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GREAT LAKES - A BRIEF HISTORY OF U. S. COAST GUARD OPERATIONS - PART 2 by Dennis L. Noble The last of the four predecessor agencies to eventually form the U. S. Coast guard is also the least documented and, therefore, will be discussed only briefly. |The Steamboat Inspection Service came about due to the large growth of steam powered ships and the resultant explosions of faulty boilers, with great loss of life. The mounting death toll led to the passage of the first laws, in 1838, to regulate passenger carrying steam vessels. By 1911, the Steamboat Inspection Service would list as their duties: the inspection of vessel construction and equipment; the examination and licensing of marine officers; the examination of seamen and investigations of marine casualties and violations of inspection laws; establishing regulations to prevent collisions; and establishing regulations for the transporting of passengers and merchandise. There were two Steamboat Inspection Service Districts in the Great Lakes: the Eighth included all the waters north and west of Lake Erie, and the Ninth, which encompassed the St. Lawrence River, Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Champlain. Headquarters for the Eighth District was in Detroit and the Ninth was located at Cleveland, Ohio. In an effort to streamline government operations, on January 15, 1915, the U. S. Revenue Cutter Service and the U. S. Life Saving Service were amalgamated to form the U. S. Coast Guard. At first glance there seems to be little difference between the new service and its predecessors. Cutters still performed their traditional duties, the St. Marys River Patrol still operated during shipping season, and small rescue boats continued to put out into storm tossed lakes to rescue those in distress. There were, however, large changes on the horizon. The first major task of the new service came in 1920 with the passage of the Volstead Act, 44-1-2 the experiment to outlaw liquor in the United States. For the next 14 years, the U. S. Coast Guard waged a war against the smugglers of illegal spirits. To combat the rum runners on the Great Lakes, station crews were doubled, patrol boats were increased, and a 75 foot picket boat class was added to the U. S. Coast Guard's inventory. Although these measures helped, the flow of liquor was never completely stopped and only the passage of the 21st Amendment, the repeal of Prohibition, brought the rum war to a close. Out of the long rum war, however, some good did emerge. The U. S. Coast Guard had, in general, been known only locally. Now it received national and international notice. The 1930's not only marked the end of Prohibition, it also ushered in the beginnings of new technology for the U. S. Coast Guard on the Great Lakes. In 1932, a new class of cutter was constructed at the DeFoe Works, Bay City, Michigan, and christened the ESCANABA. She was 165 feet in length and powered by a 1,500 horsepower steam turbine. On December 9, 1932, the new cutter was assigned to her homeport of Grand Haven, Michigan. The ESCANABA was designed to help keep shipping lanes open as late as possible. Twenty days after arriving in Grand Haven, the cutter participated in her first rescue, pulling two downed pilots from the cold waters of Lake Michigan. In 1938, a Grumman Y-118 twin engine amphibian airplane was assigned to the Great Lakes Air Patrol Detachment at Traverse City, Michigan. The detachment operated for three months to test the feasibility of constructing an air station in the area. The first evaluation, however, recommended operations only during shipping season. One year later, as war clouds began to thicken, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made another major change to the U. S. Coast Guard.