vessel anchorages and movement in U.S. waters and the inspection and security of U.S. waterfront facilities. Later in 1940, the Dangerous Cargo Act gave the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation of the Department of Commerce joint jurisdiction over all vessels in the U.S. which carried high explosives or dangerous cargoes. To implement the above acts, anchorage regulations which specified loading and discharging areas were adopted and a Merchant Ship Control Section was organized within the Office of Operations, Coast Guard Headquarters. The Captain of the port was the direct enforcement office for port security and had been accorded full power to carry out his duties by a Congressional act of 22 June 1936.²⁶

Preliminary Executive Actions and Deliberations. By the early part of 1941, sentiment in the Navy and in the White House favored the transfer of at least the Coast Guard cutters to the Navy. The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral H.R. Stark, sent a memorandum to the Secretary of the Navy dated 17 March 1941 recommending "immediate transfer." The Secretary favorably endorsed Stark's plan but the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury expressed dissatisfaction with the proposal in a memorandum, dated 2 April 1941, to the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary of the Treasury discussed Stark's proposal with President Roosevelt who favored the transfer but was disinclined to order it against the objections of the Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau. Throughout April and May 1941, the Navy Department continued to press for action as the Navy was desperately in need of additional ships to carry out neutrality patrols. The Coast Guard Commandant, Rear Admiral R.R. Waesche, was in favor of the transfer and finally persuaded Treasury Department officials to concur, as failure to do so might, in his opinion, have adversely affected Coast Guard morale and future good relations with the Navy Department. The incorporation of the Coast Guard within the Navy did not, however, take place all at one time.

In May 1941, the Coast Guard took on the responsibility of manning four Navy transports and of supplying small boat crews for additional Navy transports. The Navy was to meet all operating costs of the ships exclusive of the pay and allowances of the Coast Guar officers and men involved. By Executive Order 8767 of 3 June 1941, the agreement was formalized when the President directed"... certain personnel of the Coast Guard (to) operate as a part of the Navy ... such number ... required to man and operate certain naval vessels, as may be agreed upon by the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Coast Guard. ..." The Coast Guard Commandant and CNO on 5 September

agreed to the transfer of 2,100 Coast Guard officers and men to the jurisdiction of Secretary of the Navy to man these transports.

On 16 August 1941, in order to further mobilize the defenses of the mid-Pacific, the President signed Executive Order 8852 which placed the Honolulu Coast Guard District under Naval Control. This step marked the first transfer of a complete Coast Guard District. All Cost Guard personnel, equipment, and facilities of the Honolulu District were placed under the military and operational control of the Fourteenth Naval District Commandant. Administrative matters not directly affecting District defense remained the responsibility of the District Commander of the Coast Guard.

To establish definite procedures and policies for transfer of Coast Guard units to the Navy during the limited emergency, and for return of the same units to the Treasury Department at the end of the emergency, Executive Order 8895 was issued on 11 September 1941. This Executive Order charged the Secretary of the Navy with responsibility for fulfilling the duties, functions, and responsibilities of all Coast Guard units transferred to the Navy Department. The Coast Guard personnel transferred were to be subject to Navy Regulations. At the end of the unlimited emergency, all Coast Guard units in the Navy were to be automatically returned to Treasury Department control.²⁷

Coast Guard Administration Within the Navy, 1 November 1941-January 1, 1946

Executive Order 8929 of November 1, 1941. To meet the increasing probability of United States entry into the European War and, particularly, the threat of German submarines to American shipping, the President, on 1 November 1941, signed Executive Order 8929, directing the Coast Guard "to operate as part of the Navy, subject to the orders of the Secretary of the Navy."²⁸ Advice of the transfer was contained in Alcoast message No. 74 dated 3 November 1941. Mobilization was directed to begin immediately in accordance with Plan One of the U.S. Coast Guard District Manual and Mobilization Plan promulgated in October 1940.²⁹ On 15

Fig. 32--Organization of Headquarters, U.S. Coast Guard (15 June 1943)

November 1941, Congress transferred to the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Navy the powers formerly exercised by the Secretary of the Treasury under the Espionage Act of June 1917, namely the control of vessel anchorage and movement, issuance of departure permits, etc.³⁰

In January 1942, the Secretary of the Navy issued instructions establishing Coast Guard Headquarters as a division of OPNAV (Op-32).³¹ Gradually, however, CNO and the Coast Guard Commandant realized that divisional status for Coast Guard Headquarters was unsatisfactory Considerable confusion with respect to records, authority, and responsibilities ensued. The Coast Guard was allowed too little authority over its former peacetime functions. An intensive study of the organizational status of the Coast Guard and its relationship to the wartime Naval Establishment was made by Coast Guard Headquarters and OPNAV.

Secretary of the Navy Letter of 30 March 1942. IN a letter to CominCh-CNO dated 30 March 1942 (quoted below in its entirety because of its importance the Secretary of the Navy laid down the fundamental policies which were to govern the wartime administration of the Coast Guard while operating under the Navy Department. This directive was based upon the recent Coast Guard Headquarters-OPNAV study of the Coast Guard's organizational status within the Naval Establishment. The letter established the pattern for basic administrative procedures, and clarified the wartime responsibilities of each service to the other. All previous letters, instructions, and plans which conflicted with this directive were rescinded.³²

The organization of Coast Guar Headquarters as of 15 June 1943 is shown on Figure 32, taken from Manual of Organization Charts, Navy Department, 15 June 1943. There is no official chart available as of the date of the Secretary's letter of 30 March 192, but the chart of 15 June 1943 shows the organization of headquarters that administered the Coast Guard at the peak of the war.

March 30, 1942

Subj: Administration of Coast Guard when operating under the Navy Department

1. The Coast Guard shall be a Service in the Navy Department and shall be administered by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, under the Secretary of the Navy and in accordance with general directives issued by the Secretary of the Navy and by the Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operations.

2. The Coast Guard shall perform the following functions, which have been assigned

to it by law, executive orders, and other proper authority, and shall perform such additional duties as may be assigned to it from time to time by competent authority.

1. The preparation, readiness, and logistic requirements of all Coast Guard forces.

2. The recruiting, training, and assignment of all Coast Guard personnel, both military and civil.

3. The execution of all civil functions of the Coast Guard, including police functions (captain-of-the-port activities.) The functions include the establishment, improvement, and maintenance of aids to navigation; the safeguarding against loss, injury, or destruction through subversive action or other causes of vessels, ports, harbors, and waterfront facilities; law enforcement; ice-breaking operations; all functions of the former Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation and of the Maritime Commission in connection with training, licensing, and certification of merchant marine personnel, inspection of material, and law administration and enforcement, transferred to the Coast Guard by Executive Order No. 9083 , February 28, 1942, control of radio communication on merchant vessels, motorboats, and yachts; and supervision of coastal lookout and lifeboat stations.

4. Furnishing vessels and personnel for operations in Greenland, the Arctic and other areas of heavy ice concentration, as directed by the Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operations.

5. Maintenance of mid-Atlantic weather observation patrol.

6. Furnishing crews for transport landing boats and manning naval transports and patrol vessels as requested by the Chief, Bureau of Navigation, within limits of available personnel.

7. All Coast Guard budgetary, fiscal, and accounting procedure.

8. The control and operation of Coast Guard vessels, aircraft and shore establishments not assigned to other naval commands.

3. The Commandant, and his organization in Washington, D.C., shall continue to be designated as Coast Guard Headquarter, and may be augmented or changed from time to time as necessary for the proper administration of the Service.

4. The Bureaus and Offices of the Navy Department will have no direct responsibility for the administration of the Coast Guard except when specifically directed by proper authority, but close liaison shall be maintained between the Divisions and Sections of Coast Guard Headquarters and the appropriate Bureaus and Offices of th Navy Department.

5. The Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operations shall assign Coast Guard vessels, aircraft and shore stations to other Naval Commands as he may deem necessary for the proper conduct of the war, having due regard for the needs of the Coast Guard in carrying out the functions as set forth in paragraph 2 hereof. All other Coast Guard vessels, aircraft and shore stations, and such other units as may from time to time be assigned to the Coast Guard by the Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operations, shall be administered and operated by the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard Field Organization

6. The recruiting and training of Coast Guard personnel and of all Merchant Marine personnel, the Coast Guard Academy, State Marine Academies, Coast Guard and maritime Training Stations and Training Ships and such other Coast Guard activities (except those assigned by proper authority to other Naval Commands) as the

Commandant of the Coast Guard may determine shall be administered directly under the Coast Guard Headquarters.

7. The administration of all other functions assigned to the Coast Guard shall be performed through the agency of the District Coast Guard Officer, who shall be under the direct control and supervision of the Commandant of the Coast Guard, but under the military control of the corresponding Naval District Commandant.

8. District Coast Guard Officer shall be responsible for carrying out Coast Guard functions within the limits of his District, and shall control the operations of all Coast Guard and other units, assigned to him by proper authority. These forces shall be separate and distinct from Inshore Patrol Forces and other Naval Forces.

9. In carrying out all functions assigned to the District Coast Guard Officer, including all logistic and fiscal functions, the District Coast Guard Officer shall communicate directly with the Commandant of the Coast Guard.

10. The Naval District Commandant, or any agency or personnel of the Naval District, shall have no direct responsibility for the administration of the functions with which the Coast Guard is charged, unless so directed by proper authority. The District Coast Guard Officer shall cause the agencies of his command to keep close liaison and cooperate with the corresponding agencies of the Naval District.

11. All previous instructions in conflict herewith are rescinded.

Frank Knox

The Secretary's letter extensively changed the Coast Guard's position within the Navy Department. No longer was the Coast Guard designated a division of OPNAV, but was now a Service within the Navy Department analogous to the Marine Corps and equivalent in many respects to a technical bureau.³³ It was comparable to the marine Corps in that it was a military service maintaining independent staff facilities, (supply, finance, personnel, engineering, and operations), and equivalent to the Bureaus in that Coast Guard Headquarters provided logistic support for its operating forces.

"... To meet the responsibilities placed on the Coast Guard by Congress, the President, and other authorities ..." the Secretary's letter gave the Coast Guard direct control of its personnel and equipment.³⁴ This allowed the Coast Guard to function more effectively, eliminating many administrative overlaps and much confusion and inconsistency. Although all technical bureaus and offices of the Navy Department by this letter were excluded from administration of Coast Guard functions, unless otherwise directed, they were enjoined to maintain close liaison and cooperation with all Coast Guard units.

The Secretary's letter gave The Coast Guard Commandant direct control and supervisory powers over district Coast Guar administration. The role

of the Naval District Commandant as administrative intermediary between the Coast Guard Commandant and the Senior Coast Guard Officer was discontinued. Even the police functions, such as port security and control of merchant shipping, were firmly set down as Coast Guard administrative responsibilities. Militarily, however, all Coast Guard district activities were completely controlled by the Naval District Commandant. Even to the lowest district echelons there was a careful distinction between administrative and military control. In order to fully integrate the Coast Guard with the fleet, the Secretary's letter pointed out that CominCh-CNO had authority to assign Coast Guard vessels, aircraft, and shore stations to Naval Commands as he deemed necessary. At the same time, the Secretary directed that due regard be paid to the needs of the Coast Guard in carrying out its normal functions.

The Coast Guard Commandant's Status in the Navy Department. Rear Admiral (later Admiral) Russell R. Waesche, USCG, was the Commandant of the Coast Guard throughout the war. He administered the organization in accordance with SecNav and CominCh-CNO plans, policies, and directives, with due regard for his statutory responsibilities. CominCh-CNO's immediate subordinate, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, had the responsibility for executing Navy Department plans and policies concerned with the "... preparation, readiness, logistic support of operating forces ... and ... coordination and direction of effort to this end of the bureaus and the offices of the Navy Department ..." In that capacity VCNO worked closely with Rear Admiral Waesche to coordinate the Navy's and Coast Guard's logistic programs. In recognition of Rear Admiral Waesche's greatly increased responsibilities and duties and the efficient manner in which he performed them, the Secretary of the Navy recommended him for promotion to Vice Admiral and later to Admiral, in which ranks he was confirmed by the Senate in March 1942 and April 1945 respectfully.³⁵

Shortly after the establishment of the deputy CominCh-CNO billet in September 1944, considerable thought was given to placing the Coast

Rear Admiral Russell R. Waesche (later Admiral) USCG
Commandant of U.S. Coast Guard, June 1936-Dec. 1945.

Guard directly under the cognizance of this officer, rather than under the VCNO. The Commandant of the Coast Guard hastened to point out certain weaknesses in this plan.³⁶ The Coast Guard worked closely with agencies and technical bureaus which would, under the proposed plan, remain under VCNO. Furthermore, the agencies which were also to be placed under DCNO (ONI, OP13, Naval Communications and the Marine Corps) had little or no administrative relationship to the Coast Guard. For these reasons the Commandant maintained that a transfer would create inefficiencies and circuitous administrative procedures in carrying out the

logistic functions of the Coast Guard. Largely because of his opposition to the proposed change, the Coast Guard remained throughout the war under the VCNO for liaison with the technical bureaus and other activities having to do with logistics.

Coast Guard within the Naval Districts--Status. The sixteen District Coast Guard Headquarters were replicas of the central Headquarters in Washington. The Coast Guard District Commander was renamed Senior Coast Guard Officer (SCGO) by Coast Guard Operations memo No. 10 of 3 November 1941. He was militarily responsible to the Naval District Commandant. In addition, the latter exercised a limited degree of coordination control over all Coast Guard activities in the district. The purpose of this control was to insure effective an harmonious functioning of all district activities. This coordination control was particularly important in matters connected with harbor defense and port security. In the final analysis, however, the SCGO was administratively responsible to the Coast Guard Commandant in Washington.

Direct administrative authority over all district Coast Guard personnel, with certain notable exceptions, was vested in the Senior Coast Guard Officer.³⁷ The Senior Coast Guard Officers (SCGO) were consultants to their Naval District Commandants, especially in regard to port security matters. In many instances the SCGO performed operational duties as Commander, Inshore Patrol. In some districts a Coast Guard officer served as district Captain of the Port while in others a Naval officer served in this capacity. If more than one principal port was embraced within the naval district, or if the naval district limits were exceptionally large, Coast Guard functions normally were further delegated to Section Coast Guard Officers and Assistant Captains of the Port (ACOTP).

A primary responsibility of the SCGO was to provide logistical support to the cutter force of the Coast Guard even though the SCGO had no operational control over Coast Guard cutters serving with the U.S. Navy.

Extent of Naval District Commandant's Control. On 4 June 1945, late in the war, an important issue was finally resolved. In a letter of this date addressed to all ships and stations, the Secretary of the Navy spelt out command relationships within the naval districts.³⁸ For some time previous to this directive the Navy Department considered increasing the naval district commandants administrative control over district Coast Guard activities. Official Coast Guard opinion was that a small degree of coordination control over Coast Guard district activities by naval district commandants had been and would continue to be beneficial, if the Coast

Guard was allowed to retain overall administrative authority in this field.³⁹ The vital letter of 4 June stated that the only form of administrative control the Naval District Commandant would exercise over district Coast Guard activities would be a measure of coordination control, that is, "the necessary direction of units of organization to insure well integrated relationships among all units (of naval district), together with the authority to make such inspections as are necessary to insure coordination." The letter continued by stating that management control (the day-by-day administration and control of operations of a unit in the performance of its primary function) and technical control (the specialized or professional guidance needed by a unit of organization to perform its primary function) were not the responsibility of the naval district commandant. The Coast Guard Commandant iN Washington was authorized to continue exercising these administrative controls.

Coast Guard Logistics, Personnel Procurement and Distribution. Coast Guard activities, afloat and ashore, had been assigned increased wartime duties and ere in urgent need of additional personnel. The necessary personnel were procured from Selective Service, increased enlistments, establishment of a Women's Reserve (SPARS), militarization of civilian personnel on Coast Guard payrolls, and mobilization of the Coast Guard Reserve.

In July 1943, the Coast Guard Commandant promulgated an official policy for the disitribution of personnel. First priority in personnel assignments went to Coast Guard units, afloat and ashore, directly engaged in the prosecution of the war, such as Coast GUard ships assigned to combat areas. Second priority went to the manning of Naval vessels and domestic Coast Guard air stations. The lowest priority went to filling the complements of Coast Guard units performing strictly peacetime duties and units employed in areas not handling shipping to a war zone.

In April 1943, CominCh-CNO instructed VCNO to pass on all requests from Naval activities for assignment of Coast Guard personnel to such activities. VCNO delegated this responsibility to ACNO for Logistics Projects (Op 11A). Acting as a screening agency, Op 11A reviewed all requests for Coast Guard personnel, and after conferring with Coast Guard Headquarters, approved such requests as would not interfere with the performance of normal Coast Guard duties.

The Coast Guard attained its maximum authorized personnel strength in November 1943. By June 30, 1942, the Coast Guard Reserve on active duty, excluding its temporary contingent, had expanded to approximately 1200 officers and 28,000 enlisted men. On June 30, 1945, the Reserve was composed of nearly 8,000 officers and 136.000 enlisted men compared to approximately 5,000 officers and 23,000 enlisted men of the regular Coast

Guard. Detailed statistics for fiscal years 1940-1945, inclusive, are given as follows:

Growth Statistics⁴⁰
Regular Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve
(Excluding Temporary Reserve)

	1940		1941		1942
Type of personnel	7/1	12/31	6/30	12/31	6/30	12/31
Officers	1,360	1,405	1,490	1,854	3,507	5,477
Men	1,360	1,405	1,490	1,854	3,507	5,462
Women	0	0	0	0	0	15
Officer Candidates	145	262	199	301	349	992
Men	145	262	199	301	349	992
Women	0	0	0	0	0	0
Enlisted	12,261	15,326	17,546	25,575	55,142	135,300
Men	12,261	15,326	17,546	25,575	55,142	135,231
Women	0	0	0	0	0	69
Total	13,766	16,993	19,235	27,730	58,998	141,769
	1943		1944		1945
Type of personnel	6/30	12/31	6/30	12/31	6/30
Officers	8,339	10,552	11,979	12,615	12,683
Men	8,104	10,038	11,275	11,697	11,816
Women	345	514	704	918	867
Officer Candidates	1,050	1,566	298	480	511
Men	1,050	1,493	234	480	511
Women	0	73	64	0	0
Enlisted	145,587	159,821	156,981	156,776	157,998
Men	142,631	154,251	149,589	147,865	149,121
Women	2,956	5,570	7,392	8,911	8,877
Total	154,976	171,939	169,258	169,871	171,192

Early in the war, the Coast Guard Auxiliary was the major source of Temporary Reservists. By th end of the war, the functions of the Temporary Reserve had been greatly expanded and enrollment qualifications were eased, enabling civilians of both sexes to become Temporary Reservists. Expansion o functions and membership was authorized by two Congressional amendments to the Coast Guard Reserve and Auxiliary Act of February 1941.⁴¹ By the end of fiscal 1944, there were over 51,000 officers and men in the Temporary Reserve, most of whom served without pay. A year later, an all-time peak of over 53,000 Temporary Reservists was reached. Nearly 49,000 were engaged in port security duties. Beginning in October 1944, many Temporary Reserve units at the smaller ports were discontinued, but at a few ports Temporary Reservists relived Regular Coastguardsmen and Reserves so that the latter could be used elsewhere.⁴²

The voluntary, non-military Coast Guard Auxiliary, composed of boat owners and operators, provided an important source of experienced personnel for the Coast Guard Reserve. In addition to qualifying many of its members for active duty with the Coast Guard, the Auxiliary was used on coastal patrol, rescue, and port security duties. By the end of fiscal 1942, there were approximately 11,500 members enrolled in some 400 flotillas. The Auxiliary claimed over 57,000 members as of 30 June 1945; more than half of these were simultaneously enrolled in the temporary Reserve.⁴³

The "Coast Guard Auxiliary and Reserve Act" of February 19, 1941 was again amended in November 1942 to permit the establishment of a Coast Guard Women's Reserve (SPARS) to release men for sea duty.⁴⁴ For a short while after establishment, the SPARS obtained their enlisted women and commissioned officers form the Naval WAVE procurement system. By late 1943, however, the Coast Guard Women's Reserve had its own procurement and training facilities.

Vessel and Shore Facilities Expansion. In the early days of the war, when the submarine menace was as its height, the Navy Department placed top priority upon the construction-conversion program of patrol-escort vessels of the types used in the Coast Guard. There was at the time a great shortage in escort vessels. As soon as the U-boat menace was under control, the

emphasis was shifted to vessels suited for amphibious warfare. This program eclipsed the patrol-escort program.⁴⁵

To meet these needs, the Coast Guard expanded its shipbuilding, repair and conversion facilities at the Curtis Bay Yard. Other shore facilities of the Coast Guard such as supply depots and training stations were also enlarged.

The Coast Guard ship and shore facility expansion program was planned and administered by the Headquarters Office of Engineering Division and the Civil Engineering Division, shared the major burden of this expansion program. Th;e Naval Engineering Division was, in many respects comparable to the Navy Department's Bureau of Ships in that it was responsible for ship construction and alterations. It's subdivisions prepared designs for ships and associated equipment, drew up ship characteristics, procured equipment to be utilized in ship construction and conversion, negotiated contracts (with aid from the War Shipping Administration), and performed field inspections on work underway.

The Civil Engineering Division of the Coast Guard's Office of Engineering planned the expansion of Coast Guard shore facilities. In prepared plans and specifications, procured equipment to be used in the construction or modification of projects, negotiated contracts, and supervised the work of contractors.

From July 1, 1940 to August 31, 1945, the Coast Guard added to its floating craft over six thousand vessels of all types. These were obtained by construction at government yards and shipbuilding plants and by purchases, loans, and leases from private individuals. Between these dates, the Coast Guard's cutter force (all types) was increased from 227 to 712 hips, and its small boats and other craft from 2971 to 5386.⁴⁶

By the end of fiscal 1942, thirteen cruising cutters, four large icebreakers, and fourteen tender class cutters were under construction. Nearly five hundred small craft had been completed or were under construction. Up to 1943, the emphasis was on the construction of antisubmarine warfare types. In fiscal 1943, twenty cutters (tender class), two harbor cutters, 116 patrol boats (83 foot class), and several hundred small boats were completed. The following year construction was completed on two icebreakers of special design, 18 buoy tender cutters and seven 110 foot tugs fitted for icebreaking. Three icebreakers, sixteen cutters and numerous small vessels were completed in fiscal 1945.⁴⁷

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Spencer sinks Nazi U-Booat.

U.S. Coat Guard-manned LST's 18 and 202 unload their fighting men and machines on the beaches of Leyte Island.

By late 1940, the Coast Guard desired to acquire vessels owned by private individuals for assisting in the patrol of United States harbors. Congress approved such acquisitions in July 1941.⁴⁸ Nearly 3,000 vessels were obtained from civilian sources (including boats owned by Temporary Reservists) to carry out these patrol duties. Some vessels were purchased outright, others were leased for the duration. A third group of craft were loaned to the Coast Guard by their owners with stipulation that they would be returned in substantially the same condition as when loaned or that financial compensation would be paid by the government for damage to or total loss of the craft.

Many of the acquired craft had to undergo conversion before assuming patrol duties. The Naval Engineering Division of the Coast Guard prepared plans and procured the necessary equipment to effect these alterations. The War Shipping Administration rendered assistance to the Coast Guard in this program.⁴⁹

Curtis Bay Yard at Baltimore was the center of the conversion program, but, of necessity, a major portion of this work was done by contract at private yards.

Coast Guard cutters selected for service with naval forces usually required some alterations to fit them for such duty. On 27 November 1941 CNO ordered that, whenever possible, permission should first be obtained from the Coast Guard Commandant before making any permanent changes in Coast Guard vessels. If time did not permit, the Naval District Commandant and Senior Coast Guard Officer (SCGO) in whose district the work was to be done were to get together on the alterations.

Parallelling the vessel conversion and construction programs Coast Guard shore facilities were also enlarged. To illustrate, two new shipways new administration buildings, barracks, shops, and a floating drydock were provided in fiscal 1942 at Curtis Bay. Simultaneously four training stations (three on the East Coast), eight major radio communication stations, and important North Atlantic and Caribbean navigational aids such as radio beacons, buoys and light stations, were established. The following year another large drydock was constructed at the Curtis Bay Yard. In 1945, mobile construction detachments continued to establish loran stations throughout the Atlantic and Pacific advanced areas.⁵⁰

Supply Program. Coast Guard matériel procurement, storage, and distribution was handled by a small supply organization composed of line officers and men, many of whom performed supply functions as additional duty. Paragraph 2(a) of the Secretary of the Navy's letter to Cominch-CNO dated March 30, 1942 reaffirmed the Coast Guard's responsibility to provide the "... logistic requirements of all Coast Guard forces." Paragraph 9 of the same letter charged the District Coast Guard Officer with carrying out "all logistical and fiscal functions" within each District.

There was, however, close cooperation between Naval District supply offices and district Coast Guard activities. The procedures adopted by the Supply Officer of the Boston Navy Yard, for example, made it possible for the SCGO to obtain quickly from the Navy Yard any material urgently needed by Coast Guard vessels. Two enlisted men from the district Coast Guard Supply Section were assigned to the Navy Yard Emergency Issue Section to expedite emergency requisitions.

In April 1943, Headquarters Finance Division, established in 1936 to administer Coast Guard finance and supply matters, was renamed the Office of Finance and Supply, and the Supply Section of the old Division was reclassified Supply Division, Office of Finance and Supply.

All materials, other than electronic equipment, purchased by the Coast Guard were stored in the Alameda and Brooklyn Coast Guard Supply Depots. Electronic equipment was procure from naval and industrial sources in accordance with Bureau of Ships procedures. Storage and distribution of such equipment was handled by a Coast Guard Electronic Supply Activity at Jersey City, New Jersey, which was under the direct control of the Coast Guard Supply Depot at Brooklyn. Repairs of electronic equipment were also accomplished at this facility. Ordnance equipment was loaned on custody receipt to Coast Guard units in accordance with procedures agreed upon by the Bureau of Ordnance and the Coast Guard Office of Operations.

Commencing in the spring of 1942, the principle duties of the District Coast Guard Supply Officer were: procurement of supplies (excluding clothing and commissary items), maintenance of accounts, supporting statements and records of these procurements, and delivery and distribution of procured supplies.⁵¹

In July 1941, Congress authorized the Coast Guard to extend the commuted ration principle to messes if operated by a district Mess Treasurer. As late as 1939, large units (cutters and Coast Guard stations) had had general messes while men of small units (83-foot patrol boats and smaller) had been given individual subsistence allowances to provide for

their own meals. The authorization of commuted ration messes eliminated many inequities inherent in subsistence messes. Commuted ration messes drew subsistence items from naval stores where available. However, remote Coast Guard stations and some units without access to naval stores were forced to depend on commercial sources for their supplies.

The situation improved for these remote units in June 1943 when Army commissary facilities were opened to them on a limited basis. I addition certain isolated Coast Guard stations were authorized to establish commissary storehouses. Motorized refrigeration equipment to distribute commissary supplies was also provided. A Commissary Officer under the direction of the Coast Guard District Finance and Supply Officer was directed to: formulate district messing plans, coordinate procurement, delivery, and storage; entr into contracts with local wholesalers, supervise quantity and quality of food served, and maintain liaison with the Army-Navy Marketing Services. Additionally, when so designated, he was to act as District Mess Treasurer. The system proved adequate and met Coast Guard needs.⁵²

Prior to February 1943, the Coast Guard Commandant established policies for the procurement, operation, and maintenance of all motorized equipment. In that month, primarily as a fuel conservation measure, the Secretary of the navy placed all domestic motorized transportation of the Navy, Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard under control of the Transportation Branch, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Thereafter all policies with regard to motorized equipment were made by that Office.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor and until 1 July 1942, uniforms for Coast Guard enlisted men, Chief Petty Officers excepted, were furnished by BuSandA and stored at the Coast Guard Supply depots in Alameda and Brooklyn until requisitioned by Coast Guard district activities. Chief Petty Officers and officers purchased their uniforms from civilian or naval uniform shops.

Beginning on 1 july 1942, the Coast Guard was authorized to do its own uniform purchasing for the first outfit of enlisted personnel. A Coast Guard Clothing Depot was established in New York City for the procurement, central storage and distribution of uniform clothing. The Officer in Charge was designated Clothing Procurement Officer. Uniform contracts were placed with 264 manufacturers, mostly in the central part of the United States. Of these, only 34 had uniform contracts with the other

military services, thus avoiding procurement conflicts with the Army and Navy.

By January 1943, the Coast Guard was able to fill promptly all clothing requisitions, and it was estimated that from July 1942 to 31 January 1943 the Coast Guard had saved $865,000 by procuring and distributing its own clothing. These savings were attributed largely to lower production costs of mid-0west clothing manufacturers and the avoidance of procurement competition with other services.

In October 1943, pursuant to a suggestion of VCNO, the Coast Guard discontinued procuring enlisted uniform items o f identical with Navy uniform clothing, and thenceforth drew such clothing from Naval supply depots. The Coast Guard, however, continued to procure uniform clothing peculiar to that service from commercial sources and distributed these items through Coast Guard supply activities.⁵³

Medical Program. Prior to and during World War II, the Coast Guard had neither medical officers not hospital facilities of its own. Medical service was provided by the U.S. Public Health Service. Naval medical facilities in peacetime were available to Coastguardsmen on an emergency basis only, and the Navy was reimbursed for such services by the Public Health Service.⁵⁴

The Coast Guard had nearly five hundred pharmacist's mates when the United States entered World War II. Prior to 1923, there were no pharmacist's mates in the Coast Guard. In earlier wars, the Navy had assigned Naval pharmacist's mates to Coast Guard (and Revenue Cutter Service) cutters. In 1927, the Navy discharged six pharmacist's mates first class for enlistment in the Coast Guard as chief pharmacist's mates. These petty officers were the nucleus of the World war II Coast Guard hospital corps.

On the eve of World War II, the Public Health Service increased the number of its doctors and dentists by the employment of two hundred doctors and dentists on a contract basis. Some of those were employed in remote areas to give physical examinations and emergency treatment to Coastguardsmen. Others were assigned to full-time duty on Coast Guard vessels. In August 1941, the PHS assigned eight reserve medical officers to full-time duty at various district Coast Guard Headquarters to give physical examinations and to provide outpatient treatment.⁵⁵ Shortly after the U.S. entered

the war, a new Navy-Coast Guard medical policy was adopted. Coastguardsmen were to be admitted to Naval hospitals on the same basis as Naval personnel. Until 1945, the Public Health Service reimbursed the Navy for such services when the practice was discontinued and the costs were thereafter defrayed from naval appropriations.

In September 1942, a Public Health Service doctor was assigned as District Medical Officer in each Coast Guard district. As additional Public Health Service doctors and dentists became available Coast Guard information were set up throughout the continental United States and Hawaii. In large, isolated areas, such as Alaska and Greenland, mobile medical and dental units were provided.

During the early part of the war the Public Health Service found it increasingly difficult to obtain medical and dental supplies for the Coast Guard. On April 1, 1943, the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery took over this responsibility.

Training Program. The flow of recruits into the Coast Guard made necessary a drastic revision and enlargement of its training methods and facilities. This involved recourse to private and public educational institutions, to the training facilities of the other military Services and to the enlargement of its own facilities. Training ranged form general indoctrination to highly specialized instruction.

The center for officer training continued to be the Coast Guard Academy at New London, Connecticut. The regular course was shortened from four to three years for the duration of the war, and the size of the classes was increased. In February 1942, a Reserve Cadet School was started at New London for the indoctrination of generally-duty Reserve Officers with an intensive four month's course. Most of the enrollees in this program came directly from civilian life although some came from the ranks. When the Coast Guard reached its authorized officer strength in July 1944, the Reserve course was briefly discontinued, but in September 1944 was resumed on a reduced basis to satisfy replacement needs. Postgraduate instruction was also provided at the Coast Guard Academy. Women Reserves (SPAR) officer training, previously conducted at Navy schools, was undertaken at the Coast Guard Academy in July 1943.

Training stations for enlisted recruits were opened by June 30, 1943 at Manhattan Beach, N.Y., Curtis Bay, Md., New Orleans, La., and Port Townsend, Wash. By the war's end, Brooklyn, N.Y., Groton, Conn. and Alameda, Calif. also had training stations for enlisted personnel. A SPAR training station was established in Palm Beach, Fla. in May 1943.⁵⁶

Radar, sonar, aeronautical and many other technical courses offered at Naval schools were attended by Coastguardsmen. Coast Guard aviators were

trained at Army and Naval air stations. A landing craft school at the U.S. Marine Base, New River, North Carolina instructed cutter men in landing craft handling and engine operation. The Coast Guard negotiated contracts with many civilian, municipal, and state institutions for training Coast Guard enlisted men.

Aviation Program. The fourfold wartime mission of the Coast Guard aviation branch was:

1. to carry out the Coast Guard's statutory responsibilities.
2. to carry out air-sea rescue operations.
3. to provide specialized training for Coast Guard aviation personnel.
4. to develop the helicopter for air-sea rescue and ship based operations.

The Coast Guard Air Station at Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, N.Y., war designated a helicopter training base in November 1943. Formal classes began in 1944 with three helicopters available for training in the early stages. The classes included British mechanics and pilots being trained to operate lend-lease material.⁵⁷

To avoid overlapping of activities, CominCh, in July 1944, set limits on the expansion of Coast Guard aviation at: 587 aviators, 157 fixed wing aircraft, and 60 helicopters with the necessary supporting enlisted personnel; but these ceilings were raised later so that, in August 1945, the Cost Guard had some 200 aircraft and 1500 aviation personnel.⁵⁸

During the war, the Coast Guard operated nine air stations in the United States under the control of Sea Frontier Commanders. Aircraft from these fields flew as task units in air-sea rescue and anti-submarine operations.

Administrative Aspects of Special Projects Performed by Coast Guard During World War II. Communication and Electronic Program. In order to improve coordination of the Navy and Coast guard electronic programs, the Navy Department, on 1 January 1943, established under the Director of the Naval Communications Division a coordinating subdivision (Op-20E).⁵⁹ This subdivision standardized procurement and distribution procedures for all electronic, sonic, and communication equipment used by the Coast Guard and the Navy although it had no responsibility for actual procurement. Common standards were adopted for Navy and Coast Guard electronic equipment, and a priority system was established for the assignment of equipment in short supply.

By CNO directive of 8 June 1944, the Coast Guard assumed responsibility on 1 August 1944 for establishment and operation of certain

aero-marine communication and navigational aids. All navigational pulse stations then operated by the Navy were turned over to the Coat Guard. BuSandA transferred additional funds to the Coast Guard so that it could effectively meet its increased communication and navigation responsibilities. All Naval District Commandants and Sea Frontier Commanders were enjoined to cooperate fully with these activities.

On 26 September 1945, CNO directed that certain direction-finding stations in the United States and abroad, controlled by the Coast Guard, remain open. Nevertheless, despite loans of personnel from the Navy, trained operators were being demobilized so rapidly as to make it necessary to close many of these stations.

Loran. In the spring of 1942, the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) was requested by the Navy Department to develop a system of navigation using electronics for position finding to supplement celestial navigation. Such a system was needed particularly in the North Atlantic where the prevalence of fog and overcast during certain seasons of the year often made it impossible to to train sights on celestial bodies. The system was based on the emissions of pulse radiation from shore stations which when registered by a receiver gave a position of the ship with about the same accuracy as the best obtainable by celestial navigation. Through liaison with the Coordinator of Research and Development of the Navy Department, the Coast Guard played a leading role in this development. A Coast Guard officer was assigned to duty with the radiation laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where the research work was being done. It was his ob to advise the scientists on the practical aspects of the Loran installations and on ship and shore operating problems. A Coast Guard officer headed the development and installation work at Headquarters and had liaison duties also in the Coordinator's office.⁶⁰ When the tests of the two experimental stations that were installed in the State of Delaware and on Long Island, New York, demonstrated the practicability of the system, the selection and construction of a network of seven stations was undertaken with the stations reaching from Delaware to Greenland.

Upon the completion of research and development work by the NDRC, the Coast Guard took over the operation of the Loran stations. The Bureau of Ships supplied electronic equipment and the communications branch of CNO exercised overall control. NDRC personnel remained on hand at the stations as long as necessary to train Coastguardsmen in the operation of the stations.

In the fall of 1942, the installation of Loran receivers was started on ships of the Atlantic Fleet. By January 1943, the chain of Atlantic Loran stations

began operating. The chain extended from Fenwick, Delaware to Fredericksdal, Greenland. By the time the British began the construction of a Loran chain to cover th eastern North Atlantic, the Coast Guard was in position to assist in the selection of stations site and in training personnel.⁶¹

The Pacific Loran program was started in September 1942. It provided detachmentl were used, moving from one site to the next followed by the operating personnel. This procedure was notably different form that followed in the Atlantic where most of the construction personnel of each unit remained to operate the station.⁶²

In March 1944, the Senior Coast Guard Officer of the 14th Naval Distrtict was directed to assist in the administration of the Pacific Loran chains. In January 1946, all twenty-four stations were placed directly under the Honolulu Coast Guard District. Operating these stations became an increasingly difficult task due to their remoteness, lack of transportation, and demobilization of personnel. Arrangements were made with Army and Naval facilities where available to keep the remote stations provisioned and supplied with other needs.⁶³

Radio Direction Finder, Radar Beacon Programs. Medium frequency radio direction finders (MF-DF) stations were transferred to Coast Guard cognizance by the Navy Department on July 1, 1941. Coast Guard personnel operating these stations reported to the Naval District Commandants until early 1`946, when, due to the decreasing importance of MF-DF, (by then Loran and Racon were utilized for the same purposes with more reliable results) this service was curtailed.

The Navy Department in 1944 assigned to the Coast Guard the responsibility for the operation and maintenance of all shore-based radar beacon (Racon) stations. These had been established originally by the Navy. In January 1945, twenty-four Racon stations were scheduled for Coast Guard operation and within six months forty-seven stations were being operated by the Coast Guard.⁶⁴

Radio Communication Program. Before the war, the Coast Guard Radio Laboratory at Forty Hunt, Virginia had been working with the Navy on a

number of communication development projects. This work was continued during the war, particularly on the improvement and standardization of sea and air communication equipment. By the end of the war, the Coast Guard owned and operated 24 radio communication stations. In addition the Coast Guard operated five leased commercial stations for handling Allied Merchant Vessel Messages (BAMS), weather report broadcasting and hydrographic reports.⁶⁵

A CNO directive of a January 1943 made the Chief Communications Officer of the Coast Guard responsible for the allocation of radio, radar, sonar, and other electronic devices to Coast Guard activities.

Port Security and Beach Patrol. These were among the most important duties of the Coast Guard during World War II. The Coast Guard began to acquire responsibilities in the area of port security when the President issued Executive Order 8233 of 5 September 1939 prescribing regulations governing the enforcement of the neutrality of the United States. The Coast Guard was at that time still under the Treasury Department. Local enforcement of the neutrality regulations became the responsibility of the Captain of the Port (COTP), a senior Coast Guard officer. Statutory enforcement powers for safeguarding United States harbors were given to the COTP organization shortly thereafter.⁶⁶

After the Coast Guard was transferred to the Navy Department, these responsibilities were further spelled out in Executive Order 9074 of 25 February 1942. The Secretary of the Navy was given the primary responsibility for safeguarding vessels, harbors, ports, and waterfront facilities in the United States, and in Alaska, the Territory of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands against destruction, loss or injury from sabotage, or such waterfront facilities as were directly operated by the War Department. This responsibility was assigned in turn to the Coast Guard and a overall administration of these activities. A high-ranking Coast Guard officer was stationed on each coast to coordinate port security activities in the several districts.

In this connection, the COTP's duties included issuing and checking identification cards, fire fighting, patrolling waterfront areas, inspecting ships and warehouses, enforcing anchorage regulations, supervising the handling of explosives and ammunition, monitoring United States, Allied and neutral merchant ship radio transmissions, controlling harbor traffic, issuing movement licenses and providing armed guards on board all vessels transiting vital inland waterways such as Sault Ste. Marine locks.

The COTP had, however, no authority over Army and Naval ships or foreign troop and combatant ships.⁶⁷

At the peak of the port control activity some 31,000 regular port security personnel were engaged in this duty ashore, and some 10,400 afloat. Simultaneously, volunteer port security forces, composed of the Temporary Reservists and Coast Guard Auxiliaries, augmented regular port security personnel. The volunteer port security force at one time during the war was estimated as exceeding 50,000, all but a few serving without remuneration. Over 1800 small craft, including 253 fireboats, were enrolled for this work.⁶⁸

After Germany's defeat, port security activities on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts were relaxed; vessel movements, licenses, vessel examinations, and identification cards were no longer required. Pacific coast port security remained taut until the Japanese surrender. The port security program was terminated on January 1, 1946.

The Beach Patrol became independent of Port Security control on July 26, 1942 by order of the Coast Guard Commandant in accordance with an Army-Navy agreement concerning joint responsibilities for coastal defense. The Beach Patrol, composed of Regular and Reserve Coastguardsmen, had the following primary functions:

1. Detection, observation, and reporting enemy vessels in coastal waters.
2. Reporting and preventing attempts at hostile landings.
3. Prevention of ship-shore communications.

At the height of the program approximately 24,000 men, 2,000 dogs, 315 small craft and 3,000 horses patrolled the United States coastline utilizing Coast Guard lighthouses and life-saving stations as lookout and information posts in the ten coastal districts.⁶⁹

The Beach Patrol comprised one segment of the district Inshore Patrol, a major division of the Naval Local Defense Forces (NLDF); it was headed by a district Beach Patrol Officer. This officer was responsible to the Senior Coast Guard Officer for routine administration, but was militarily accountable to the Naval District Commandant. In mid-October 1944, Beach Patrol activities were largely terminated, except for a few on the Pacific coast.

Air-Sea Rescue. Rescue at sea and lifesaving were traditional responsibilities of the Coast Guard and its predecessor organizations. The difficulties connected with this work and the areas to be covered increased enormously when, early in 1942, the rescue of survivors from torpedoed ships

Helping Hand of the Coast Guard.
A wounded Marine is hoisted from a landing craft manned by Coast Guardsmen. Scene near Eniwetok Atoll.

and crashed aircraft were added to those from the normal hazards of the sea. Partly in recognition of this situation, a joint CNO-CominCh directive on the subject of organization and operation of rescue and salvage services was issued on 28 February 1942, informing COmmanders in Chief of Fleets, Commanders of Sea Frontiers, Commandants of Naval Districts, and all bureaus and offices of the Navy Department that rescue operations would be responsibility of the seagoing operating forces under the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet; salvage operations on ships and their cargoes the responsibility of the shore establishment under instructions issued by the Bureau of Ships.

It was directed that, as a broad general rule, area Commanders-in-Chief would initiate rescue work in the case of disasters occurring more than 500 miles from the shorelines of sea frontiers and Commanders of Sea frontiers would initiate such operations between land and the 500 mile limit. The directive went into some detail as to the steps to be taken to coordinate the activities of all of the services that might possibly be able to cooperate in the rescue work.

The public became very air-sea rescue conscious when the experiences of famous cast-aways such as Colonel Edward Rickenbacker and others were published early in the war. As a result the Office of Strategic Services began taking an interest in such incidents. That office was quick to recognize the publicity value of sea rescue incidents as the press was constantly looking fo war stories that could be written without running afoul of security regulations. The Coast Guard had considered its rescue experiences all in the days work and was not inclined to exploit the publicity aspects of such work. A proposition was put before the Joint Chiefs of Staff by OSS toward the end of 1942 which would in effect have set up air-sea rescue as an autonomous service under the OSS practically independent of Coast Guard, Navy, or Army Air Forces control. The Joint Chiefs of Staff were not willing to go along with this proposition although they recognized the importance of improving air-sea rescue equipment in every way possible and of providing for the maximum coordination and cooperation between the services and air-sea rescue operations.

In the endeavor to make improvements along these lines, Memorandum No. 58 was drawn up by the JCS under which the Navy Department was directed to assume responsibility for:

1. Coordinating the work of Service and other governmental agencies concerned with methods, techniques, and procedures for emergency rescue equipment.

2. Assembling, evaluating, and disseminating to such agencies

information relating to these matters and recommending appropriate action in connection therewith.

3. Maintaining liaison with agencies of other United Nations (such as the British Ministry Air-Sea Rescue) concerned with these matters.

To implement this responsibility, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations requested the Coordinator of Research and Development of the Navy Department under date of 20 April 1942 "to undertake the leadership in getting cooperation and action from the several government departments and agencies in the matter of improving and developing emergency rescue equipment."

A Liaison Committee with the Coordinator of Research and Development as its chairman was set up, consisting of representative from the Army Air Forces, the Army Ground Forces, the Maritime Commission, the Office of Scientific Research and Development, and the Office of Strategic Services, to consider, pass on and recommend improvements in equipment and procedures. This committee held frequent meetings. At the working level a division was formed in the Coordinator's office to which were assigned representatives of the War Department, the Navy Department, the Office of Strategic Services, and the Coast Guard. A senior Coast Guard officer, after an inspection trip to England to inform himself on British air-sea rescue practices, headed the Division as the executive assistant of the CRD to direct, coordinate, and follow up the work, especially the practical aspects of sea rescue operations.⁷⁰ A technical advisory committee was established with representatives form some twenty-five government offices and agencies. An exhibit of rescue equipment was mounted in space furnished by the Quartermaster General of the Army, conveniently located in Washington, D.C. The exhibit served the very useful purpose of providing one place where all survival and rescue equipment in use or under development could be displayed for comparison, investigations, and studies by all services. Civilian personnel were furnished by the OSS to look after the equipment and to staff the exhibit offices.

A very active program of research and development was undertaken for the creation and improvement of such things of special radio sets for lifeboats and life rafts, special signalling devices, rescue pyrotechnics, rubber raft designs, shark repellents, desalination of seawater, signalling mirrors, exposure clothing, corner reflectors for life rafts, and some 35 other items including tests and investigations of existing equipment and procedural studies. In their enthusiasm the OSS personnel sometimes got out of hand as they were not inclined to work in channels in evaluating and procuring equipment and in setting up operating procedures. To those with

experience in working in complex and far flung organizations such as the armed services, it was obvious that by-passing the regular channels could lead only to confusion and delays, and that eventually cognizance of air-sea rescue development and coordination of operations should be concentrated under one of the regular services.

The Coordinator of Research and Development came to the conclusion that the logical place for air-sea rescue responsibility in all its aspects and phases was the Coast Guard and so reported in July 1943.⁷¹ Early in 1944, the development of equipment and the coordination of operations had reached the point where this could be done. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, on 15 February 1944, requested the Secretary of the Navy to establish an Air-Sea Rescue Agency reporting to the Commandant of the Coast Guard.⁷² In March 1944, a series of implementing directives was issued by the Secretary of the Navy and CominCh setting up such an Agency and calling on it to continue research and development on equipment, and particularly to coordinate air-sea rescue doctrine and procedures. The Commandant of the Coast Guard was designated "Head" of the Air-Sea Rescue Agency (ASRA) and reported to the CNO. A Board composed of officers from the Navy, Army Ground Forces, Army Air Forces, and Coast Guard was set up to advise the agency on overall policies, and procedures; and equipment.

Late in August 1944, the establishment of Sea Frontier rescue centers was made mandatory with provision for cooperation with the Army Air Forces rescue organization The Coast Guard was to furnish the bulk of the air-sea rescue personnel and was to be prepared to take over full responsibility for these activities at the end of the war.⁷³ As early as mid-March 1944, the Coast Guard Commandant had requested that Coast Guard officers be assigned to staffs of Sea Frontiers, Naval Districts, and area commanders as air-sea rescue officers. This request was granted and by late 1944 most of these commands had air-sea rescue officers and their staff.

On 20 December 1944, the Coast Guard Commandant stated that the search and rescue facilities in the United States seemed adequate, but that efficient inter-service (Army Ground Forces, Army Air Forces, Navy) collaboration, coordination, and planning was lacking overseas. He recommended the elimination of redundant facilities, the adoption of common

air-sea rescue doctrine and the establishment of joint operations centers.⁷⁴ As a result of these recommendations, CominCh instructed Sea Frontier Commanders to draft joint air-sea rescue plans with provision for centralized, inter-Service operational control, but no action was taken on this at the time.⁷⁵

The Coast Guard and the Navy Department were unable to persuade the Army Air Forces to standardize all equipment not to come to an understanding on a common doctrine. The ASRA did not achieve this end as it was only an advisory body and could not enforce standardization and coordination of the air-sea rescue efforts of all of the services. The Army Air Forces believed that in its own field it could cope with rescue work over land and sea more effectively than the Coast Guard. Army Air Force members of the ASRA held to the opinion that air-sea rescue administration should be a direct function of the Joint Chiefs of Staff rather than of the Navy Department.⁷⁶ This the Navy and Coast Guard representatives considered fundamentally unsound as it would have put the Joint Chiefs of Staff into operations contrary to the philosophy underlying a staff organization.⁷⁷

Experience with the air-sea rescue program provides a striking example of the problems that must be confronted in time of war in de eloping and adopting equipment and procedures that are of vital interest to many activities. Representatives of the office of Strategic Services took the view that all such work should be freed from traditional military organizational restraint in wartime. This the Navy Department and the Coast Guard felt was too narrow a view to take as these services had experience that it would have been foolish to jettison, and had responsibilities for rescue work that would extend beyond the war emergency. The regulars of the Coast Guard and the Navy had to play the unspectacular role of being guided in large measure by the experience of the past. Thus they were often placed in the unenviable position of having to curb the enthusiasm of amateurs. The wise career officer is, however, aware that automatic resistance to change is normal in many government employees and that any kind of inquiry into the current status of equipment and practices is, by

many, resented at once as a criticism. The main problem of the regular services i usually to find a reasonable compromise between the enthusiasm and fresh point of view of the amateur and the conservatism and experience of the professional.

Demobilization and Return to Treasury. The Coast Guard was returned to the Treasury Department on January 1, 1946 by Executive Order 9666 dated December 28, 1945. The Secretaries of the Treasury and the Navy were to control the rate of demobilization. If any dispute in this connection occurred, the Secretary of the Navy's plans were to prevail. The Executive Order further authorized the Navy's retention of certain Coast Guard units after January 1, 1946, if necessary to effect an orderly demobilization. The cut-off date for final return of all Coast Guard activities to the Treasury was set at July 1, 1946. Air-sea rescue stations, mid-ocean weather stations, air-sea navigational aids stations, certain Coast Guard personnel manning Naval vessels, and cutter units of the Greenland Patrol were retained by the Navy until that date. The Navy supplied all facilities and equipment needed by these activities for their maintenance and operation after January 1, 1946.

By the end of fiscal 1946, the Coast Guard's demobilization form the Navy was virtually complete. The Secretary of the Navy, upon the occasion of the Coast Guard's return to the Treasury Department stated "During the arduous war years, the Coast Guard has earned the highest respect and deepest appreciation of the Navy and Marine Corps. It's performance of duty has been, without exception, in keeping with the highest traditions of the naval service."⁷⁸

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Footnotes

1. U.S. Code, Title 14:2-3.

2. 3 Code of Federal Regulations, cum. supp., Executive Order 8929, p. 296. Hereafter referred to as 3CFR, cum. supp.

3. "Transfer of the Coast Guard to the Navy" in Coast Guard Administrative Activities During National Emergency Preceding Transfer to the Navy July 1939-Nov 1, 1841 (Collection of official typewritten Monographs in Coast Guard Commandant's Library, Washington, D.C.) p. 108.

4. 38 U.S. Stat. at L. (1915), 800-802. Italics inserted by author.

5. SecNav ltr to CominCh-CNO, 30 March 1942, ET 14/A3-1 (420330) The U.S. Coast Guard--Its Functions and Its Place in the Governmental Structure. U.S. 78th Cong., 2nd ess. H .Doc., 88 (Washington, 1944), pp. 1010-1011. Based on Coast Guard Commander's hearing before Congressional Committee, 12 May 1944. Hereafter referred to as The U.S. Coast Guard Functions.

6. SecNav ltr to CominCh-CNO, 30 March 1942, ET 14/A3-1 (420330).

7. The U.S. Coast Guard Functions, U.S. 78th Cong., 2nd sess., H. Doc. 88 (Washington: 1944), pp. 1010-11.

8. 38 U.S. Stat. at L. (28 January 2925), 800-03.

9. Horatio Davis Smith, Captain, USRCS, Early History of the United States Revenue Cutter Service, 1789-1849, (n.p., Naval Historical Foundation, 1932), pp. 1-2.

10. 1 U.S. Sat. at L. (2 March 1799), 700.

11. Stephen Hadley Evans, Captain, USCG, The United States Coast Guard (A Definitive History), Annapolis, Md., U.S. Naval Institute, 1944, pp. 4, 210-211.

12. F.R. Eldridge, LtComdr, USCGR(T), "They Have to Go Out." An Historical Sketch of the U.S. Coast Guard 1790-1946, prepared in the Historical Section, Public Information Division, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters (Washington, D.C., July 1955), pp. 19-21; The U.S. Coast Guard Functions. U.S> 78th Cong., 2nd sess., H. Doc. 88 (Washington: 1944), p. 103; Evans, op.cit, pp. 100-102.

13. "Transfer of the Coast Guard to the Navy" in Coast Guard Administration Activities During National Emergency Preceding Transfer to the Navy July 1939-November 1, 1941 (Collection of unpublished monographs in Coast Guard Commandant's Library, Washington 25, D.C.), p. 106.

14. The Coast Guard at War, prepared in Public Information Division, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Coast Guard, May 1, 1950), Vol. XXV, pp. 7-8.

15. U.S. Coast Guard District Manual and Mobilization Plan, hereafter referred to as USCG DM & Plan, (Unpublished rev. ed., Washington, D.C.: U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 17 Nov 1941), pp. 9-11. The 1940 and the 1941 Plans were largely identical. Since the November 1941 plan was actually utilized it is covered at some length.

16. Change No. 1 to USCG DM & M Plan, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters (Washington, D.C., 13 November 1941), p. 1; Director of Budget and Reports ltr to Director General, O.P.M. (undated), ET14/A9(411119).

17. USCG DM & M Plan (Unpublished rev. ed., USCG Headquarters, Washington, D.C., 17 November 1941), p. 19.

18. "Consolidation of Lighthouse Service," contained in Coast Guard Administrative Activities During the National Emergency Preceding Transfer to the Navy--July 1939--November 1, 1941, pp. 6-7; Study of United States Coast Guard, Ebasco Service Inc. (New York: Ebasco Services Incorporated, January 1948) Administrative Management Division, Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, Table, f.p. 202. Coast Guard Bulletin, United States Coast Guard (Washington, D.C., December 1941), Vol. I, p. 236.

19. 53 U.S. Stat. at L. (23 June 1939), p. 854.

20. 55 U.S. Stat. at L. (19 February 1941), 9.

21. "Coast Guard Reserve and Auxiliary" contained in typewritten volume Coast Guard Administrative Activities During National Emergency Preceding Transfer to the Navy--July 1939-November 1941, (Collection of unpublished monographs in Coast Guard Commandant's Library, Washington, D.C.), p. 14; The Coast Guard at War, Historical Section, Public Information Division, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters (Washington, DC.: 1 January 1948), Vol. XX, [Temporary Reserve], pp. 407.

22. 55 U.S. Stat. at L. (July 1941), 597.

23. "Consolidation of Lighthouse Service," contained in Coast Guard Administrative Activities During the National Emergency Preceding Transfer to the Navy--July 1939-November 1, 1941, p. 7.

24.53 Stat. at L. (August 5, 1939), 1216; 53 U.S. Stat. at L. (August 1939), 1343.

25. 40 U.S. Stat. at L. (15 June 1917), 220.

26. 49 U.S. Stat. at L. (22 June 1936), 1820.

27. For a more detailed discussion of Coast Guard mobilization deliberations, see: "Transfer of the Coast Guard to the Navy" in Coast Guard Administrative Activities During National Emergency Preceding Transfer to the Navy July 1939-Nov 1, 1941 (Collection of official typewritten monographs in Coast Guard Commandant's Library, Washington, D.C.), pp. 116-118. Hereafter referred to as Coast Guard Administrative Activities.

28. 3 CFR, 1941 supp. Executive Order 8929, p. 296.

29. On 17 November 1941 a revised edition of the District Manual and Mobilization Plan was promulgated to the Coast Guard. It was adapted to current developments with respect to administration, operation, and fiscal practices while operating under the Navy. The 1941 Plan superseded the 1940 Plan and the former was followed closely in the final stages of mobilization.

30. 55 U.S. Stat. at L. (15 November 1941), 763.

31. U.S. Coast Guard Bulletin, Treasury Department, Vol. I, p. 262.

32. CominCh-CNO ltr to Commandant, USCG, 7 April 1942, SO 5042. Part Three of the USCG DM and M P)Lan, 17 November 1941 "Administration when Operating Under the Navy," and CNO ltr to USCG Commandant, Naval District Commandants, 28 February 1942, Op-32/SC-661(10132) were rescinded.

33. Director of Budget and Reports Memorandum, 19 November 1941, to Director General, Office of Production Management, ET 14/A9 (411119) in Coast Guard Assistant Commandant's Office File Folder 1941-1944 (Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, D.C.)

34. CominCh-CNO ltr to Commandant, USCG, 7 April 1942, SO 5042.

35. Admiral Russell R. Waesche, USCG, was born on 6 January 1886 in Thurmont, Maryland. He graduated from the Revenue Cutter Service Academy in 1906. While stationed in Washington in 1915 he took an active part in effecting the coordination of the Revenue Cutter Service and the lifesaving Service. he was on duty at headquarters during World War I and after the war had sea service in various capacities on a number of ships. In February 1932 he became Liaison Officer in the War Plans Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department. After completion of this duty he served ultimately as Aide to the Coast Guard Commandant, Chief of the Finance Division, and Assistant Commandant. He was appointed Commandant in 1936 and was largely responsible for the merger of the Lighthouse Service with the Coast Guard in 1939. He was also instrumental in organizing a strong Coast Guard Reserve. Despite illness contracted early in the war, Admiral Waesche directed the Coast Guard until his retirement in December 1945. In March, 1946, President Truman nominated the ten top wartime Generals and Admirals of the United States Armed Forces who were to retain permanently their wartime rank. Admiral Waesche was one of them. Admiral Waesche died on 7 October 1946.

36. USCG Commandant ltr, 17 January 1945 to VCNO (no serial), Subj: Proposed reassignment of functions within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

37. The Coast Guard Commandant in Washington supervised direclty the administration of tyhe Coast Guard Academy, Maritime Service, Coast Guard Yard at Baltimore, and the Field Inspection Service.

38. SecNav ltr to all Ships and Stations, 4 June 1945, Op13-ic-jc (221713).

39. Coast Guard Commandant ltr to CNO of 9 February 1945, n.d., n.s.

40. From "Coast Guard Personnel Growth Chart" in Report of the Secretary of the Navy--Fiscal 1945, p. A-15.

41. 55 U.S. Stat. at L. (1941), 584-88; 56 U.S. Stat. at L. (1942). Temporary Reserves were assigned duties in connection with port security, pilotage, guard duty, weather prediction, etc., After 31 December 1942, most temporaries served without pay.

42. Annual Report of Operations, United States Coast Guard, Fiscal Years 1943-1945. (Coast Guard Commandant's office, Washington, D.C.)

43. Annual Report of Operations, United States Coast Guard, Fiscal Years 1942, 1945 (Coast Guard Headquarters, Wasington, D.C.)

44. 56 U.S. Stat. at L. (1942), 1020-21. By the passage of an act in September 1944, SPARS were authorized to be assigned to Alaskan and Haqwaiian activities.

45. The Coast Guard at War, Historical Section, Public Information Division, U.S. Coast Guard Headqularters (Washington, D.C., September 1, 1951). Volume XXVIII, pp. 26-27.

46. Annual Secretary of the Navy Report--Fiscal Year 1945, (Washington, D.C.: 1946), pp. A-120-21.

47. Annual Report of Operations, United States Coast Guard, Fiscal Years 1942-1945 (Washington, : 1943).

48. 55 U.S. Stat. at L. (July 11, 1941) 584-588. By this act the Secretary of the Treasury had been authorized "... to negotiate contracts on behalf of the Coast Guard for acquisition, construction, repair or alteration of complete Coast Guard vessels or aircraft, or any portion thereof, including plans, spare parts, and equipment thereof. ..." Later this authorization was transferred to the Coast Guard Commandant.

49. The Coast Guard at War, Historical Section, Public Information Division, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters (Washington, D.C., September 1, 1951), Vol. XXVIII, p. 4.

50. Annual Report of Operations, United States Coast Guard--Fiscal Years 1943, 1946 (Washington, D.C.: 1943).

51. The Coast Guard at War, Historical Section, Public Information Division, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters (Washington, D.C., January 1, 1954), Vol. XXIV, p. 24. In the Coast Guard organization the Divisions are component parts of an Office.

52. The Coast Guard at War, Historical Section, Public Information Division, U.S. Coat Guard Headquarters (Washington, D.C., January 1, 1954). Vol. XXIV, -pp. 33-4. Annual Report of Operations, United States Coast Guard, Fiscal Year Ended--30 June 1944, p. 9.

53. The Coast Guard at War, (Washington, D.C. 1946), Vol. XXIV, pp. 17-18. Administrative History, Bureau of Supplies and Accounts (Prepared by Historical Section, BuSandA), Vol. III, pp. 65-6.

54. Theodore Le Blanc, "Coast Guard Medical Service," Hospital Corps Quarterly, Volume 18 (September, 1945), pp. 73-74, 78.

55. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy--Fiscal 1942, pp. 51-2; The Coast Guard at War, Vol. XXVI, p. 6.

56. Annual Report of Coast Guard Operations--Fiscal Years 1943, 1945.

57. Edward H. Foley, Jr., "The Coast Guard," Air Affairs--An American Journal, Volume III, (Autumn 1949), pp. 131-2.

58. Annual Secretary of the Navy Report--Fiscal Year 1945, (Washington, D.C.: 1946), pp. A120-1.

59. The Coast Guard at War, (August 1, 1947), Vol XVI, part 1, pp. 28-31. Whne Op0-20E was disbanded in October 1945, Op-413 (Electronic Section) continued to coordinate the Navy-Coast Guard electronic program.

60. The Coast Guard at War (May 1, 1946), VOl. IV, part 1, p. 1. LCDR Lawrence M. Harding, USCG, held this important position.

61. The Coast Guard at War (May 1, 1946), Vol. IV, part 1, pp. 104-110.

62. The Coast Guard at War (1 August 1946), Vol. IV, part 2, pp. 9, 19-21.

63. The Coast Guard at War (January 1, 1954), Vol. XXIV, p. 7. The most remote of these stations was 4600 miles from Honolulu headquarters.

64. The Coast Guard (June 1, 1948), Vol. XXX, pp. 21-4.

65. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy--Fiscal 1945, p. A-119.

66. 54 U.S. Stat. at L. (9 October 1940), 19023-29; 55 U.S. Stat. at L. (11 July 1941), 584.

67. CominCh-CNO ltr to District Coast Guard Officrs, Commandant, USCG, Naval District Commandants dated 13 June 1942, Op30/mmd so. Ser. 1636.

68. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy--Fiscal Year 1945, p. A-119.

69. Ibid.

70. Captain L. B. Olson, USCG.

71. Rear Admiral J.A. Furer, USN, Coordinator of Research and Development ltr of 26 July 1943 to Joint Chiefs of Staff via Vice Chief of Naval Operations.

72. Joint Chiefs of Staff memorandum to Secretary of the Navy, 15 February 1944, so 2-19-225.

73. CominCh-CNO ltr to Commandant, Coast Guard, Sea Frontier Commanders dated 25 August 1944, FF1/H2 serial 6604.

74. Coast Guard Commandant memorandum of 20 December 1944 to CominCh-CNO, (CRA)-GC-CRA.

75. CominCh-CNO ltr to Sea Frontier Commanders, undated FF1/H4.

76. Commandant, USCG, ltr to CominCh, 11 June 1945, (CG-105 L)-841.

77. There was so much controversy over the administration of air-sea rescue work during the war that it is of interest ot note what happened to this activity after the war. The Air-Sea Rescue Agency (ADRA) continued to guide policy, procedures, and the development of equipment as an advisory body until the end of teh Korean conflict, then it fell into disuse and was abolished on 1 July 1955. The Coast Guard has retained its statutory responsibility for promoting safety on the high seas and on the territorial waters of the United States and for providing rescue facilities for carrying out these responsibilities. It strives for the cooperation of other government services in meeting its safety at sea and rescue responsibilities.

78. As quoted in The United States Coast Guard: Extract from the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances for the Fiscal Year 1046. p. 98.