The establishment of prohibition gave rise to smuggling of illicit liquor into the United States and, to deal with this problem, twenty-five destroyers were transferred by the United States Navy to the Treasury Department for service with the Coast Guard. Some began to show signs of wear and tear after the often arduous pace of operations on the Rum Patrol and required replacement. Accordingly, five of the newer flush deck destroyers were transferred to the Treasury Department in 1930-1931.
It was thought that adapting these older vessels for Coast Guard service would be less costly than building new ships. In the end, however, the rehabilitation of the vessels became a saga in itself because of the exceedingly poor condition of many of these war-weary ships. In many instances, it took nearly a year to bring the vessels up to seaworthiness. Additionally, these were by far the largest and most sophisticated vessels ever operated by the service, and trained personnel were nearly nonexistent. As a result, Congress authorized hundreds of new enlistees. These inexperienced men generally made up the destroyer crews.
Some of the destroyers were pre-World War I 742-ton "flivvers", capable of over 25 kn (29 mph; 46 km/h) — an advantage in the rum-chasing business. They were, however, easily outmaneuvered by smaller vessels. The destroyers’ mission, therefore, was to picket the larger mother ships and prevent them from off-loading their cargo onto the smaller, speedier contact boats that ran the liquor into shore.
| Coast Guard designation |
Navy designation |
USCG Commissioning |
USCG Decommissioning |
| CG-01USCGD Cassin (CG-1) |
DD-043USS Cassin (DD-43) |
000000001924-08-30-000030 August 1924 |
000000001933-06-05-00005 June 1933 |
| CG-02USCGD Conyngham (CG-2) |
DD-058USS Conyngham (DD-58) |
000000001925-03-08-00008 March 1925 |
000000001933-06-05-00005 June 1933 |
| CG-03USCGD Cummings (CG-3) |
DD-044USS Cummings (DD-44) |
000000001925-05-15-000015 May 1925 |
000000001932-04-30-000030 April 1932 |
| CG-04USCGD Downes (CG-4) |
DD-045USS Downes (DD-45) |
000000001924-10-14-000014 October 1924 |
000000001930-11-18-000018 November 1930 |
| CG-05USCGD Ericsson (CG-5) |
DD-056USS Ericsson (DD-56) |
000000001925-05-28-000028 May 1925 |
000000001932-04-30-000030 April 1932 |
| CG-07USCGD Porter (CG-7) |
DD-059USS Porter (DD-59) |
000000001925-02-20-000020 February 1925 |
000000001933-06-05-00005 June 1933 |
| CG-08USCGD Ammen (CG-8) |
DD-035USS Ammen (DD-35) |
000000001925-01-22-000022 January 1925 |
000000001931-05-18-000018 May 1931 |
| CG-10USCGD Burrows (CG-10) |
DD-029USS Burrows (DD-29) |
000000001925-06-30-000030 June 1925 |
000000001931-02-14-000014 February 1931 |
| CG-11USCGD Fanning (CG-11) |
DD-037USS Fanning (DD-37) |
000000001925-05-30-000030 May 1925 |
000000001930-08-12-000012 August 1930 |
| CG-12USCG Henley (CG-12) |
DD-039USS Henley (DD-39) |
000000001924-11-14-000014 November 1924 |
000000001931-01-30-000030 January 1931 |
| CG-14USCGD McCall (CG-14) |
DD-028USS McCall (DD-28) |
000000001925-06-17-000017 June 1925 |
000000001930-08-12-000012 August 1930 |
| CG-15USCGD Monaghan (CG-15) |
DD-032USS Monaghan (DD-32) |
000000001925-06-30-000030 June 1925 |
000000001931-01-29-000029 January 1931 |
| CG-16USCGD Patterson (CG-16) |
DD-036USS Patterson (DD-36) |
000000001924-11-24-000024 November 1924 |
000000001930-04-01-00001 April 1930 |
| CG-17USCGD Paulding (CG-17) |
DD-022USS Paulding (DD-22) |
000000001925-01-23-000023 January 1925 |
000000001930-08-12-000012 August 1930 |
| CG-18USCGD Roe (CG-18) |
DD-024USS Roe (DD-24) |
000000001925-05-30-000030 May 1925 |
000000001930-03-04-00004 March 1930 |
| CG-18USCGD Hunt (CG-18) |
DD-194USS Hunt (DD-194) |
000000001931-02-05-00005 February 1931 |
000000001934-05-28-000028 May 1934 |
| CG-19USCGD Terry (CG-19) |
DD-025USS Terry (DD-25) |
000000001925-06-30-000030 June 1925 |
000000001930-08-12-000012 August 1930 |
| CG-19USCGD Wood (CG-19) |
DD-195USS Welborn C. Wood (DD-195) |
000000001931-04-15-000015 April 1931 |
000000001934-05-21-000021 May 1934 |
| CG-20USCGD Trippe (CG-20) |
DD-033USS Trippe (DD-33) |
000000001924-06-24-000024 June 1924 |
000000001931-04-15-000015 April 1931 |
| CG-20USCGD Semmes (CG-20) |
DD-189USS Semmes (DD-189) |
000000001932-04-25-000025 April 1932 |
000000001934-04-20-000020 April 1934 |
| CG-21USCGD Davis (CG-21) |
DD-065USS Davis (DD-65) |
000000001926-09-04-00004 September 1926 |
000000001933-06-05-00005 June 1933 |
| CG-22USCGD Shaw (CG-22) |
DD-068USS Shaw (DD-68) |
000000001926-07-13-000013 July 1926 |
000000001933-06-05-00005 June 1933 |
| CG-23USCGD Tucker (CG-23) |
DD-057USS Tucker (DD-57) |
000000001926-09-29-000029 September 1926 |
000000001933-06-05-00005 June 1933 |
| CG-24USCGD Wainwright (CG-24) |
DD-062USS Wainwright (DD-62) |
000000001926-07-30-000030 July 1926 |
000000001934-03-29-000029 March 1934 |
| CG-25USCGD Wilkes (CG-25) |
DD-067USS Wilkes (DD-67) |
000000001926-08-23-000023 August 1926 |
000000001934-03-29-000029 March 1934 |