Japan Coast Guard marks 150th marine aids to navigation anniversary
The Japan Coast Guard presented commemorative stamps commissioned to mark the 150th anniversary of Japan’s first lighthouse during an official visit with the U.S. Coast Guard Nov. 16.
The Long Blue Line: Minots Ledge Lighthouse – the deadly “Lover’s Light”
On April 17, 1851, the newly constructed lighthouse at Minots Ledge collapsed into the sea surrounding the ledge killing both its lighthouse keepers. Located off the Massachusetts coast south of Boston, the failure of this state-of-the-art lighthouse had been in the making for years. The lighthouse was rebuilt and has withstood every subsequent gale, but the two keepers lost will remain an important chapter in the Coast Guard’s long blue line.
U.S. Coast Guard ATON personnel honor lighthouse keepers
Crew members from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Abbie Burgess (WLM-553) and Aids to Navigation Team (ANT) Southwest Harbor, Maine, placed flowers and national ensigns at the gravesites of Abbie Burgess and Isaac Grant, two renowned lighthouse keepers, during a visit to Thomaston, Maine, in August. Burgess was best known for keeping the Matinicus Light shining and later the Whitehead Lighthouse with her husband Grant.
The Panama buoy
The calm swells of the Port of Panama gave the Fir’s crew a perfect opportunity to show the Panama Canal Authority how buoys are maintained in the U.S. As the Panamanian crew traversed to the whistle buoy, they searched for the black-hulled tender sporting the iconic 64-degree Coast Guard red, white and blue racing stripe. There it was, on time, dead center of dozens of floating cargo ships.
Innovation from a life at sea
The crews aboard buoy tenders like Coast Guard Cutter SPAR, homeported in Kodiak, Alaska, use both sledgehammers and hooks to work on buoys but with so many tools, wouldn’t it make sense to combine? That’s exactly what Petty Officer 1st Class Kevin Spratt that earned him the 2017 Capt. Niels P. Thomsen Innovation Award after coming up with the hammer hook.
Coast Guard recognized for electronic aids to navigation hurricane response
The U.S. Coast Guard was recognized by the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) for its use of electronic Aids to Navigation (eATON) during the 2017 hurricane season.
The members of the international technical association selected the U.S. Coast Guard for its best practices award during its quadrennial conference in the Republic of Korea’s third largest city.
Coast Guard veteran dedicates 43 years to keeping mariners safe
Bob Trainor spent 43 years of his life serving with the U.S. Coast Guard, 31 years as an enlisted and later chief warrant officer, and 12 years as a civil servant working at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. For the majority of his years in the service, Trainor worked as a guiding light in the Aids to Navigation field making U.S. waterways safer, more efficient, and more resilient. Fair winds and following seas Mr. Trainor!
The Inland Fleet: Quiet Keepers of the Heartland
The Coast Guard’s Inland Fleet provides a vital service to the United States through its work in maintaining fixed and floating aids to navigation along coastlines and riverbanks throughout the country. Hundreds of Coast Guard members tirelessly battle with outdated equipment and substandard accommodations to ensure the mission is completed. As the Coast Guard continues to modernize its assets, replacing the Inland Fleet is a necessity to ensure the service can remain Semper Paratus in all of its missions.
Week in the life of the Coast Guard 2017 – Tuesday
There is no “typical” Tuesday in the Coast Guard, but this blog features a snippet of what the Coast Guard was up to on Tuesdays during the month of February. From Antarctica to Key West, with old and new assets, the Coast Guard carried out missions vital to protecting and securing our national interests.
Legacy of Light: Boston Light marks 300th anniversary
When the Boston Lighthouse was first lit 300 years ago today, sailors called on New England ports in wooden ships, pirates roamed the Atlantic Coast and the 13 colonies were under the British crown. Today the light still guides mariners safely home and helps keep America’s economy on course.