Famous Coast Guard Photographs
High Resolution Images
Richard Etheridge and his Pea Island Life-Saving Station crew in 1896.
Etheridge was the first African-American keeper of a U.S. Life-Saving Station and he commanded the only all African-American crew in the United States. Etheridge is on the far left. The Coast Guard recently awarded Gold Lifesaving Medals to Etheridge and his crew for their 1896 rescue of the passengers and crew of the E.S. Newman.
Circa 1896; no photo number; photographer unknown.
Captain "Hell Roaring" Mike Healy, USRCS
Captain Healy was the first commissioned African-American officer of the United States Government and the first to command a U.S. warship.
Circa 1890; no photo number; photographer unknown.
World's first flight in a power driven heavier than air machine.
The most famous aviation photograph ever taken. The Wright biplane, piloted by Orville Wright, has just taken off from a monorail launching strip on a field at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on 17 December 1903. Wilbur Wright, running along the right side of the aircraft, held onto the wing to balance the machine until it left the monorail. This is the only photograph of the world's first flight in a power driven heavier than air machine, which was invented by Wilbur and Orville Wright. This picture was taken for the Wright Brothers, and posterity, by Surfman J. T. Daniels, a member of the crew of the Kill Devil Hills Lifesaving Station. He and the other members of the crew assisted the brothers as described in the following article. More importantly, they acted as eyewitnesses to the flight. Who better to verify the flight than five employees of the U.S. Government?
17 December 1903; no photo number; photo by J. T. Daniels, Surfman, USLSS.
Alexander Palmer Haley, USCG
Alexander Palmer Haley, USCG was a world renowned writer and a Coast Guard veteran. His most famous work, of course, was the classic Roots.
Circa 1940; no photo number; photographer unknown.
Signalman First Class Douglas Munro, USCG
Munro entered the history books during the Guadalcanal campaign when, on a dangerous mission to evacuate Marines from behind enemy lines, he was killed in action. He is the only Coast Guardsman to ever be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Circa 1941; no photo number; photographer unknown.
"Jaws of Death": D-Day at Omaha Beach.
A Coast Guard-manned LCVP from the USS Samuel Chase disembarks troops of the U.S. Army's First Division on the morning of 6 June 1944 at Omaha Beach.
6 June 1944; no photo number; photo by CPHOM Robert F. Sargent, USCG
Marines Thank Coast Guard, Guam, 1944
Original Caption: "Marine PFC William A. McCoy and PFC Ralph L. Plunkett hold a sign saluting USCG forces after the Japanese were defeated at Guam."
Circa July 1944; CG Photo No. 2709; photographer unknown.
Coast Guard Headquarters, Buzzard's Point, Washington, D.C.
The Coast Guard training barque Eagle on the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. Coast Guard Headquarters is in the background.
Circa 1990; no photo number; photographer unknown.