This Day in Coast Guard History – August 16

1918- Keeper John Allen Midgett and the crew of Station No. 179 at Chicamacomico, North Carolina rescued the crew of the mined British tanker SS Mirlo.  All but one of the crew were named Midgett and each received the Gold Lifesaving Medal for their actions in saving the crew amid burning oil and wreckage. 

1941-The Honolulu Coast Guard District was transferred to the Navy.

1999-For the first time weapons were fired from a Coast Guard HITRON helicopter "to execute the interdiction of a maritime drug smuggler."

(Source: USCG Historian’s Office)