This Day in Coast Guard History – September 14

1716-The Boston Lighthouse on Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor, the first lighthouse established in America, was first lit.

1944-The Great Atlantic Hurricane, a Category 3 hurricane, made landfall at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, Long Island, New York, and Point Judith, Rhode Island.  Cape Henry, Virginia, reported sustained winds at 134 MPH with gusts to 150 MPH.  There were 46 civilian deaths and $100 million in damage from Cape Hatteras northward through the Maine coast.  Cutters Jackson and Bedloe, and Lightship No. 73 on Vineyard Sound Station, foundered. All 12 of the lightship's crew perished. Only 30 of the 78 crewmen aboard the two cutters were saved.  Two Navy vessels also foundered.  A total of 344 perished at sea.

1989- Sikorsky Aircraft unveiled the replacement for the Sikorsky HH-3F Pelican helicopter: the HH-60J.  The Coast Guard planned to purchase 33 of the new helicopters and gave it the moniker "Jayhawk."

1990- The Secretary of Transportation and the Commandant of the Coast Guard authorized the first-ever deployment of a reserve port security unit overseas.  PSU 303, staffed by reservists from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was the first of three PSUs deployed.  PSU 303 was stationed in Al-Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

(Source: USCG Historian’s Office)