Historic Documents & Official Publications (Database)

Documents, including PDF photo collections, reproductions and scans of drawings, illustrations, and images, from the archives of the U.S. Coast Guard and its five predecessor agencies: the Revenue Cutter Service, the Life-Saving Service, the Lighthouse Service, the Bureau of Navigation, and the Steamboat Inspection Service from the Coast Guard Archives and Special Collections, Coast Guard, and National Archives.

NOTE: Documents provided are in the public domain.

U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office
2703 Martin Luther King, Jr., Ave, SE
Washington, DC 20593-7031


U.S. Coast Guard Museum
Coast Guard Academy - Waesche Hall
15 Mohegan Ave
New London, CT 06320-8100

Contacting us:  U.S.C.G. Historian's Office

Images & Photographs

1918-1941 - Mobilizing the Coast Guard for War: An Analysis of the USCG's Wartime Preparation Activities from 1918-1941

The U.S. Coast Guard has a unique role as a military armed force with extensive peacetime missions. In nearly every U.S. Conflict, the service has been a part of wartime naval operations. The most notable occurrences were during World War I and World War II, where the entire service integrated into the Department of the Navy. Beginning with World War I, this thesis traces the Coast Guard’s development and expansion throughout the interwar period up until World War II. It examines the hearings and proceedings of the General Board of the Navy to show how Coast Guard cutters were prepared for combat. It also analyzes strategic war planning documents to show the Navy’s intent to mobilize, organize and employ the Coast Guard during war. A Master's Thesis by LCDR Nolan V. Cain, USCG.

VIRIN: 2020-CAIN_THESIS.PDF
Photo by: Nolan V. Cain, LCDR, USCG

Photo Details

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