Subtitled Heroes, Rescues and Architecture of the Early Coast Guard, this very complete record of the people, technology, architecture and exploits of the U.S. Life-Saving Service is a large-format book illustrated with 446 photographs and maps. It is especially strong on the wonderful and regionally varied architecture of the Service's stations, of which there were more than today's mariners or beachcombers can imagine -- 41 on the New Jersey coast, 31 on Lake Michigan, 13 on Cape Cod alone. In the last half of the nineteenth century, when coasting vessels numbered in the tens of thousands, the stations and their beach patrols were a necessity, and the surfmen managed dramatic rescues, many of which are recounted here.

From the Civil War to the turn of the century, this is the true-life story of the original Coast Guard and one crew of African-American heroes who fought storms and saved lives off America's southeastern coast. 31 halftones.

Excerpt from Annual Report of the United States Life-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1903 Section 9 Of the act of Congress approved June 18, 1878, provides: That upon the occurrence of any shipwreck within the scope of the operations of the life-saving Service, attended with loss of life, the general superintendent shall cause an investigation of all the circumstances connected with said disaster and loss Of life to be made, with a View of ascertaining the cause of the disaster, and whether any of the Officers or employees Of the Service have been guilty of neglect. Or miscon duct ih the premises. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Provides detailed history and technical design information on each and every type of small rescue craft ever used by the United States Life-Saving Service and United States Coast Guard.