1935 – Coast Guard Air Station St. Petersburg Established With the ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment Prohibition was repealed. Once again the primary emphasis of Coast Guard aviation would turn to rendering assistance to those in peril on the sea and its surrounding environment. To provide more effective life saving service along Florida’s western coast […]

1935 – VIP Executive Transport Purchased Air travel for the Commandant and for Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau, an aviation enthusiast who had a great deal to do with the expansion of Coast Guard aviation, had been provided as needed by the RD-2 Dolphin. Included in the 1935 aircraft purchase was a Northrop RT-1 Delta […]

1935 – Coast Guard Air station Salem Established Coast Guard Air Station Salem In February of 1935 the Coast Guard established a seaplane facility at Salem, Massachusetts because there was no longer space to expand the Ten Pound Island Gloucester air station.  Air Station Salem was located at Winter Island, an extension of Salem Neck […]

1934 – Coast Guard Air Station Biloxi Established During 1933 the Coast Guard was looking for a location to establish an Air station that would provide effective life saving and property protection in the upper Gulf of Mexico region. A site on the eastern edge of Biloxi Mississippi, with direct access to Biloxi Bay, was […]

1934 – Coast Guard Obtains the Grumman JF-2 Duck Grover Loening formed his own company in 1928 when the original Loening Aeronautical Engineering Corporation combined with Curtiss-Wright. Grover submitted plans for a privately developed XO2L-1 amphibian to the Navy and requested evaluation. This amphibian retained many of the Loening OLs features but presented them in […]

1934 – Coast Guard Commences Aerial Border Patrol Operations In the early 1930s Prohibition had been the law of the land for over 10 years.  The Coast Guard was heavily involved in maritime interdiction and the Customs Service and Border Patrol had the enormous task of combating the smuggling of alcohol, illegal aliens and drugs […]

1932:  Coast Guard Air Station Miami Established Dinner Key was originally an island in Biscayne Bay which was connected to the mainland with fill in 1914. In 1917 the Navy chose this site to become a Naval Air Station. The base was commissioned the following year and conducted flight training with 12 seaplanes and a […]

1932 – The Flying Life Boats A Coast Guard Aviation Section had been established at Headquarters under the direction of CDR. Norman B. Hall in 1928. The potential of aviation had been proven and aircraft with increased capabilities were desired. A statement of requirements was presented to aircraft manufacturers: “An aerial ‘eye” capable of extended […]

1929 – Air Traffic Flight Following Established by USCG The great expansion of the Coast Guard incident to anti-smuggling activities during the Prohibition years brought about a major expansion in radio communication capabilities. Prior to that time cutters were equipped with Navy type radio equipment and used Navy frequencies for handling ship-shore traffic. The need […]

1926 – The First Permanent Coast Guard Air Stations Established The prohibition of the manufacture, importing, transportation and selling of alcoholic beverages had become the law of the land on January 16, 1920. Enforcement of the law fell to the Treasury Department and as part of the Treasury Department, the Coast Guard was tasked with […]