U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Heartland-WR Marine Safety

04/27/2026

161 years ago today, the United States experienced its most significant marine casualty in terms of lives lost. On that day the steamship Sultana exploded and caught fire. An estimated 1,800 of the approximately 2,400 passengers and crew died after one of the ship’s boilers exploded. The ship had just left Vicksburg en route to St. Louis. It was carrying numerous Union Army veterans home, many recently released from Confederate prisons. Subsequently, inspection standards for steamships were strengthened (Courtesy of Bryant’s Maritime Blog).

The history of the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Program is forever linked with steamships and related marine casualties. After several steamboat fires and boiler explosions, Congress passed the Steamboat Act of 1838 to “provide better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam.”

After steamboat disasters increased in volume and severity, Congress passed the Steamboat Act of 1852. This Act required the testing of boilers and steam safety valves, and licensing of pilots and engineers by local inspectors. The law exempted, however, freight boats, ferries, and tugboats. Under this law, the organization and form of the first federal maritime inspection service (i.e., the Steamboat Inspection Service) began to emerge.

An Act of 1871 created a comprehensive Marine Safety Code. This Act sought to protect the crew as well as passengers, authorized period inspections, and extended licensing requirements to all masters and chief mates. Further, it created a Supervisory Inspector General directly responsible to the Secretary of the Treasury and gave the Board of Supervisory Inspectors the authority to prescribe nautical Rules of the Road.

Today the story of Sultana is told by the Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion, Arkansas, and The Sultana Association.

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-- https://midatlantic.coastguard.dodlive.mil/2010/04/ss-sultana-explosion-and-fire-april-27-1865/

📷: Original image is credited to Thomas W. Bankes, Helena, AR - Cowan's Auctions, Public Domain.

04/22/2026

“The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value." -- Theodore Roosevelt

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04/20/2026

"Another drop of oil"

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill began on April 20, 2010, when an offshore oil platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. It was the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The Coast Guard worked closely with local, state and federal agencies in response to it. Here a member from the National Strike Force team from Fort Dix, N.J., finds a small clump of oil in the sand during a beach assessment patrol to monitor progress of contracted cleanup workers on Dauphin Island in Alabama’s Mississippi Sound. Volunteers, shown in the background, daily swept Alabama beaches and wetlands in a search for potential signs of oil and other threats.

Image: Oil painting titled "Another drop of oil" by Kristin Hosbein. US Coast Guard Art Program 2011 Collection, Ob ID # 201112, "Another drop of oil," Kristin Hosbein, oil, 24 x 24

03/11/2026

The cutters are the first three of 30 future WCCs that will replace the Coast Guard’s legacy inland tender fleet, which will strengthen the Coast Guard’s capabilities to facilitate commerce vital to economic prosperity, strategic mobility, and maritime dominance.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Coast Guard authenticated the keels for future Coast Guard cutters Allen Thiele, Fred Permenter and Samuel Wilson on Friday in Bayou La Batre, Alabama.

11/10/2025

50 years ago today, The wreck of "Big Fitz". Sound 30 bells and remember all who sailed and perished on the Great Lakes. 🇺🇸⚓️🇨🇦

Learn more about the Edmund Fitzgerald at https://www.miplace.org/historic-preservation/archaeology/2025-michigan-archaeology-poster/.

11/03/2025

Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) are non-native plants and animals that can cause huge ecological and economic harm to our precious waterways. They can:

❌ Outcompete native species for food and habitat.

💰 Damage infrastructure like boats, docks, and water intake pipes (think Zebra and Quagga mussels!).

🚫 Restrict recreation like swimming, fishing, and boating.

🛑 How YOU Can Help Stop the Spread?

🧼 CLEAN: Remove all visible mud, plants, fish, or animals from your boat, trailer, and gear (waders, anchor, etc.) before leaving the access area. Dispose of any invasive material in the trash—never back into the water!

💧 DRAIN: Drain all water from your motor, bilge, livewells, and any other water-holding compartments.

☀️ DRY: Allow all equipment to thoroughly dry for at least 5 days, or longer if required by local regulations, before using it in another body of water.

08/30/2025

If you plan to be out on the water this weekend, remember to avoid the Restricted Areas above and below all dams. Restricted areas are 600' above and 150' below the dam on the Mississippi River and at LaGrange and Peoria on the Illinois Waterway. All other dams on the Illinois Waterway have restricted areas of 600' above and 400' below the dams.

Dam safety is a shared responsibility. Know your risk, know your role and be prepared to take action.

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08/21/2025

Bravo Zulu, Blake, on achieving the Pollution Responder qualification!

Local member Blake Sasse (right) recently earned the Auxiliary Assistant Pollution Responder qualification and was presented with the certificate by U.S. Coast Guard Heartland District commander Rear Admiral Will Watson (left) at an All Hands meeting at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Lower Mississippi River headquarters in Millington, TN on Tuesday.

Sasse was the first to obtain this qualification as part of a recent effort to increase the Coast Guard's abilities to quickly respond to oil spills or hazardous substance releases on federal waterways in the region. A number of other members from North Little Rock, Hot Springs, and Fort Smith are also near completion of this program. [USCG Photo]

08/06/2025

“This marine casualty and the loss of five lives was preventable,” Jason Neubauer, Titan Marine Board of Investigation chair, said in a Coast Guard release. “The two-year investigation has identified multiple contributing factors that led to this tragedy, providing valuable lessons learned to prevent a future occurrence. There is a need for stronger oversight and clear options for operators who are exploring new concepts outside of the existing regulatory framework.”

Titan Implosion Was Preventable, U.S. Coast Guard Says — USNI News

08/04/2025

For 235 years, we've been to 11 statutory missions. We continue to have the watch.

This image is from a War Department orientation fact sheet that appeared in a 1947 edition of Armed Forces Talk.

📷: American Lighthouse Foundation