BLACK DUCK

Photos of Black Duck in U.S. Coast Guard custody

Photos: U.S. Coast Guard

While on coastal Prohibition duty, the U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat CG-290 raked the rum runner Black Duck with machine-gun fire, killing three of her crew in late December 1929.

The incident in Naragansett Bay, Rhode Island, caused public outrage against the Coast Guard though CG-290's boatswain, Alexander Cornell, and his crew were cleared of wrongdoing. 

The Black Duck, considered one of Prohibition's fastest smuggling craft, failed to heave to, Cornell said.

Historians contend the encounter contributed to the end of Prohibition, which was unpopular among the masses and ultimately un-enforceable.