Historical Military Operations

Vintage photographs capture Coast Guard and naval operations, including the transportation of military equipment and drills during historical conflicts.

Peaceful Passage. This image depicts an Atlantic convoy moving towards its destination.

Image shows U.S. sailors conducting setting up exercises on board the USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) during World War One. This photo was taken on June 14, 1918, and falls under the category of official use only.

Photograph of Captain James A. Hirshfield Aboard the Campbell. Sub-sinking skipper of the Coast Guard's CAMPBELL, Captain James A. Hirshfield, San Antonio, Texas, leans on the pelorus, or navigating compass, on the bridge of his ship as he scrutinizes the sea with Ensign Julian N. Raper, Jr., South Norfolk, Virginia. Standing with his back to the camera is Coast Guardsmen Carl R. Jaehne, Pigeon Point Light Station, Pescadero, California, who is using the blinker light. Though the Coast Guard cutter routed six Nazi U-boats within 12 hours, the only Coast Guardsman to be injured was Captain Hirshfield. He was hit by a piece of ricocheting metal, but remained at his post and saw the CAMPBELL safely to Port.

Sailors on lookout duty aboard a Italian navy ship, World War II, from L'Illustrazione Italiana, Year LXX, No 32, August 8, 1943.

Coast Guard Juggernauts Charge the Beach. Coast Guard Juggernaughts Charge the Beach. The big push is on in the Pacific and Coast Guard crews man these blunt-nosed landing barges bringing troops and supplies to the beaches. Here, a group of Coast Guard-manned landing craft smash shoreward in practice amphibious operations. They come from a Coast Guard-manned transport anchored out on the horizon.

Arrival of Japanese warships and troops in the Lungshwy bay. .

Reproduction of a drawing of Tassy Altar of the Fatherland, Federation Day, July 14, 1790. (TF)

Photograph of Men on Greenland Patrol (Ice Patrol).

'Gib'. From the album: Photograph album of Major J.M. Rose, 1st NZEF, 1914-1916, Gibraltar, by Major John Rose.

Even Nearer to Tokyo. A line of Coast Guard-manned and Navy LST's ploughs its steady course to a destination somewhere in the Philippines. These hardy carriers - the backbone of amphibious assault - are loaded to capacity with heavy fighting equipment and smaller landing craft. As the stranglehold is drawn tighter on Japan, the ugly-to-look-at LST's play their vital role in getting the men and materiel to the beachheads with cool, swift efficiency.

Hailing the Coast Guard. This image depicts artwork of survivors of a torpedoed ship hailing a U.S. Coast Guard amphibian. Artwork by Hunter Wood.

Description: Ploughing in the Reserves. Location: Swaziland Date: 1945 africa, swaziland1945

Photo collection First World War. The German submarine U. 35: Return of a trip. The U. 35 Meert alongside the Ohäa houseboat. The crew answers the Cancellations of Austriansch Hungarian Sailors. 1914-1918}

Tinian Invaders Strike At Dawn. This image depicts American invaders wading through a golden, shallow surf to hit the beach of Tinian Island near Guarm.

Long Hour at Dawn. The long hour at down, as the hour of invasion approaches, finds these Coast Guardsmen on gun watch off the shores of Sicily. Their transport carries U.S. Army contingents.

Coast Guard Cutter Off Cliffs of Corregidor. A Coast Guard combat cutter, at left, stands off the hump of Corregidor at the mouth of Manila Bay, as American forces recapture that embattled island from the Japs. This picture was made February 16, during operations which sent paratroopers drifting down on the plateau and amphibious forces rushing the beaches from landing craft.

Arctic Resupply Mission. A crew of the Coast Guard icebreaker WESTWIND is shown here planting demolition charges in an attempt to free the vessel from a polar ice trap. Enroute with supplies to Alert, fartherest sic northern weather station in the Arctic, at a position near the northeastern end of Ellsmere Island (approximately 450 miles from the North Pole), the WESTWIND was icebound from September 1 to 10, 1954, five miles within her destination.

Elsevier photo collection. HR. MS XVIII, submarine Dutch navy. foreground Geofysicus Prof. F.A. Facing Meinesz (Extraordinary Professor Geodesia, Kartography Geophysics University Utrecht) carried gravity measurements board. October 1934

Terror, U. S. Navy, Monitor , Warships

Brandy Station, Virginia (vicinity). Ammunition train of 3d Division, Cavalry Corps. Civil war photographs, 1861-1865 . United States, History, Civil War, 1861-1865.

Image of the U.S.S. Colorado, an American cruiser during World War I. Photographer recognized on February 12, 1918. The photograph was taken onboard the U.S.S. Colorado. This photograph was issued by the U.S.S. Colorado, with the identification number AU RECEIVED FROM C. P. I. 2972. This photograph is part of the laboratory notes labeled alebs US WAS FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY.

Anefo photo collection. Destruction. Rotterdam (+ port). May 5, 1945. Rotterdam, South Holland

The Litters Come Back From Guam's Inferno. This image depicts Coast guardsmen and Marines teaming up as litter-bearing crews to bring out the American invaders who fell wounded in the invasion of Guam.

Makin Silhouette. A U.S. Coast Guard photographer caught this silhouette of an amphibious "Water Buffalo" tank and its alert crew during the invasion of Makin. The photographer is attached to a Coast Guard manned combat transport that participated in the invasion as a part of a Navy task force.

Hr.ms. Mijnenveger Ameland, probably the commissioning on January 10, 1943 in England.

Coast Guard Delivers Truck to Russells. From a Coast Guard-manned assault transport, a truck is delivered at the Russell Islands near Guadalcanal. The Coast Guard ship brought Marines from New Britain Island for a rest period. With them came some motorized equipment.

Mass Attack of Landing Barges on Saipan. In sweep the the swarms of Coast Guard and Navy-manned landing barges and the amtracs toward the beaches of Saipan to launch the invasion which gave American forces domination of the strategic Marianas of the Central Pacific. From the beaches, Yankee fighters pressed the hard-fighting Japs northward and gained control of the airfields and the capital town of Garapan.

Photograph of Cuban Refugees - USCGC Ingham Operating in Florida Straits. A rescue launch from the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham returns to the ship with a group of Cuban refugees who were stranded on a small coral island 14 miles off the coast of Cuba. These refugees were first sighted from a Coast Guard plane, whereupon a radio call through the 7th Coast Guard District Search and Rescue Center, Miami, Fla., notified the Ingham of the distressed Cubans while the cutter was operating in the Florida Straits. The 372-ft. Cutter Ingham is based in Norfolk, Va.

New York, U.S.N. , Warships

Collection of World War I Photographs, 1914-1918 that depict the military activities of British and other nation's armed forces and personnel during World War I.

At Gibraltar. This image depicts an oil painting by Coast Guard combat artist Hunter Wood of a manned transport during the North African Invasion.

A black and white photograph with the identification number 111-SC-41475 depicts U.S. transports and the U.S.S. Louisville during World War One. The photographer of the image is Enrique Muller Jr. The original photo is stored in Drawer No. 3, Corridor Cabinet No. 5. Issued for official use only. Important note: the caption is purely factual and does not add any creative elements.

Coast Guard Aids in Seizure of Emirau. Coast Guard landing craft run their blunt noses almost into the jungles that fringe the shores of Emirau Island, a strategic base in the Bismark Archipelago. Prepared for a battle, Marines swept to the beaches, but found that the Japs had fled. In came the supplies and the Americans established themselves without a fight.

Destination Dead Ahead. A Coast Guard-manned LST, loaded to the Gunwales with trucks, tanks, guns and Yankee fighting men, pokes its blunt snout toward the palm-lined beach of Leyte Island in the Philippines. The Thunderous bombardment of U.S. fleet guns has quieted. The first waves of invaders have struck and now the ponderous LSTs, backbone of amphibious assault, slides toward the unloading point in the battle center of the central Philippines.

Coast Guard Helicopter Demonstrates Air-Sea Rescue with New U-Type Equipment. "Contact".. Having spotted the "shipwreck victim" struggling in the sea, the pilot of a Coast Guard Sikorsky helicopter maneuvers directly above and lowers the new u-type rescue harness. While the helicopter's whirling blades hold it stationary, the "Victim" grasps the harness then pulls himself up from the grips of the ocean. The demonstration from the Coast Guard Air Station at Brooklyn, N.Y. was staged to show the value of the new clear for air-sea rescues in heavy seas. The pilot was Coast Guard Commander F. A. Erickson of Tacoma, Wash. and the "shipwreck victim," Coast Guardsman Lewis T. Marshall, Aviation Machinist's Mate Second Class, of Peabody, Mass.

Coast Guard to the Rescue. This image depicts artwork of Coast Guardsmen from the Coast Guard cutters Cedar and Onondaga rescuing the wrecked liner Yukon, drawn by Coast Guard Combat Artist Jack Keeler.

Expedients for Crossing Streams. A.J. Russell (American, 1830 - 1902)

Machine Age Monsters Invade the South Seas. From the gaping maw of a Coast Guard-manned LST, mechanized fighting equipment is poured into the invasion of Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island. The knife-claws on the treads of a "water buffalo" make quick work of pulling heavy war armaments through the surf to the beach. Deep water and the shallows are all the same to these versatile amphibious tractors.

Wakde Island Invaders Watch Planes Come Over. Coast Guardsmen and troops watch as 20 fighter planes swing over Wakde Island to strafe bitter Jap defenders in the jungles just off the beach. This action, 200 miles west of Hollandia on May 18, brought another important advance base into American hands in the Southwest Pacific.

Immersion of the Navalo, Royal Navy (Regia Marina) submarine, during military exercises in the Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy, from L'Illustrazione Italiana, Year XXXV, No 35, August 30, 1908.

Going in at Cape Gloucester. A U.S. Coast Guard manned LST (Landing Ship, Tanks) disgorges a half-track at Cape Gloucester, New Britain. Coast Guard and Navy manned LSTs participated in the invasion.

Coast Guard Helicopter Rescues Sailor. This image depicts a Coast Guard helicopter rescuing Stephen E. Pototzky, an injured sailor from the vessel EXPLORER, piloted by Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander E.C. Allen.

International Ice Patrol - 1948. Combined air and surface operations and the effective use of radar and loran by Coast patrol units contributed to the success of the 1948 International Ice Patrol. It was the mission of the 1948 patrol to locate and report ice conditions constituting a menace to navigation, to determine set and drift of icebergs, to collect weather information and surface and sub-surface oceanographic data, and to keep all interested parties and commercial shipping informed thereof. The importance to mariners of ice broadcasts is evidenced by the fact that practically all commercial radio transmission ceases during the broadcasts. The International Ice Patrol along the steamer lanes of the North Atlantic is conducted by the United States Coast Guard. Coast Guard cutters and planes assigned to the patrol are based at Argentina, Newfoundland.

Photo collection Government information service. Dutch soldiers close concrete doors, which are placed as a defense at river bridges. Waalbrug Nijmegen .. 1940. Nijmegen

Ship Painters' Serenade. A Coast Guard orchestra provides the rhythm as a paint-up detail slaps a beauty treatment on the hull of a Coast Guard-manned troop transport tied up at an undisclosed European port. The transport ferries reinforcements for the Allied lines in the Battle of Germany. Paint brushes fly with the lively gusto as their wielders swing through the job to the latest popular tunes.

Advance to Tjilatap, 1947 - 1949 photograph Run to Tjilatap. Dutch infantrymen wade through a river to secure the site on the other side. Java photographic support troop movements, transportation Java. Dutch East Indies, The

Fighting "Irish" Sticks With His Company. When his company of American troops transferred from a Coast Guard-manned assault transport to an LST, prior to a Southwest Pacific amphibious invasion, "Irish," the company's mongrel mascot, stuck with his pals and scampered proudly down the gangway. "Irish" had "enlisted" somewhere in the States and followed his company from training camp to training camp, until he ultimately wound up in Southwest Pacific combat zone. Tension of his leash indicates that "Irish" is eager to get along with the war.

Photo collection First World War. "The crew of a return German submarine answers the greetings from the crews of ships lying in the harbor." 1914-1918}. Germany

German Pillbox Surrenders Without a Fight. This image depicts an abandoned German pillbox, whose crew surrendered without a fight, drawn by Coast Guard Combat Artist Robert James Tucker.

Services On Coast Guard-manned LST Which Hit Iwo Jima. This image depicts Father Larry Byrne conducting religious services for Coast Guard crew members and Marines.

Photograph of the Starboard View of the SS Ocmulgee. Starboard View. July 19, 1918. Photographs Of S. S. Ocmulgee. Nationality: - American. Tonnage: -2667. Captain: - E. L. Cole. Owners: - Clyde S. S. Co. Where From: - New York, N. Y. Destination: - New York, N. Y. Where Photographed: - Jacksonville, Fla. Sixth Naval District. By Whom Photographed: - J. B. Dearborn. Date Photographed: - July 6th., 1918.. 1918-07-06T00:00:00.

Photograph of American Soldiers Catching Their K Rations and Celery Soup from the Top of a 20-mm Ready Box. Luncheon is Served in the English Channel. Come and get it boys, while the gettin's good. Crossing the English Channel aboard a Coast Guard "Elsie" (or LCI), American Soldiers catch their K rations and celery soup from the top of a 20-mm ready box. Ahead lies the Coast of France, but for the moment chow is the important thing. You can't fight a hollow stomach.

Garapan, Capital of Marianas, Shelled by Navy Units. From a ridge overlooking Garapan, a Coast Guard combat photographer made this picture of the capital of the Marianas, on the island of Saipan, when it was under bombardment by the American fleet units. Shelling of the Saipan town halfway up the west coast preceded its recent capture by Yankee attackers after bitter Jap resistance.

The picture shows how a seaplane is conducted in the country of a group of soldiers standing in the water and tow the aircraft by hand .. The picture shows how a seaplane is conducted in the country of a group of soldiers standing in the water and tow the airplane by hand.

Painting with motives of the Varskafte Uss Manayuk also called USS Ajax.

Assouan - the Nile waters escaping through the dam sluices. From the album: Photograph album of Major J.M. Rose, 1st NZEF, 1914-1915, Egypt, by Major John Rose.

Silhouette of a Coast Guardsman Aerial Dye "Bombing" an Iceberg. A kneeling crew member, silhouetted in the rear cargo doorway of a U.S. Coast Guard HC-130-B Ice Patrol plane, carefully aims a calcium chloride-rhodamine "B" dye bomb at iceberg below located in a field of ice in Davis Strait off Baffin Island. Imbedded with a bright vermillion stain, the iceberg is marked for future identification and aerial tracking. This method of marking icebergs, developed by the Coast Guard Oceanographic Unit in Washington, D.C., was used for the first time on the 1966 Ice Patrol on iceberg targets located east and north of Newfoundland. The type of bomb used is a one gallon glass jug containing a mixture of calcium chloride pellets and rhodamine "B" dye. The calcium chloride melts grooves into the ice, allowing the bright vermillion dye to penetrate from one-half to one full inch deep so that it does not wash away with melting. As a result, Coast Guard observers were able to more accurately determ

Ferry Duty for Coast Guard in Far North. This image depicts construction workers lining the rails of their ship as a Coast Guard combat cutter comes to ferry them ashore.

Anti-submarine Action. This image depicts a Navy destroyer which worked in collaboration with a Coast Guard patrol plane to drop depth charges on suspected German submarines.

Chinese Coolies Working On Runway At An Airbase In Kweilin, China.

Back to Corregidor - After 33 Months. Under the guns of a Coast Guard combat cutter, the rugged plateaus and steep cliffs off Corregidor stand at the mouth of Manila Bay. Landing boats, loaded with American invaders visible close in shore, as a trap from the sea and sky closes on Japs defending the fortress they won nearly three years ago. Paratroopers dropped on the plateau in coordination with the amphibious assault.

Project 24 - Operation Hardtack (Enewetak/Bikini/Johnnston Island Area) Detonation. OAK detonation & cloud from Parry Island, observers in foreground (8 of 34). Photographs of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at Pacific Island and Nevada Test Sites.

Pollensa (Mallorca), February 1957. A moment of rescue practices in which, once a week, entire crews of the Iberia company take part, from the simplest position to the commander of the plane, under the direction of the Service Spanish Search and Rescue.

Explorer of the Deep Army Diver M/SGT. Melvin Alderman is raised to the surface after exploring the waters at Inchon Harbor, Korea.

Samoan War Canoe photographic prints, black-and-white prints

Two Wrecked German Submarines At Dockside In Hamburg, Germany, After Allied Bombing. Shipyards Were Rebuilt A Few Times, But After The Heavy Bombing In April 1945, They Were Abandoned.

Just Before the Battle. This image depicts artwork of three U.S. Army soldiers aboard a Coast Guard-manned vessel before the invasion of Saipan, painted by Coast Guard Combat Artist Jack B. Gildersleeve.

Photo collection Spaarnestad topics. Air war Germans .. This is everything from a spitfire that was shot above the canal. December 1, 1940

The perilous charge of the "Saikyo-Maru" through the Chinese squadron, in or after 1894 - in or before 1895 photomechanical print Japan paper collotype ships (in general). battle

German soldiers en route to Austria. Album leaf with four photos of German soldiers traveling by train from Heidelberg via Prague Aar Austria. Page 24 from album 'Kriegsernernungen'.

Patchwork on the Luzon Beachhead. Patchwork on the Luzon Beachhead. A wounded soldier on a stretcher is given first aid treatment by Coast Guardsman William Jackson, pharmacist's mate third class, member of a Coast Guard beach party hitting the shore of Lingayen Gulf with the first wave of the Luzon invaders. Coast Guardsman Jackson is from Columbia, S.C. Landing barges moved the wounded to transports standing off shore.

Photo of Max Rindskopf and His Life Saving Gun A Gun to Save; Not to Kill! New Item Max Rinskoff, Inventor, on the New York City Police Boat 'Hylan' Demonstrating How His G-0 Life Line Hurling Gun Works. The Gun Shoots a Life Line Accurately 1,400 Feet and Has the Highest Commendation of the U.S. Stealboat Inspection Board. The Powder Used in Inclosed in an Air and Water-Tight Cartridge and the Gun is Said Never to Mis-Fire and to Have Very Little Recoil.

Camel transport resting. From the album: Photograph album of Major J.M. Rose, 1st NZEF, circa 1915, Suways, Qanat as-, by Major John Rose.

The 'Arawa' at Wellington: New Zealand troops embarking 1914. From the album: Photograph album of Major J.M. Rose, 1st NZEF, October 1914, Wellington, by Major John Rose.

Revenue Cutter Bear, The Midnight Sun, Note reflection of Sun on cloud. Photographs of Revenue Cutter Service Cadets, Ships and Activities. Department of the Treasury

Restoration of the Apparently Drowned. Lifesaving Service Activities and Equipment, 1918. Department of the Treasury

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