United States
Coast Guard
1790-2015
Timeline
Oct. 15, 1856:
The lighthouse at Cape Disappointment, called the Cape Hancock
Light, was completed at a cost of $38,500, and was first lit. It is the
oldest operational lighthouse in the Pacific Northwest.
Sept. 18, 1853:
The vessel Oriole arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River
with building materials for the Cape Disappointment Light but
ran aground and was a total loss.
Aug. 4, 1790:
President George Washington
signed the Tariff Bill, passed earlier
by Congress, into law and endorsed
Treasury Secretary Alexander
Hamilton’s request for 10 armed
cutters and creation of the Revenue
Cutter Service.
1850:
The first navigation buoys were placed in
the channel between the Columbia River bar
and Astoria, Ore.
1849:
A Coast Survey Team of the Treasury Department’s Lighthouse
Establishment (later to become the Lighthouse Service) recom-
mended 16 lights be built for the Oregon and Washington
coastlines. This yearlong survey was part of the requirements
of the act establishing the new territory.
The history of the U.S. Coast Guard is best viewed as the amalgamation of five federal agencies over time. Unlike most federal agencies created to maintain things, the Coast Guard emerged as an agency
charged with promoting important national purposes – maritime safety, trade, and transportation. This legal distinction may be a primary reason the organization is famous around the globe for its tal-
ent for leaning forward operationally. The Revenue Cutter Service (Aug. 4, 1790), the Lighthouse Service, the Steamboat Inspection Service, the Life-Saving Service, and the Bureau of Navigation were orig-
inally independent but had overlapping authorities that were streamlined by the creation of one service, named the U.S. Coast Guard, in 1915. Coast Guard Day is celebrated on Aug. 4 each year in order
to mark the birth of the service when the federal government first deployed cutters (a nautical term denoting vessels built for speed) to guard the nation’s coasts.
Jan. 21, 1881:
The Tillamook Rock Light is completed
after nearly two years of construction
and was known as the most difficult
of all lights on the West coast to build
– and most expensive at $123,493 –
because of its challenging
environment.
Mar. 1, 2003:
The Coast Guard was transferred from the
Department of Transportation to the new
Department of Homeland Security.
Apr. 11, 1892:
Columbia River Lightship LV-50 became
the first lightship on the west coast and
marked the entrance to the channel for
ships navigating the bar.
September 1987:
Three HH-65A Dolphin helicopters
replaced the HH-3F Pelicans at Air Station
Astoria during a one-month transition.
October 1983:
Air Station Astoria adds two HU-25A Falcon jets for
long-range support. A third HU-25A was added in
June 1988. The jets are no longer used anywhere in the
Coast Guard, but an example is on display at the
Sector Columbia River base.
May 11, 1792:
Capt. Robert Gray crossed the Columbia River Bar aboard the
Columbia Rediviva, anchored in Baker Bay and began trading
with the Chinook people from nearby beaches.
Summer 1996:
Station Cape
Disappointment
transitions from the
44-foot motor
lifeboat to the non-
painted, aluminum-
hulled 47-foot motor
lifeboats in use today.
An example of a “44”
is on display at the
Columbia River
Maritime Museum in
Astoria, Ore.
Aug. 4, 2010:
Group Astoria, Air
Station Astoria and
Marine Safety Office
Portland merge to
become Sector
Columbia River,
headquartered at the
Warrenton-Astoria
Regional Airport. Air
Station Commanding
Officer Capt. Doug
Kaup becomes the
first Sector
Commander.
May 2004:
In an effort to better align
command structures in U.S.
ports, the Coast Guard begins
creating “Sectors” to combine
the authorities of Marine
Safety Offices, Air Stations, and
other operational units under
the tactical control of a single
commanding officer.
1790 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015
1900
Aug. 30, 1830:
The Steamboat Inspection Service is established and charged with inspecting
vessels for compliance with safety regulations.
1939:
Tongue Point Station transitioned to a
port for buoy tenders.
June 18, 1848:
The U.S. Life-Saving Service is established.
Aug. 14, 1848:
The Act to Establish the Territorial Government of Oregon passes the Congress and included provisions that
enabled the federal government to manage the burgeoning maritime trade in the Pacific Northwest. The
act for the new territory (which included modern day Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and parts of
Wyoming and Montana) called for lighthouses, and the establishment of buoys in the Columbia River, and
buoys in the harbor in Astoria, Ore.
Mar. 20, 1856:
The Revenue Cutter
Joseph Lane was
stationed in Astoria,
Ore., becoming the
first full-time
presence of what is
now the U.S. Coast
Guard in the
Columbia River area.
Jan. 20, 1915:
Congress passed the Act to Create the Coast Guard, and
combined the Life-Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter
Service into the Coast Guard.
1961:
Testing of a new 44-foot motor
lifeboat isconducted at Cape
Disappointment and the
“sea trials” of this vessel and
many other prototypes over
the years led to the creation of
the National Motor Lifeboat
School there by 1980.
Jan. 12, 1961:
Boat crews from the Cape Disappointment and
Point Adams Lifeboat Stations answered a call for
help from the fishing vessel Mermaid, rudderless in
heavy surf off Peacock Spit. Both crew members of
the Mermaid and five crewmen aboard the Coast
Guard’s 52-foot motor lifeboat Triumph lost their
lives when the towline parted.
Jan. 11, 1991:
A Station Cape Disappointment
44-foot motor lifeboat crew
reponded to a call for help from
the fishing vessel Sea King, which
had lost power and was taking
on water on the Columbia River
bar. Three Coast Guardsmen lost
their lives to save the four men
aboard Sea King.
Aug. 14, 1964:
Air Station Astoria was
established at Tongue
Point Naval Air Station
with two HH-52A
Seaguard helicopters.
Feb. 25, 1966:
The air station was moved to the Clatsop
County Airport in Warrenton, Ore.
March 1973:
The HH-52A helicopters
at Air Station Astoria were
replaced with three HH-3F
Pelican helicopters in a
monthlong transition.
June 1, 1992:
The Coast Guard announced it was going to assign two medium endurance
cutters to Astoria, Ore. Both the Steadfast and Alert had recently undergone
maintenance availability refurbishments in Baltimore, Md., and the two
re-vamped “210s” replaced the Resolute. The 17th Street dock at the Columbia
River Maritime Museum was improved to accommodate both cutters.
May 28, 1995:
Three HH-60J Jayhawk helicopters
replaced the Dolphin helicopters
and HU-25 Falcon jets at Air Station
Astoria. Those helicopters have since
been upgraded, and Sector Columbia
River still features three MH-60J
Jayhawks and approximately
80 aviators to fly and maintain them.
Nov. 8, 2003:
The buoy tender Fir is commissioned in Astoria,
Ore., and is charged with maintaining all aids
to navigation along the rugged Oregon and
Washington coasts. An earlier buoy tender
named Fir had serviced lighthouses and
buoys in the Pacific Northwest from 1939-91.
May 1, 2010:
The U.S. Congress
designates Astoria,
Ore., an Official
Coast Guard City.
June 9, 2011:
Capt. Bruce Jones
assumed duties as
Sector Columbia
River Commander
from Kaup, who
retires in Astoria.
June 27, 2014:
Capt. Dan Travers assumes duties as
Sector Columbia River Commander
from Jones , who also retires in
Astoria.