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Coast Guard Celebrates 235 Years Protecting Nation's Waterways

The Coast Guard was established as the Revenue-Marine, Aug. 4, 1790, when President George Washington signed a bill drafted by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, authorizing the construction of 10 cutters that would be part of the Treasury Department.

A white ship in the ocean fires shots toward the shore.
Coast Guard cutter Duane
The Coast Guard cutter Duane shells targets in South Vietnam in support of forces ashore in 1967. Aug. 4, 2025, marks the 235th birthday of the Coast Guard.
Credit: Coast Guard
VIRIN: 670927-O-D0439-001

The new fleet was used to clamp down on smuggling, resulting from the high tariffs the U.S. had placed on Europe. From 1790 to 1798, the Revenue-Marine was the only military maritime service, as the Continental Navy and Marine Corps were disbanded after the Revolutionary War in 1783; they were reestablished in 1798. 

After the Navy's reestablishment, the Revenue-Marine cutters fought alongside Navy ships during the Quasi-War with France, which lasted from 1798 until 1800. The two services captured 20 French ships. This partnership brought the Revenue-Marine under the control of the Navy during wartime. 

In 1808, the Revenue-Marine began intercepting slave ships, as importing slaves was illegal following the passage of the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves into law on March 2, 1807.

Two people wearing helmets and safety equipment gaze out of an open helicopter door, looking at docked sailing boats near a suburban area.
Eyes in the Sky
Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Derrian Duryea, left, a rescue swimmer assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., and Petty Officer 2nd Class Jose Charon, a flight mechanic assigned to Air Station Clearwater, try to locate people in distress in a flooded neighborhood near Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 11, 2017. The Coast Guard marks 235 years of protecting the nation's waterways Aug. 4, 2025.
Credit: Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Jonathan Lindberg
VIRIN: 170911-O-D0439-001
A white ship cruises in the ocean as a helicopter flies overhead near a smoking oil platform.
On the Move
A Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter flies overhead as the Coast Guard cutter Resolute steams near the Deepwater Horizon spill site in the Gulf of America, July 4, 2010. The Coast Guard marks 235 years of protecting the nation's waterways, Aug. 4, 2025.
Credit: Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew Belson
VIRIN: 100704-O-D0439-001
The Revenue-Marine was renamed the Revenue Cutter Service in 1863. 

President Woodrow Wilson signed the Coast Guard Act into law on Jan. 28, 1915, combining the Revenue Cutter Service with the United States Life-Saving Service to form the U.S. Coast Guard. This was the start of the service's maritime safety mission, which the Coast Guard continues today. 

In 1939, the Coast Guard assumed the responsibilities of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, and in 1942, it also assumed the responsibilities of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation. 

The Coast Guard Reserve was established in 1950 to support expanded port security responsibilities.

Soldiers in military uniforms wade ashore toward a beach after leaving a landing craft.
D-Day
A Coast Guard Higgins boat lands troops assigned to the 1st Infantry Division onto Omaha Beach, Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The Coast Guard marks its 235th birthday Aug. 4, 2025.
Credit: Coast Guard Chief Robert F. Sargent
VIRIN: 440606-O-D0439-001M
A painting shows Coast Guardsmen in small boats shooting guns as Marines prepare to board vessels from a tropical island.
Second Battle of the Matanikau
A painting depicts Coast Guardsmen evacuating Marines near Point Cruz, Guadalcanal Island, during the Second Battle of the Matanikau on Sept. 27, 1942. The Coast Guard marks its 235th birthday Aug. 4, 2025.
Credit: Coast Guard
VIRIN: 420927-O-D0439-001M
A sailing ship is moored with other ships and a hill is in the background.
Coast Guard cutter Tampa
The Coast Guard cutter Tampa is moored off Gibraltar in North Africa in 1918. The cutter was sunk by a German U-boat on Sept. 26, 1918, with the loss of all 131 Coast Guardsmen on board, making it the greatest Coast Guard loss of World War I. Aug. 4, 2025, marks the 235th birthday of the Coast Guard.
Credit: Navy
VIRIN: 180702-O-D0439-001M
In 1967, the Coast Guard moved from the Treasury Department to the Transportation Department, and in 2003, it moved to its current home, the Department of Homeland Security. 

New officers are trained at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, which was founded in 1876. Enlisted recruits train at the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey, which was established in 1948. 

Today, the Coast Guard performs a host of responsibilities, including fisheries enforcement, icebreaking operations, marine environmental protection, aids to navigation safety, ensuring commercial ship safety, drug and migrant interdiction, military operations with the Navy, humanitarian operations and maritime security.  

The Coast Guard motto is "semper paratus," which is Latin for Always Ready. It is also the title of the official Coast Guard marching song.

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