he last two states to join the Union, Alaska and Hawaii, encompass some of the most rugged and isolated terrain in the United States. Since the 19th century, the Coast Guard and its predecessor agencies have enforced maritime laws, assisted distressed mariners and insured that ships were safely outfitted for sea in these remote areas. The story of this service to others begins with three small federal mar .. itime organizations. It is important to trace these agencies for they laid the foundations of today's Coast Guard. Two of the three organizations domi.. nate the maritime history of both these unique states.
Alaska and Hawaii, a brief history of Coast Guard operations, is a publication by the Coast Guard Historian's office, May 1991. Research and manuscript by Dr. Dennis L. Noble. Editing and design by PA1 Barbara Voulgaris. Right photo: Artist's rendition of the revenue cutter Bear rescuing trapped whalers off Alaska's northern coast in the late 1800s. Front cover: Coast Guardsman Harry R. Crum waits for rhe CGC Kukui to arrive at LORAN Station Potangeras Island, Ulithi Atoll in 1949. Back cover: Coast Guardsmen march in a Fourth of July parade in Ketchikan, Alaska, circa 1945. Alaska & Hawaii / 2 he U.S. Lighthouse Service The great gold rush of 1897-1898 the Bering Sea. Scotch Cap Light, had the earliest impact on brought many ships into the new located on the Pacific Ocean side of T the maritime histories of terri tory. The 14 buoys and one Unimak Pass, the main passage Alaska and Hawaii. beacon at this time were the only through the Aleutian IslanJs, was In 1716, the first North aids to help guide ships through the first lit on June 18, 1903. This was American lighthouse was estab difficult channels and rocky coast Alaska's first coastal light. The lished, but it was not until 1852 line. It was inevitable, then, that a tower was an octagonal wooden that the first light towers were built great many ships and lives would be one, which rose some 90 feet above on the West Coast. lost. the sea. When the U.S. bought Alaska To augment the aids, Congress Cape Sarichef Light, established from Russia in 1867, a light was appropriated $100,000 in 1900 to July 1, 1904, was the second coastal already established at Sitka. This establish lighthouses in Alaskan lighthouse and marks the western light was located in the cupola of waters. Eleven lights were recom passage through Unimak Pass. It the Baranof Castle, with a seal oil mended for Southeastern Alaska was the only U.S. manned light lamp and a large reflector. and four for the Western coast. house located on the Bering Sea. Since Washington lawmakers In June 1901 the Lighthouse By the 1930s, 16 lighthouses dotted were not completely convinced of Service let contracts to build struc the Alaskan coastline. the wisdom of Secretary of State tures at Southeast Five Fingers Alaska was and still is the fron William H. Seward's purchase of Island and at Sentinel Island. tier of U.S. civilization and some of Alaska, Congress made little effort These went into operation March 1, the stations were extremely isolated. to fund any activities in this "ice 1902. At Scotch Cap and Cape Sarichef, box," so the Lighthouse Service dis From 1902 to 1905 there was a for example, "two of the most isolat continued the light. The U.S. flurry of building on the Inside ed lighthouses in the United Army, however, maintained it until Passage to Skagway. A total of States," keepers were not allowed to 1877. seven lights were constructed. All bring their families. The Lighthouse Service gradually of the early lights in the territory In one period, from August 1912 added more aids to navigation. In were built of wood and eventually to June 1913, keepers at Cape 1884, 14 iron buoys were set and a had to be rebuilt. Sarichef were not resupplied. Their beacon light in Sitka's harbor fol In 1903, the government built nearest neighbor was a trapper some lowed in 1895. two lights to help ships bound for 10 miles away. Due to the priva
3 / Alaska & Hawaii Left: Southeast Five Finger Light, Alaska, as it looked in 1929. Above: Sentinel Island Light Station. These lights were the first U.S. built lighthouses in Alaska. Both lights, built of wood, began operating in 1902. Photo courtesy of the Alaska State Historical Library. tions they endured, keepers at these The lights were made a subdistrict ed of two "ordinary kitchen lamps." two stations carried one year's leave of the Twelfth Lighthouse District, Only one lighthouse, Diamond every four years. which included California. Head, had a Fresnel lens, the stan In 1898, just over 20 years after When the service obtained this dard device for good illumination. acquiring Alaska, the U.S. annexed added responsibility, there were 19 Without this type lens, the beam Hawaii. The territorial government lighthouses, 20 daymarks and 20 was weak and of limited use to was first responsible for aids to navi buoys, along with some 16 private mariners. gation, many of which dated back to aids maintained by steamboat com The Lighthouse Service set out the Spanish period. panies on the islands. to improve the aids in the islands. The Barbers Point Light, for In general, the condition of the It installed Fresnel lenses and example, was first displayed in 1888. system was, in the words of one rebuilt old towers. It bought private But on January 1, 1904, President inspector, "very crude." For exam aids and conducted a survey to Theodore Roosevelt transferred this ple, the lamps at Kanahene Point, determine where new lights were duty to the Lighthouse Service. on the south coast of Maui consist needed.
Alaska & Hawaii / 4 Barrow
/; Lighthouse locations \ 1. Sitka Bay Beacon * 2. Southeast Five Fingers Island ~~ 3. Sentinel Island Nome t 4. Mary Island 5. Tree Point 6. Guard Island 7. Lincoln Rock ** ·~r 8. Point Retreat 9. Point Sherman ** 10. Eldred Rock 11. Scotch Cap Bering Sea • ~, 12. Cape Sarichef 13. Cape Hinchinbrook (located on Hinchinbrook Island) 14. Cape S1. Elias (located on the south end of Kayak Island) 16 7 6 15. Cape Spencer ;.'J 16. Cape Decision 11 Pacific Ocean Not standing Unimak Pass Not lighted
5 / Alaska & Hawaii 25 Kauai
22 j 19 Oahu ~ 21 18 20 Molokai 17 Lighthouse locations f 24 23 .~ / -- 14 Maui 1. Diamond Head 17. Hawea Point 9 15 2. Kanahene Point * 18. Kaena Point 10 3. Lahaina 19. Kahala Point 4. Laupahoehoe 20. Makahuena Point ~36 ~ Lanai 5. Mahukina 21. Hanapepe • I 16 2 6. Maalaea ** 22. Kakole 4 7. Waiakea 23. Molokai 5 8. Paukaa Point 24. Makapuu Point 11 9. Barbers Point 25. Kilauea 13 8 10. Kalaeokalauu ** Pacific Ocean 11. Pepeekeo * Not standing 12. Napoopoo Not lighted 13. Kawaihae 14. Nakalele Point 12 15. Pauwela Point 16. Hanamanioa
Far Left: Scotch Cap Lighthouse as it appeared in 1912. Scotch Cap is located on the Pacific side of Unimak Pass. It was first lit June 18, 1903 and was Alaska's first coastal light. • Diamond Head Light, Oahu Island Hawaii, as it appeared in 1960. The white pyramidal concrete tower was built in 1899. It was later re-built in 1917.
Alaska & Hawaii /6 Between 1906 and 1920, the ser vice built at least 15 lights and placed beacons and markers throughout the islands. Lightkeepers not only tended to their lights but were also involved in rescues. The Lighthouse Service's annual reports are replete with the heroic rescues by its employees. \ One case happened near Barbers Point Light in January of 1928. The five-masted sailing ship, Bianca, was \ struck by a sudden severe squall, leaving its sails in shreds. The ship's skipper let both anchors go, which I held the vessel slightly off a reef. The anchors, however would not hold and if help did not arrive quickly, it would be dashed to pieces. Keeper Manuel Ferreira, with no I telephone or radio at the light, real ized the danger and quickly went for help. Through "blasting winds and stinging rain," he ran three miles cross-country to the nearest tele phone. Ferreira's long distance run was instrumental in having a ship tow the Bianca to safety. Tending a light is often pictured as an idyllic existence but many lighthouse keepers faced life-threat ening situations. For example, the five keepers at Scotch Cap Light in Alaska were killed when a tidal wave swept the entire station out to sea April 1, 1946. In addition to operating aids to navigation, the Lighthouse Service also commanded a fleet of lightships and tenders. Lightships were placed where lighthouses could not stand to help guide ships through haz ardous waters. The service's tenders maintained the buoys and light houses. The rocky and isolated nature of these regions made servic ing aids dangerous work. The Lighthouse Service tender Shubrick was the first steam-powered Above: Barbers Point Lightstation on Oahu in 1945. Right: Kilauea Point craft of this class and the first tender Lightstation rests high atop a rocky ledge on Kauai. on the Pacific coast. The tender
7 / Alaska & Hawaii
was transferred to the Revenue crews aboard tenders were often in difficult. Warrifler radioed for assis Cutter Service between 1861-1867. the position to assist those in is tance the next morning and was But early in 1865 the vessel operat tress. told that the Navy tug Navajo was ed as part of the Navy for 90 days. One such rescue occurred in enroute. It served as flagship for six vessels January of 1916 on the Hawaiian Before the tug arrived however, that surveyed the Bering Strait in island of Oahu. The Lightho se the Columbine managed to haul the an attempt to lay cable linking the tender Columbine intercepted a d's British Yeoman out of immediate first telegraph service between tress call from the bark Briti h danger. The Navajo took over the Europe and the U.S. Yeoman just off Port Allen, Ka ai tow while the Columbine escorting In 1908, as part of a fleet of six Island. both ships back to Honolulu. Lighthouse Service ship, the The Columbine arrived at night In a letter of commendation, Sequoia, Manzanita and Kukui and found the bark with 0 Co :nmerce Secretary William C. became the nucleus of the tenders anchors, its rudder carried away a d Re field (the Lighthouse Service working aids to navigation in the its stern near the breakers. operated under the Commerce Pacific. Columbine's Captain Frank Department then) wrote: "Nothing Increased shipping in Alaska and Warriner, took charge of the te short of the highest valor, seamanship Hawaii changed the tenders operat der's whaleboat and brought t e and determination enabled those ing procedures. Tenders were first boat and crew into the "boiliqg aboard the Columbine to save the stationed in Seattle and sailed to breakers four times" in an attem,pt imperiled vessel and every soul aboard northern waters only sporadically. to pass a heavy towing hawser to t e her . .. Despite dar/mess and storm, In 1910, due to increased ship stricken ship. Each time, howev r, undismayed by heavy seas or by the ping and growing numbers of aids to the line would snap under the stra n repeated breaking of hawsers, the navigation, the territory became a of the tow. courageous crew of the tender stood separate lighthouse district with a The Columbine, much older a d steady at their tasks for 56 hours with depot and headquarters at smaller than the British Yeoma , out let-up until the bark was safe. I Ketchikan, Alaska. could not tow the bark. Strong bring this incident to the attention of Even with this change, tenders winds and seas made it much mole the entire Lighthouse Service to make till steamed at least it an example to all of unselfish 1,400 miles to reach devotion to duty. " the lights at By 1930 the Lighthouse Unimak Pass. Service was well established in With a Alaska. In fact, the Service's great deal of lights had been pushed steaming well out to the far back and reaches of the forth, Pacific with the structures at Midway Island, Guam and
o
000 0
The tender Columbine, above, was a single-screw steamer, built in 1892. Right· Cape Sarichef in 1912. Marking the western passage through Unimak Pass, Cape Sarichef was the only U.S. manned lighthouse on the Bering Sea.
9 / Alaska & Hawaii
other islands. These lights, as well Even though well-established, Guard. When the Coast Guard as other isolated aids in Alaska, the service was to undergo a major took over the Lighthouse Service, it were fitted with acetylene so they change at the end of the 1930s. In began to automate the isolated could go without servicing for 1939 the Lighthouse Service offi lights. One method was electricity longer periods. cially became part of the Coast while another was solar power.
Clockwise from top: An artist's rendi tion of the stern wheel cutter Nunivak. This revenue cutter had the unusual duty of patrolling Alaska's Yukon River.• The revenue cutter Thetis patrolled the waters of both Alaska and Hawaii between 1899 1916. The famous cutter finally ended its career in San Francisco, where it was decommissioned in 1916.• The revenue cutter Lincoln anchored at Victoria, British Columbia in November of 1870. Lincoln was the first cutter to visit Alaska after it was purchased from Russia. The cutter transported government officials to survey the vast new territory.
11 / Alaska & Hawaii Changing technology soon made lightkeeper obsolete. No longer was anyone needed to trim wicks or to polish lenses. The Revenue Cutter Service The Revenue Cutter Service also greatly influenced the maritime his tory of these states. The Revenue Cutter Service's largest role in the Pacific region came in Alaskan waters. After the Alaska purchase, the revenue cutter Lincoln transported officials to tour the vast new territory. The Bering Sea became the cen ter of the service's multifaceted duties in the north. Eventually, the work would formally be called the Bering Sea Patrol. For nearly 100 years, revenue cutters sailed to the frigid, fog-shrouded waters of the Bering Sea in the spring and returned to their homeports in the fall. The Bering Sea Patrol started as
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Residents of Nome, Alaska, enjoy an open air concert performed by the 22nd Infantry Band of the U.S. Army in July of sits in the background. Fire destroyed the station in 1934 and it was never re-built.
a reaction to the large scale harvest Throughout the seasons, Hooper heightened over fur seals harvesting. ing of the fur seals. The illegal maneuvered his cutter through ice The cutter Corwin, operating with killing of these animals threatened blocked waters and even sent parties the Navy, apprehended the British to lead to their extinction and to overland by dog sled waiting for the steamer Coquitlan. The ship was deprive the U.S. of a revenue ice to break. bonded for $600,000 which Evans source. Hooper's skills earned the praise thought, "paid for most of the The revenue cutters however, of Captain Robley D. "Fighting expenses of our summer's work." soon found themselves engaged in Bob" Evans, commander of all U.S. The cutters performed a variety more duties than simply protecting forces in the sea. Evans noted that of tasks. One of the more famous seals. The small cutters provided a Hooper was "an able, fearless man cutters in Alaska was the Nunivak, a badly needed search and rescue ser who would carry out orders and stern wheel cutter assigned to the vice in an extremely isolated region. accomplish his mission." Yukon River in 1899. Under the In 1880 and 1881, the Corwin, The cutters also came close to command of First Lieutenant John under the command of Captain playing a military role in the Bering C. Cantwell the cutter's crew Calvin L. Hooper, searched for the Sea. During the Bering Sea contro enforced customs, navigational laws steamer Jeannette and two whalers, versy of the 1890s, tensions between and performed scientific studies in Mount Wollaston and Vigilant. the U.S. and Great Britain were the region.
13 / Alaska & Hawaii Unalaska to Point Barrow providing to streamline the federal govern medical care and food. ment. One suggestion was to com In 1891 the legendary cutter bine the Revenue Cutter Service Bear, under the command of and the Navy. This did not meet Captain Michael A. "Hell Roaring with approval, but a proposal to Mike" Healy, transported reindeer merge the Life-Saving Service and from Siberia to Alaska in an experi the Revenue Cutter Service did. So ment aimed at turning natives from on January 15, 1915, the measure hunters to herdsmen and provide was approved and the Coast Guard them with a steady food supply. was established. In 1897-1898, First Lieutenant For the next five years little David H. Jarvis, Second Lieutenant changed in the normal operating Ellsworth P. Bertholf and Dr. procedures for the new Coast Guard Samuel J. Call, all of the cutter in Alaska and Hawaii. The Bering Bear, drove a herd of reindeer, in Sea Patrol continued to operate as winter's brutal grip, from Teller, before and errands of mercy Alaska, on the Bering Sea, to Point remained high on its list of priori Barrow. Here, they provided food ties. for a fleet of whalers frozen in the Changing technology hastened ice. the end of the Bering Sea Patrol The Revenue Cutter Service pro which ended officially in 1964. vided a form of law and order in this Aircraft could now reach many of isolated unforgiving land. They the villages formally reached only performed these duties in a region by ship. This, however, does not where no other law enforcement mean cutters do not still work in the agency existed. The Revenue area. In fact, with large scale fishing Service for many years acted as the in the Bering Sea, the Coast Guard only law enforcement agency and is perhaps busier than before in the provided many civil functions. region. Alaska comprises 56 per They even performed marriage cere cent of the U.S. coastline and 70 monies and held church services. percent of domestic and foreign fish The cutters that sailed the Bering are caught in these waters. Sea Patrol were assigned to ports on the West Coast and Hawaii. The 1910. The U.S. Life-Saving Station The Life-Saving revenue cutter Thetis, homeported in Honolulu from 1909 to 1916, Service Cantwell and his crew also made three voyages to the north. The Coast Guard has a deserved enforced a quarantine at St. When Thetis was not sailing in the ly strong reputation as a lifesaving Michael, near the mouth of the north it performed a variety of organization. The foundation for Yukon River. A smallpox epidemic duties in the more temperate cli the modern reputation was the U.S. was raging in Nome and the cutter's mates of its homeport. Life-Saving Service. work stopped the spread of the dis A cutterman recalled duty aboard This service, however, got a rela ease. One writer noted; "smallpox Thetis during this period: tively late start in both territories. along the Yukon River was made "We used to make trips to In the age of sail, the best way to practically impossible by the work of Midway and visit all the islands in assist shipwrecks close to the beach the Nunivak." between. We used to inspect ships was by shore-based small boats. A theme that runs throughout suspected of bringing opium from Life-Saving stations were usually the reports and logs of the officers of the Orient. If we had reason to established in areas known to be the Bering Sea Patrol is the concern believe some ship was trying to treacherous to ships. The nature of for and the effort to help settlers smuggle opium into Hawaii we shipping, terrain and weather in the and natives in these isolated would go aboard and try to find it." Pacific Ocean around Hawaii dic regions. To provide services, the In 1914, President Woodrow tated that the islands would have no cutters visited villages from Wilson began searching for a means stations. Alaska met all the require-
Alaska & Hawaii / 14 ments of terrain and weather, but and freight had to be transferred to by the Life-Saving Service. for many years the amount of ship shore from two miles out by small Keeper Thomas A. Ross and his ping did not warrant the establish boats. This eventually led to the crew of surfmen performed lookout ment of stations. establishment of a Life-Saving sta duties and beach patrols. The surf The Alaskan gold rush drew tion there in 1905. men rescued people from ice floes, thousands of fortune-seekers to the This station marked the.. north grounded ships and capsi~ed boats. town of Nome. Nome's offshore ern-most of all units in the service. The lifesavers also helped the local anchorage provided no shelter and There was a refuge station at Point fire department fight fires. is extremely shallow, so passengers Barrow but this was not controlled The surfmen performed other
Above: French Frigate Shoals in 1966. Located 500 miles west-northwest of Ho olu)u, this was one of the most isolated LORAN stations. Right: The Coast Guard cutter Kukui. The Kukui maintained many of the isolated stations and was a workhorse for the Hawaiian Islands.
15 / Alaska & Hawaii humanitarian services. Between used other buildings during World on the Coast Guard in Alaska and 1918 and 1919, a devastating War II, but by 1951 the station was Hawaii. Before the bombing of influenza epidemic swept Alaska. permanently closed. Pearl Harbor, district operations and Keeper Ross sent a dog sled with The middle to late 1930s marked personnel were limited in Hawaii. surfman Levi Edward Ashton and important changes for the Coast In July of 1939, only 30 officers and driver Anders Peter Brandt, to Cape Guard in the Pacific area. To 200 men were assigned to the dis Prince of Wales and other villages replace aging cutters, the Coast trict. Floating units consisted of the with medicine and supplies. The Guard acquired new ships, the best Taney, two 125-foot patrol boats, two men were gone for almo t two of which were the 327-foot two buoy tenders and five smaller months. Secretary Class. patrol boats. Also within the dis The Nome Station was slowly These tough cutters could carry a trict were 12 major light stations, 52 reduced in the ear!\' 1930s, due fixed-wing aircraft on board. The unattended fixed aids and a few again, to the changing nature of long range of the ships marked them other miscellaneous units. shipping and technology. Ross rec for duty in the Pacific. The cutter At the beginning of the war, the ommended cuts, but in 1934 fire Taney went to Honolulu while the district encompassed an area bound destroyed the station and it was Spencer went to Cordova, Alaska. ed roughly from the Hawaiian never rebuilt. The Coast Guard World War II had a great impact Islands to Midway Island, Wake
Alaska & Hawaii / 16 "
The Coast Guard cutter Taney fires at Japanese aircraft during the Pearl Harbor invasion December 7,1941. This painting depicts Taney tied up at pier six in Honolulu harbor. During the spring of 1941, Taney and six other 327-foot class ships, had been transferred to the Navy due to their value as escort vessels.
Island and to Palmaid Island. Four Navigation) uses radio signals to The LORAN A stations were years later, the area of responsibility help ships and aircraft obtain an classified as secret and each unit was stretched to include Japan, the accurate position. Clearly, any given a code word. Sometimes six Philippines and to near Samoa. device that would help navigators in months would pass before a resupply And 200 officers and 3,000 enlisted the vast region of the Pacific would ship would appear. people served in the district. be of great help to the war effort. Eighteen months was a regular Coast Guardsmen in the Pacific On March 1, 1944, LT Alvin L. tour of duty. One official report served aboard transports protecting Loose and a small party of men built aptly summed up the duty: "For the convoys and were coxswains aboard the first LORAN A station in the personnel who operated the sta landing craft during invasions. Pacific at Baker Island. LORAN tions, there was no glory and no Even the seemingly non-combatant units were built with increasing medals - only dull, monotonous buoy tenders were at times in the speed afterwards. routine watches." midst of the fighting. From November 8, 1944, to June One of the most isolated of all The Sweetbriar, for example, 22, 1945, 19 stations were built LORAN stations and the one most repeatedly put up anti-aircraft fire throughout the Pacific Islands. Coast Guardsmen of the 1950s and against Kamikaze attacks. In May Problems of supply and administra 1960s came to recognize as the sym 1945, it assisted in downing a tion were enormous. The distance bol of LORAN duty was French Japanese "Zeke" and a "Val." from Honolulu to units in the Frigate Shoals located 500 miles Although the Coast Guard did play Marianas, for example, was 4,600 west-northwest of Honolulu. an important combat role in the miles. "No other Coast Guard The station was on Tern Island, Pacific, one of the most lasting lega District," one official history stated, which was bulldozed into the shape cies of the war for the service was "was faced wi th such problems of of an aircraft carrier during World LORAN. distance, supply and transporta War II. It provided a landing strip LORAN (Long Range Aids to tion." for the invasion of Midway Island.
17 / Alaska & Hawaii The Coast Guard cutter Haida and the lighthouse tender Cedar prepare to rescue passengers and crew from the sailing vessel Star of Falkland near Unimak Pass, Alaska, May 23,1928. Both vessels managed to take all the passengers off the Star of Falkland without loss of life.
The length of the runway is 3,100 In 1972 the Kukui touched at, or example. In 1980, the cruise ship feet, with a width of 410 feet and a worked on stations at Johnson, was disabled by fire and 519 passen mean elevation of nine feet above Atoll, Marcus, Saipan, Guam, Yap, gers and crew took to lifeboats. The sea level. Palau Islands, Anguor, Koror, nearest point of land was 129 miles On this small island, two officers Keelung, Iwo Jima, Yokosuka, Kure, away. and 18 enlisted men served for a Midway and French Frigate Shoals. The Coast Guard together with one year period. The station was Other navigational devices began merchant marine, Air Force, and supplied weekly by C-130 aircraft to replace LORAN A stations and the Canadians, turned a potential from Air Station Barbers Point. the need for this type of ship ended. disaster into a dramatic rescue of all The crew was once evacuated by a The Kukui was decommissioned in passengers and crew. helicopter from a New Zealand 1972. Beginning in the nineteenth cen frigate when heavy seas washed over The modern Coast Guard has tury, the service has been many the island in 1969. benefitted greatly due to advances things to those in the 14th and 17th On June 30, 1979, the unit was in technology and it has changed Districts: a marine policeman; a disestablished when LORAN C and the nature of search and rescue. doctor; a protector of life and a OMEGA electronic navigational The helicopter, combined with bet guide to safe harbors. aids systems came into being. ter motor lifeboats, now insures that Today, the men and women of The 339-foot cutter Kukui main people can be reached faster than the Coast Guard, building upon a tained many of these isolated sta ever before. strong foundation of service to oth tions and was a workhorse for the In fact, shore-based rescue opera ers, now surpass the efforts of their islands. Coast Guardsmen assigned tions can now reach further out to illustrious predecessors in their ser to this ship had to be jacks-of-all sea than ever before. vice to those in Alaska and Hawaii. trades and move from island to The famous Prinsendam case in island. the Gulf of Alaska is a perfect
Alaska & Hawaii / 18