This Day in Coast Guard History – September 1

1789-An act of Congress provided for the registering and clearing of vessels and the regulation of the coastwise trade, thus laying the foundation of American navigation laws which, until 1912, embodied the marine policy of the United States.

1894-An armed guard of Revenue Cutter Service personnel were placed on the Pribiloff Islands to protect seals.

1938-The Coast Guard assumed responsibility for the Maritime Service.

1939-The armed forces of Nazi Germany invaded Poland, beginning World War II.

1942- On 1 September 1942 Joseph C. Jenkins was given a temporary promotion to warrant officer (Boatswain); becoming the first African-American warrant officer in the Coast Guard.

1942- The Coast Guard transferred responsibility for running the merchant marine training programs to the War Shipping Administration.

1944-CGC Northland captured the crew of a scuttled Nazi supply trawler off Greenland.  They had been attempting to establish a weather station on the coast of Greenland.

1977-Bobby C. Wilks became the first African American in the Coast Guard to reach the rank of captain.  He was also the first African American Coast Guard aviator (Coast Guard aviator No. 735).  He later became the first African American to command a Coast Guard air station. 

1983-On 1 September 1983 Korean Airlines Flight 007 (KAL-007) strayed off course into Soviet airspace and was shot down by a Soviet fighter aircraft just west of Sakhalin island.  All 269 persons on board were killed, including Congressman Larry P. McDonald from Georgia.  CGC Munro, on a diplomatic mission to Tokyo, joined in the international SAR effort but no survivors were found.  Munro then assisted in the search for the airliner's black box and recovered debris.  The cutter also safely rescued from the sea all four crewmen of a downed LAMPs helicopter from the USS Badger.  The Munro received the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation for her part in the SAR and recovery efforts.

2008-CGC Dallas visited the port of Sevastopol, Ukraine during a historic voyage through the Black Sea that included delivering relief supplies to Georgia.

(Source: USCG Historian’s Office)