This Day in Coast Guard History – Feb. 26

1793- Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury, submitted to the Senate the first list of cutters with stations, officers names, rank and dates of commission.

1984-Five people died, three were injured, and 22 people rescued when the tanker American Eagle exploded 180 miles southeast of New Orleans.  An AIRSTA New Orleans HH-3 took the three injured crewmen ashore while a British tanker watched over the crippled ship until a commercial tug could arrive.  The new day the American Eagle started to break up and sink.  The 24 remaining crewmen abandoned ship.  Oil rig supply boats and a Coast Guard helicopter recovered 22.  The other two became the subject of an HU-25 search but the SAR case was suspended after three days.

(Source: USCG Historian’s Office)