Henriques Room panorama

Roll your mouse pointer over each picture for descriptive text.
Best viewed with monitor resolution 1024 x 768.


Cayuga - San Sebastian
In July, 1936, the Cayuga, which was in European waters on a Cadet Practice Cruise, was ordered by Coast Guard Headquarters to proceed to San Sebastian, Spain to pick up the American Ambassador and other Americans endangered by the revolution in that country. After removing refugees to safety on French soil the Cutter became a floating Embassy of the United States.

In 1935 an appropriation from the Treasury Relief Art Project was authorized for the purpose of decorating the Academy Library. The walls were to be covered with murals in full color, and a new set of carved wooden doors were to be put in place. Appropriately the subjects of the paintings were to be scenes from important events in the history of the Revenue Cutter Service and the Coast Guard, from its earliest days to the present time.

Mr. Aldis. B. Browne, II, of Madison, Connecticut was intrusted with the task, and the murals found on the following pages are the result of his work, and that of his assistant, Robert Galvin.

Webmaster notes: The text above and the mural descriptions below are from a CGA brochure. Roll your mouse pointer over the murals on the sides and bottom of this page to see the descriptions. Best viewed with monitor resolution 1024 x 768.


Treasury Relief Art Project
# OP-12-141
Aldis R. Browne, II
Robert Galvin
Mariano Corda
Patrol Boat Overhauling Smuggling Vessel
The passage of the National Prohibition Amendment in 1919 gave the Coast Guard a big job. The prevention of liquor smuggling, because of its unpopularity with many citizens, was an unpleasant but necessary task and was well carried out. The small Patrol Boats especially were valuable in making seizures of hovering and contact vessels.
Tampa On Convoy Duty During The World War
One of the six Cutters engaged in convoy duty overseas during the World War was the Tampa, under the command of Commander Charles Satterlee. She set a splendid record in her work, protecting eighteen convoys without losing a ship. She was sunk with all hands in Bristol Channel, presumaby by a German submarine, September 28, 1918.

McCulloch at Manilla Bay
The McCulloch was on her way to San Francisco by way of the Far East when the Spanish-American War began. On April 6, 1898 she was assigned to the Asiatic Squadron under Dewey and took part in the battle of Manilla Bay. She was used as a dispatch and scouting ship, and brought the first authentic news of the battle to Hongkong, and thence to the rest of the world.

The Bear Rescuing Whalers - Pt. Barrow
The Coast Guard Cutter Bear was built at Greenock, Scotland in 1874 as a whaler and had a long and exciting life. She rescued Greely's Arctic Expedition in 1884, and in 1898 saved the crews of eight whaling ships caught in the ice at Point Barrow. In 1929 she was decommissioned, but a few years later was the supply ship of Admiral Byrd's second Antarctic expedition.
Building The First Rev. Cutter Massachusetts at Newburyport
The Massachusetts was the first Revenue Cutter built. She was laid down in Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1790, and was built at a cost of slightly over two thousand dollars, as a result of Alexander Hamilton's pleas for the creation of a Revenue Cutter Service. She was fifty feet long at the keel, and displaced seventy tons.
The Cutter Pickering Capturing a French Prize
The Revenue Cutter Pickering was one of the best fighting ships of her time, ton for ton. In the difficulties with French privateers from 1798 to 1801, she was assigned to the West Indies Squadron of the Navy. From September, 1799 to January, 1800 she captured ten prizes with her armament of fourteen four-pounders and crew of ninety men.
Harriet Lane Firing the First Shot in Civil War
The Cutter Harriet Lane, one of the fastest ships of her day, was built in 1857. In April, 1861 she was sent to Charleston, South Carolina, convoying a fleet of troops and provision ships to the relief of Fort Sumter. The night before arriving in the harbor she kept several vessels from entering, firing the first shots of the Civil War Attacking a Seminole Indian Stronghold
In 1816 a party of United States troops sent to subdue the warlike Seminole Indians was ambushed and massacred, beginning the Seminole War. The Revenue Cutters were sent to Florida to cooperate with the Army and Navy in putting an end to the fighting. The Cutters finally cleaned up -- after two and a half years of chasing elusive savages through the swamps.

Defending the Eagle in the War of 1812
On the 11th of October, 1814, the U.S.R.C. Eagle (four four-pounders and two twos) was attacked by the British eighteen-gun brig Dispatch and two smaller vessels. The Cutter was run aground on Long Island and the guns dragged ashore. When ammunition ran low the log book was used as wadding and British cannon balls were fired back.

Suppressing Gulf Pirates
During the period from 1800 to 1825, the Gulf Coast was the happy hunting grounds for scores of pirates, among them the notorious Jean Lafitte. The Cutters Louisiana and Alabama became famous for their fights against the freebooters, both on the sea and at their shore bases, many of which they burned.

 Return to top of this page