United States Coast Guard Academy - Tide Rips Yearbook (New London, CT)

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The probationary term of cadets, which is now to be four years, was extended to three years by the Act of February 25, 1903. No provision had yet been made for training engineer cadets at the Service school. College engineers were given an acting appointment in the lowest grade of that corps, and after a pro- bationary term on ships of the Service, if found satisfactory, were appointed directly into the Engineer Corps. The Act of Jime 23. 1906, provided for the appointment of cadet engineers, who, upon graduation, should be appointed to vacancies in the lower grades of the Engineer Corps. This brought cadets of the line and cadet engineers together at the Academy where their separate courses were carried on until the Act of July 3, 1926 abolished cadet engineers and merged them with line cadets. There- after, of course, no cadet engineers were appointed and the course of instruction was made to include the work of the line cadet and the former cadet engineer in one comprehensive course. In July, 1907, the famous and beloved old Chase was placed out of com- mission and her place as practice ship was taken by the Itasca, a steamer with auxiliary sail power. The Itasca was replaced in 1920 by the Alexander Hamilton, a sailing vessel with auxiliary steam power. As the Alexander Hamilton approaches the end of her usefulness, there arises again the perennial question, What type of practice ship should the Service adopt ? The Academy plant at Arundel Cove became inadequate and its enlargement was a debated question for a long time. Finally it was decided that on account of the isolation of the Arundel Cove site, it would be advisable to move the loca- tion of the school. The Fort Trumbull Government Reservation at New London, Connecticut, was obtained for the purpose from the ' ar Department and in 1910, the Academy was moved to New London. There the cadets were actually quartered on shore for the first time since 1876. The plant at Fort Trumbull has now become inadequate, so Congress decided that the Coast Guard Academy should have an entirely new plant, larger and better and much more beautiful. Accordingly, work has been started on a new Academy upon a large site on the Thames River, within the limits of New Lon- don, just above the Thames River Bridge. It is hoped that the new Academy will be dedicated early in 1931. There ' s a Utile lane of frieiulshit , Where the z ' oniiest siiiibeaiiis gloiv; Where the birds sing happy carols And the brightest blossoms grotv; Up and dozen that lane I zvander, Meeting many folks I knoze. But there ' s one Dear Friend I ' m missing, Dear Old Friend of long ago. Twenty-nine

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The Coast Giaard Acatdeoiy Captain H. G. Hamlet. U. S. C. C. Superintendent From the l)eginning of the Service on August 4, 1790. officer appiiintments were made from those who had served in the Continental Xavv or in the Mer- chant Marine. Naturally, the requirements must have been more or less flexible to meet the emergencies of the Service as it passed through the varying stages of expansion authorized by the Congress. The change from sail to steam, about . ' - 1859, required the formation of an Engineer Corps, but we do not find any change in the method of selecting either line or engineer officers until the Act of Con- gress July 31, 1876, made provision for appointing cadets and training them in ;;i a two year course for appointment as line officers. 7j ' | Accordingly, the school was established at New Bedford, Massachusetts, in »! February, 1877. The Dobbin, a topsail schooner of the regular cruising cutter «;■ ' type of that period, was assigned to the school as a practice ship, and a small establishment comprising only a drill shed and a rigging loft was set up on shore near the ship. Steps were immediately taken to design and build a practice ship. The Chase, a bark-rigged sailing vessel, well adapted to the purpose, was completed in 1878, and thereafter served as the practice ship until 1907. ,-5 To those who served on her, the Chase stands as the embodiment of beaut v, ' efficiency, speed and perfection in naval architecture. The school continued its winter schedules at New Bedford with summer cruises to Europe on the Chase until 1890, when it was decided that vacancies ' -;»j in the lower grade of line officers should be filled by appointing to such vacancies (71 ! ' graduates of the six-year course at the Naval Academy; and the school at New X I Bedford was, accordingly, placed out of commission. By 1894 it was found that (r. ' ' ij such a system did not meet the needs of the Service and the school on the . ' .I Chase at New Bedford was recommissioned in April of that year. In 1895, ' ; the Chase was lengthened and rebuilt, and on the theory that the place to train officers was on a ship at sea without any shore establishment whatever, the school then began a career of roaming about the waters of the Earth, spending the winter months in port for the academic work of the cadet course, and spending the summer season at sea ; an academy and practice ship combined in one self- contained unit. The school wintered in various years at Charleston, South Caro- lina, Mobile, Alabama, Pensacola, Florida, and St. Petersburg, Florida. In 1900 the plan of 1876 was resumed, but with more emphasis on the shore establishment. The Service Depot at Arundel Cove, South Baltimore, Maryland, where a boat-building and repair plant was already in operation, was selected as the site for the shore establishment. Buildings were erected, drill and recrea- tion fields laid out ; and for the first time in its existence the school became a land-faring institution. Cadets were still retjuired to live on board ship, but recitations, study, and drill were held on shore. Tivcnty-ciyht

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CAPTAIX HARRY G. HAMLET. Sul cnntcndcnt