Narrated by Glenn Ford, this 1960s film about the U.S. Coast Guard begins with a brief history of the service, and then shows the mission of the Coast Guard as it existed in the 1960s, featuring its aircraft and ships. At 1:47, there are images of ships in distress and even an ocean liner on fire and sinking. Coast Guard search and rescue is shown, with modern cutters on duty around the clock. A water craft rescue is seen at the 3:15 mark, answering 50K calls each year. Coast Guard buoys are shown at the 5:10 mark, marking rivers and harbors, and lighthouses are seen at the 5:20 mark. LORAN systems are seen at the 5:40 mark, and the Coast Guard Ice Patrol is seen at the 6:00 mark. At 6:20, Coast Guard ice breaker 278 is seen in the arctic. This is USCGC Staten Island. Coast Guard inspectors are seen at the 7:30 mark, inspecting boats and promoting boating safety. Military capabilities of the Coast Guard are seen at the 9:15 mark, with the coast guardsmen ready to fight alongside the Navy in the event of war.

USCGC Staten Island (WAGB-278) was a United States Coast Guard Wind-class icebreaker. Laid down on 9 June 1942 and launched on 28 December 1942, the ship was commissioned on 26 February 1944, and almost immediately afterward transferred to the Soviet Union, under the Lend Lease program, under the name Severny Veter, which loosely translates as Northwind, until 19 December 1951. When returned to the United States Navy, she was designated USS Northwind until 15 April 1952, when she was renamed Staten Island to distinguish her from her successor USCGC Northwind (WAGB-282) which had been laid down shortly after she was lent to the Soviet Union. The ship was transferred to the US Coast Guard as USCGC Staten Island in February 1965, and served until November 1974, before being scrapped.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com