DESTROYER BOOZE PATROL

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard
Destroyer McCall arriving in Boston Harbor in 1928.

On Prohibition patrol on Jan. 14, 1928, the U.S. Coast Guard destroyer McCall came upon an unusual sight - a rum-running schooner ablaze off Nantucket carrying an illicit cargo.

The Gaspé Fisherman's crew had abandoned ship in dories. McCall retrieved the smugglers and then turned to rake their flame-gutted derelict with gunfire, sending it to the bottom, the Naval History and Heritage Command said. 

The British-flagged schooner operated out of Nova Scotia, and "for three years, McCall and her compatriots monitored this well-known rumrunner," the command said. The crew was interrogated by immigration officers while in custody.

On the day of the fire, Gaspé Fisherman was said to be carrying champagne. 

The McCall, designated CGD-14, and 30 other mothballed U.S. Navy destroyers were loaned to the Coast Guard during the Rum War. President Calvin Coolidge's frugal administration considered refurbishing the vessels more expedient than building new cutters to squeeze smugglers.

The destroyers underwent substantial repair and restoration at the Navy yards in Philadelphia and New York before being pressed into anti-smuggling service. They had seen considerable action during World War I and were neglected and rusting while in reserve status.

The commander of one of the destroyers was quoted as describing his loaner as an "appalling mass of junk."

The service also received 200 cabin cruisers and 100  small boats - generally new. 

Coast Guardsmen used to cutter duty underwent a crash course in learning the ins and outs of destroyer operations. Most enlisted members assigned to cutters were new recruits as the Coast Guard staffed up to enforce prohibition laws. It was strictly a seat-of-the-pants show.

The first to join the Coast Guard fleet was the Beale in 1924. It was designated CGD-9.

The destroyers were capable of running at more than 25 knots. however, bootleggers could outrace them with more maneuverable small boats.

"The destroyers’ mission, therefore, was to picket the larger supply ships ("mother ships") and prevent them from off-loading their cargo onto the smaller, speedier contact boats that ran the liquor into shore." the U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office said. 

They were scrapped after Prohibition ended.

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard
Beale, the first destroyer to enter U.S. Coast Guard service. 

On Jan. 19, 1919, Congress ratified the 18th Amendment, banning the manufacture, sale and transport of alcoholic beverages. On Oct. 28, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act, delegating responsibility for policing Prohibition to the Treasury Department, effective Jan. 16, 1920. The U.S. Coast Guard operated under the auspices of the Treasury at the time, as did the Prohibition Bureau.