Guardians of the Sea: History of the United States Coast Guard, 1915 to the Present

by Robert Erwin Johnson

Book Overview

Recounts the founding of the U.S. Coast Guard, looks at Coast Guard operation and functions, and looks at how it has changed over the last seventy years. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870217208
• ISBN13: 9780870217203
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
• Length: 422 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 7.4" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

An excellent source of information on the Coast Guard.

I wish I had found this book when I made my decision to join the Coast Guard. It answers a wide range of questions on everything from why Coast Guard vessels are called "cutters" to why members of the service wear the present-day blue uniform. From the first chapter, concerning the formation of the Coast Guard through the merger of the Revenue Cutter Service and the Life Saving Service, to the final chapter describing the rescue of 319 passengers from the burning liner Prinsendam in 1979, this book holds the reader's attention throughout. It also deals with the mistakes as well, such as the Simas Kudirka incident, in which a Lithuaninan seaman tryig to defect was allowed to be taken back to his ship, and the collisions which sank the cutters Cuyahoga and Blackthorn. Anyone considering joining the service, or anyone who just wants to know more about our smallest branch of the armed forces, should read this book. It has helped me to understand more about the work I do in the Coast Guard than any other source of information.