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The Coast Guard in World War I: An Untold Story

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Although packed with material having to do with administration and logistics, there were enough harrowing tales of extreme bravery and valorous duty to grasp this reader's attention firmly. I used to re-create many of these events as a Sea Scout, using hand me down equipment donated by the Guard and attending regattas at Alameda Station in the 60's. What's amazing about these men is they were making do with scant resources, outdated tools,converted yachts, interned ships,experimental aircraft, and even horses to pull their rescue craft yet they sailed into the jaws of death itself without compuction. Many seamen owed them their lives, and they did more than their share curbing the depredations of the Kriegsmarine's U-Boat arm. The single largest loss of life by American Naval forces in this war was the loss of the cutter 'Tampa" with all hands after being torpedoed returning from convoy duty off the European coast.