This Day in Coast Guard History – August 25

1945-CGC Magnolia was rammed amidships on 25 August 1945 by the cargo ship SS Marguerite Lehand off Mobile Bay.  She sank in two minutes and one of her crew was killed.  The other 49 were rescued.  Those survivors cross-decked to the new tender CGC Salvia (WAGL-400) which then took Magnolia's place.

1950-SS Benevolence collided with SS Mary Luckenbach.  CGC Gresham and other vessels responded and rescued 407 persons.

1971-The Secretary of Transportation announced the awarding of a contract to the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington, "to build the world’s most powerful icebreaker for the US Coast Guard," Polar Star, the first of two "Polar-Class" icebreakers.

2005-Hurricane Katrina made landfall between Hallandale Beach and Aventura, Florida, as a Category 1 hurricane.  Four days later it came ashore again near Empire, Buras and Boothville, Louisiana.  The rescue and response effort was one of the largest in Coast Guard history, with 24,135 lives saved and 9,409 evacuations.

(Source: USCG Historian’s Office)