P a ge 47 t opside V olume 79 , I s s u e 2
USCG Auxiliary District 5 NR USCG Station Histories Continued
WWII
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 , Local Auxiliarists reached out immediately to assist the active duty as needed . Nation-wide during the first six weeks of the war , the Auxiliary largely took over harbor patrols . The vast majority of Auxiliarists also made the transition to become members of the Temporary Reserves . In this area of New Jersey , Auxiliary boats and crews began harbor patrols as well as offshore patrols . During March of 1942 , seventy ships were sunk along the coast by submarine attack . One of the factors that added to the casualty rate was that East Coast cities initially refused to dim their lights which silhouetted ships at night . Time after time , reports showed these Auxiliarists took their tiny boats out , a few armed with rifles , others with boat hooks and flashlights , to haul drowning , burned , merchant seamen from the sea .
The two largest Coastal Patrol Force bases in the New York region were at Greenport , Long Island and Manasquan , New Jersey . To affect their anti-submarine work , CGR vessels manned by TR crews , were armed with four 300-pound depth charges , one ( usually . 50 caliber ) machine gun , and a radio . The key to this work was to man the listening devices and keep contact with and track the submarine . Large sailing CGR vessels were used for patrolling off shore in the shipping lanes due to their lack of noise . These Coastal Pickets also known as the “ Corsair Fleet ” became the eyes and ears of a combat force strong enough to destroy the enemy provided it was warned in time . Hence there were rigorous inspections and checks of radio equipment before each Picket Boat sailed on a patrol . Aside from the submarine work , the Picket Force ' s other main duty was search and rescue of survivors of torpedoed vessels and of other distress cases . They also were responsible for recording sightings , unidentified sounds and significant flotsam and jetsam .
Along with the off shore patrols , smaller craft manned by Auxiliarists and TR ’ s patrolled the inlets , harbors and near shore looking for unauthorized craft with no or improper identification ; report unidentified vessels ; report aids to navigation that were off station ; maintain a lookout for accidents and assist with search and rescue ; assist at boat fires , drownings , and recover bodies . During these patrols , these crews made checks of fishing vessels entering and exiting the harbor and keeping tabs on the personnel aboard . As the submarine threat diminished after March 1943 and the need for overseas deployment increased , the roles of the Auxiliary and temporary Reservists shifted . From May 1943 on , Auxiliary efforts became directed at training men for active duty in the Reserves . By the end of 1943 most water patrols had ended and units were shifted to perform shore duties .
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