This Day in Coast Guard History – April 27

1865-The boilers on the 260-foot wooden-hulled steamboat Sultana exploded while the vessel was traveling on the Mississippi River near Memphis.  Sultana, although designed to carry a maximum of 376 passengers, actually embarked over 2,400, most of whom were Union prisoners of war recently released from captivity.  The explosion and consequent fire killed over 1,800 and ranks to this day as the worst commercial maritime disaster in U.S. history.

1949- When a C-47 of the Military Air Transport Service developed engine trouble and ditched near CGC Sebago on Weather Station "Dog," some 380 miles from Newfoundland, a motor self-bailing boat from the cutter immediately picked up the plane's crew of four. Although the C-47 sank within 12 minutes, there were no injuries or casualties.

1966- After a U.S. Air Force B-57 was reported overdue, the U.S. Coast Guard Eastern Area Commander commenced an intensive air search.  The two-day, large-scale, over water search for the missing aircraft, all of which was coordinated by the Coast Guard, unfortunately, yielded negative results.

1989- President George H. W. Bush dedicated the Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence Center East, otherwise known as C3I, in south Florida.  The facility, manned by Coast Guard and Customs personnel, was designed to give law enforcement agencies instant access to air and marine smuggling information.

(Source: USCG Historian’s Office)