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Sept. 30, 2025
Coast Guard takes charge of the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking (SARSAT) program
Service replaces National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in overseeing network that detects distress signals.
July 18, 2025
Lost at Sea—The origins of our SAR mission
In 1915, Congress passed “An Act to Create the Coast Guard,” which merged the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and U.S. Life-Saving Service, combining the federal government’s two agencies responsible for maritime safety into one modern agency tasked with protecting lives and property on shore and at sea.
May 23, 2025
Reflecting on the 1961 Triumph-Mermaid tragedy
“There was no sign of anybody inside. I just hung on and prayed as the ship filled with water.”
April 4, 2025
Celebrating 406 Day and the unsung heroes of maritime security
406 MHz beacons provide a critical safety net, ensuring our USCG personnel have the means to assist during unpredictable maritime situations.
Nov. 1, 2024
Evolution of SAR
Search and rescue is a basic principle: someone is in distress and the Coast Guard answers the call, and that bias for action is an innate quality in the service’s long line of rescuers.
May 2, 2024
Joint Program Office uses the MQ-9 aircraft to save four souls off the coast of Texas
Successful case demonstrates how the range, endurance, and sensor capabilities of the MQ-9 can support Coast Guard SAR operations.
Aug. 23, 2023
The Long Blue Line: A tragedy remembered — SS Marine Electric sinking 40 years ago, part three
The shipwreck that prompted the creation of the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Program is recalled by the pilot of one of the helicopters sent to rescue survivors on that fateful night.
Aug. 21, 2023
The Long Blue Line: A tragedy remembered — SS Marine Electric sinking 40 years ago, Part Two
Aug. 18, 2023
The Long Blue Line: A tragedy remembered — SS Marine Electric sinking 40 years ago, Part One
July 17, 2023
The Long Blue Line: Coast Guard helps rescue U.S. submarine Squalus over 80 years ago!
Trapped and tragically drowned in the flooded after compartments were 24 officers and sailors plus two civilian technicians. This left 32 officers and sailors and one civilian technician alive in the unflooded forward compartments.
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