Existing comment:
Revenue Cutter Service:
In the wake of American Revolution, with the Continental Navy disbanded and smuggling rampart, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton established the United States Revenue Cutter Service. The new service, officially authorized by Congress in 1790, was tasked with collecting tariffs and enforcing laws at sea, and for nearly a decade was the Under States' only armed maritime service. Throughout the 19th century, the Revenue Cutter Service assisted the Navy during times of war while continuing its law enforcement mission and assisting in some lifesaving operations. The Revenue Cutter Service established a close working relationship with the new Life-Saving Service following its permanent formation as a fully functioning agency of the Treasury Department in 1878. That close relationship culminated in their merger in 1915 to form the modern US Coast Guard.
Lifesaving Service:
Early in the 19th century, the only help available for shipwrecked sailors were a few volunteer crews of largely untrained lifesavers stations near large ports. After devastating wrecks left hundreds dead in the 1840s and 1850s, the federal government first established a network of lifesaving shelters along the East coast and later added part-time crews at stations along all major coastlines. These crews worked as a loose community until the Department of the Treasury formally founded the US Life-Saving Service in 1878. The Life-Saving Service eventually merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to form the US Coast Guard. |