The National Coast Guard Museum

When disaster comes calling on the water, our shores, and waterways, Semper Paratus-Always Ready, defines what the Coast Guard means for our country. Because of the operational flexibility that the Coast Guard operates with, help comes quickly:

• In Alaska, the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince Edward Sound, spilling 15 million gallons of crude oil. Within 30 minutes of the accident, a Coast Guard investigator was on the scene and a spill contingency plan was implemented. 
• On 9/11, with bridges and tunnels to Manhattan closed, the Coast Guard coordinated the evacuation by any vessels available, military, commercial, and private of nearly half a million people from Manhattan. Simultaneously, in Washington D.C., the Navy Command Center at the Pentagon took a direct hit from Flight #77, killing 42 of the Command Center watch. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Jeffrey Hathaway established personal security details for Senior Navy Leadership. Across the country, the Coast Guard, Coast Guard Reservists and Auxillarists were mobilized for homeland defense and port security, the largest mobilization since World War II. 
• On August 29, 2005, at 6:10 a.m., Hurricane Katrina made landfall just east of the Mississippi River. By 2:50 that afternoon, the Coast Guard had made its first of 33,500 rescues by air and water in the aftermath of the country’s most devastating hurricane, rescuing people trapped in attics and on rooftops.
• In April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling rig experienced a catastrophic explosion, killing eleven people and causing the worst oil spill in history. With the rupture of the well head that spilled nearly 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard mobilized 6000 vessels and 130 aircraft to assist with cleanup. The Coast Guard collected over 3500 tons of oily material from shores across five states. 
• In September 2019, the cargo vessel Golden Ray capsized in Brunswick Harbor. The distress call from Golden Ray was received at 1:37 a.m., a Coast Guard boat crew from Brunswick was on the scene within 30 minutes with Air Station Savannah crews arriving shortly thereafter. All crew members were rescued.

Ninety percent of all goods imported into the United States arrive under the security provided by the U.S. Coast Guard through our ports. Not only the goods that come through our nation’s ports, but the metal used in your car, truck or washing machine could have started as taconite from Minnesota and Michigan, shepherded through the Great Lakes by the icebreakers of the Coast Guard. The crab legs, lobster and fish at dinner were the result of Coast Guard enforcement of fishery laws. The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers move 175 million tons of freight each year aided by navigation buoys placed by the Coast Guard. These are but a few examples of how the Coast Guard keeps commerce moving day in and day out.