This Day in U.S. Coast Guard History - May 2

1882-An Act of Congress (22 Stat. L., 55, 58), in an attempt to protect the Lifesaving Service from the evils of the "spoils System," declared that "the appointments of District superintendents, inspectors, and keepers and crews of life-saving stations shall be made solely with reference to their fitness and without reference to their political or party affiliations."

 

1932- Northern Pacific Halibut Act re-enacted Act of 7 June 1924, after Convention with Canada and made it unlawful to catch halibut between 1st November and 15th February each year in territorial waters of United States and Canada and on high seas, extending westerly from them, including the Bering Sea. Coast Guard enforced this Act.

 

1942-Coast Guard plane V-167 rescued two from a torpedoed freighter.

 

1942-Coast Guard prewar search and rescue procedure discontinued for security reasons.

 

1943-CG-58012 exploded and sank off Manomet Point, Massachusetts.  No lives lost.

 

1995-Part of the Upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers rose above the flood stage, flooding areas in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky.  Coast Guard Disaster Response Units conducted SAR duties and assisted local authorities.  On 16 May MSO St. Louis closed all 366 miles of the Missouri River to all traffic.   The Secretary of Transportation authorized the involuntary recall of 300 reservists.  However, only 143 were called to duty.  Coast Guard Forces Paducah was at the epicenter of flood-relief operations with five DRUs working in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and the Olive Branch, Illinois, area.  Coast Guard aircraft, including an HH-60 Jayhawk from AIRSTA Clearwater (the 2nd District had no air station) provided daily overflight and SAR missions.  CGC Sangamon was used as a staging platform for those working near Meridosa, Illinois.  Two DRU teams aided Meridosa and surrounding communities with emergency evacuations, ferrying emergency supplies and reinforcing threatened levees.  Coast Guardsmen were also called in to Slidell, Louisiana, where the evacuated 285 flood victims to safety.

 

(Source: USCG Historian’s Office)