This Day in U.S. Coast Guard History – November 29

1808-Secretary of Treasury Gallatin requested 12 new cutters at a cost of $120,000 to enforce "laws which prohibit exportation and restrain importations" to support the embargo ordered by President Thomas Jefferson.  President Jefferson had ordered an embargo against most European imports and exports to protest the harassment of U.S. sailors by warring European powers.  The embargo did not work.  The United States went to war with England in 1812 but Revenue Cutter Service got the ships.

1877-The first annual report of the U.S. Lifesaving Service was submitted in published form to the Secretary of the Treasury.

1969-The German freighter Nordmeer ran aground on the Thunder Bay Shoal in Lake Huron. Most of her crew safely evacuated to a nearby ship but eight crewmen remained on board to attempt to save their vessel.  The weather quickly deteriorated, however, and they radioed for assistance.  A Coast Guard helicopter and the icebreaker Mackinaw responded and safely evacuated the eight men while the freighter broke up.

(Source: USCG Historian’s Office)