About USCGAAcademy History
The Revenue Marine - 1790The roots of today's Coast Guard were established in 1790 by Alexander Hamilton (that's him on the ten dollar bill). Hamilton proposed the formation of the Revenue Marine, a seagoing military service that would:
Education at Sea - 1876
The first Coast Guard Academy (then called the Revenue Cutter School of Instruction) was held aboard the two-masted topsail schooner Dobbin (see photo at right). The first class of nine cadets boarded the Dobbin in Baltimore, Maryland in 1876 for a two-year training mission.
Land-Based Campuses - 1890
The Coast Guard Academy was a shipboard operation until 1890 when the first land-based campus was established in Curtis Bay, Maryland. In 1910, the Academy moved to the Revolutionary War fort and Army post at Fort Trumbull in New London, Connecticut.
The Academy Today - 1915
The modern Academy was born in 1915 with the merger of the Life Saving Service and Revenue Cutter Service. In 1932, the citizens of New London donated the present site to the Academy.