Rum Patrol
| Rum Patrol | |
|---|---|
 Rum Patrol ships USCGD Tucker and USCGD Cassin, circa 1930. | |
| Objective | Enforce prohibition in United States waters. |
| Date | 1920 – 1933 |
| Executed by |  United States |
The Rum Patrol was an operation of the United States Coast Guard to interdict liquor smuggling vessels, known as "rum runners" in order to enforce prohibition in American waters. On 18 December 1917, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was submitted to the states by Congress. On 16 January 1919, the amendment was ratified and the Liquor Prohibition Amendment, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, transportation, importation, or exportation of intoxicating liquors, came into effect on 16 January 1920.
Origin
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, six of the newer flush deck destroyers were transferred to the Treasury Department in 1930–1932.
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.
On 20 February 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, the repeal of Amendment 18, was proposed by Congress and ratification was completed on 5 December 1933. This eliminated the need for the Rum Patrol. The remaining destroyers were returned to the Navy and sold for scrap.
Ships of the Patrol
| Coast Guard designation | Navy designation | Ship Class | USCG Acquired | USCG Commissioning | USCG Decommissioning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USCGD Cassin (CG-1) | USS Cassin (DD-43) | Template:Sclass- | 28 April 1924 | 30 August 1924 | 5 June 1933 |
| USCGD Conyngham (CG-2) | USS Conyngham (DD-58) | Template:Sclass- | 7 June 1924 | 8 March 1925 | 5 June 1933 |
| USCGD Cummings (CG-3) | USS Cummings (DD-44) | Template:Sclass- | 7 June 1924 | 15 May 1925 | 30 April 1932 |
| USCGD Downes (CG-4) | USS Downes (DD-45) | Template:Sclass- | 28 April 1924 | 14 October 1924 | 18 November 1930 |
| USCGD Ericsson (CG-5) | USS Ericsson (DD-56) | Template:Sclass- | 7 June 1924 | 28 May 1925 | 30 April 1932 |
| USCGD McDougal (CG-6) | USS McDougal (DD-54) | Template:Sclass- | 7 June 1924 | 13 May 1925 | 26 May 1933 |
| USCGD Porter (CG-7) | USS Porter (DD-59) | Template:Sclass- | 7 June 1924 | 20 February 1925 | 5 June 1933 |
| USCGD Ammen (CG-8) | USS Ammen (DD-35) | Template:Sclass- | 28 April 1924 | 22 January 1925 | 18 May 1931 |
| USCGD Beale (CG-9) | USS Beale (DD-40) | Template:Sclass- | 28 April 1924 | 26 October 1924 | 1 June 1930 |
| USCGD Burrows (CG-10) | USS Burrows (DD-29) | Template:Sclass- | 7 June 1924 | 30 June 1925 | 14 February 1931 |
| USCGD Fanning (CG-11) | USS Fanning (DD-37) | Template:Sclass- | 7 June 1924 | 30 May 1925 | 12 August 1930 |
| USCGD Henley (CG-12) | USS Henley (DD-39) | Template:Sclass- | 16 May 1924 | 14 November 1924 | 30 January 1931 |
| USCGD Jouett (CG-13) | USS Jouett (DD-41) | Template:Sclass- | 28 April 1924 | 23 August 1924 | 16 May 1931 |
| USCGD McCall (CG-14) | USS McCall (DD-28) | Template:Sclass- | 7 June 1924 | 17 June 1925 | 12 August 1930 |
| USCGD Monaghan (CG-15) | USS Monaghan (DD-32) | Template:Sclass- | 7 June 1924 | 30 June 1925 | 29 January 1931 |
| USCGD Upshur (CG-15) | USS Abel P. Upshur (DD-193) | Template:Sclass- | 5 November 1930 | 12 January 1931 | 21 May 1934 |
| USCGD Patterson (CG-16) | USS Patterson (DD-36) | Template:Sclass- | 28 April 1924 | 24 November 1924 | 1 April 1930 |
| USCGD Badger (CG-16) | USS George E. Badger (DD-196) | Template:Sclass- | 1 October 1930 | 20 March 1931 | 21 May 1934 |
| USCGD Paulding (CG-17) | USS Paulding (DD-22) | Template:Sclass- | 28 April 1924 | 23 January 1925 | 12 August 1930 |
| USCGD Herndon (CG-17) | USS Herndon (DD-198) | Template:Sclass- | 13 September 1930 | 7 March 1931 | 28 May 1934 |
| USCGD Roe (CG-18) | USS Roe (DD-24) | Template:Sclass- | 7 June 1924 | 30 May 1925 | 4 March 1930 |
| USCGD Hunt (CG-18) | USS Hunt (DD-194) | Template:Sclass- | 13 September 1930 | 5 February 1931 | 28 May 1934 |
| USCGD Terry (CG-19) | USS Terry (DD-25) | Template:Sclass- | 7 June 1924 | 30 June 1925 | 12 August 1930 |
| USCGD Wood (CG-19) | USS Welborn C. Wood (DD-195) | Template:Sclass- | 1 October 1930 | 15 April 1931 | 21 May 1934 |
| USCGD Trippe (CG-20) | USS Trippe (DD-33) | Template:Sclass- | 7 June 1924 | 24 June 1924 | 15 April 1931 |
| USCGD Semmes (CG-20) | USS Semmes (DD-189) | Template:Sclass- | 25 April 1932 | 25 April 1932 | 20 April 1934 |
| USCGD Davis (CG-21) | USS Davis (DD-65) | Template:Sclass- | 25 March 1926 | 4 September 1926 | 5 June 1933 |
| USCGD Shaw (CG-22) | USS Shaw (DD-68) | Template:Sclass- | 25 March 1926 | 13 July 1926 | 5 June 1933 |
| USCGD Tucker (CG-23) | USS Tucker (DD-57) | Template:Sclass- | 25 March 1926 | 29 September 1926 | 5 June 1933 |
| USCGD Wainwright (CG-24) | USS Wainwright (DD-62) | Template:Sclass- | 2 April 1926 | 30 July 1926 | 29 March 1934 |
| USCGD Wilkes (CG-25) | USS Wilkes (DD-67) | Template:Sclass- | 25 March 1926 | 23 August 1926 | 29 March 1934 |
References
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