WWII Poster…

Posted on by September 28, 2014

And next up, the Coast Guard…

Today, twofer… Same small cutter (which I can’t find a damn thing on), in two different posters.  From the looks of things, I’m guessing this is representative of the ones that actually saw action at Pearl Harbor!

This is the more ‘realistic’ of the two…

wwii coast-guard

And this one is more like a graphic…

WWII uscg_quick_action_ww2

Sadly, I can’t find any attribution for either one.  My googlefu is AFU today…

But they were there, and definitely in the middle of the action…

Edit- Commenter Dennis pointed out the performance of Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro, link HERE. One of many that gave all…

Comments

WWII Poster… — 18 Comments

  1. I don’t want to insult any puddle pirates out there, but in WW2, were any Coastie vessels ever actually attacked by a belligerent?

    My sense is that they putted around maritime defense zones for the most part, but I know that they were present at Okinawa and other late naval invasions where the fleet suffered under kamikaze attacks.

    • I suggest you read about Douglas Munro, a Coastie with the medal requested by the Marines and presented by the Navy for actions at Matanikau.
      His last words were,” did they all get off”

      Dennis the librarian shusher

  2. Kinda-sorta OT, but… I became friends with a Coastie rescue swimmer who lived in the same apartment complex as I did when I was first assigned to North Bend AFS, OR. I developed an immense respect for the CG after my friend gave me a tour of the CG station and explained what… and how… they did what they do. “Big brass ones” doesn’t even come CLOSE to describing these guys.

  4. LL- Lots of Coasties were ‘drafted’ as Cox’ns on LCTs and others.

    Dennis- Thanks, edited the post to reflect a link to him!

    Buck- Yep, they have to go out, don’t have to come back.

    Randy- Thanks!

  6. the Coast Guard saw quite a bit of action along the East coast of the US early in the war. They provided the first escorts for the convoys headed to England and Murmansk.

  9. WSF- Didn’t know that. Thanks! I think I learn more for the comments than I do the research for the original post! 🙂

  10. Looks like an 83 foot patrol boat. If so, the number marking is incorrect. See, http://uscg83footers.org/

    Coast Guard was involved in shooting actions before war was declared; see, http://www.uscg.mil/history/WW2Index.asp

    A flotilla of 83 footers served at Normandy; http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/USCGRescueFlotillaOneHistorySTP.pdf

    Spend some time on the historian’s site; there is a lot to be learned about the finest armed force in the U.S.

  15. Kinnison- Thanks! Sad story, but at least now we know.

    Joe- She was too small to be a WAVR. Kinnison found her, and sadly she was lost at sea in 1942.

  16. Kinnison’s Googlefu is strong indeed. I bounced it from Navsource. He must have gotten it from the CG site itself. The picture that the WAVR-451 had was from an odd angle and it did appear to have the searchlights in the right positions. I was fooled.

    It is sad that she foundered in a typhoon. Seemed to happen a lot back then. (Although there is a rocky shoreline in California that serves as a rusting reminder that the formation commander had better be damn sure of his navigation. See Honda Point for rusting hulks.)

  17. CGC Taney (WPG 37) was along side pier 6 Honolulu harbor and fired upon Japanese plane when they went overhead. Taney is now a museum in Baltimore.