Coast Guard boat patrols Manitowoc harbor

Creator

Manitowoc Herald-Times (Manitowoc, Wis.)

Date

• August 4, 1941

Publisher

Manitowoc, Wisconsin: Manitowoc Herald-Times

Summary

• This newspaper photograph gives a port side view of the Coast Guard cruiser USCGR-109 on patrol in the harbor at Manitowoc, Wisconsin for the first time on August 4, 1941, with several uniformed Coast Guardsmen aboard. The Chris-Craft cabin cruiser, commonly called the “Miss Joy,” had been assigned to protect and police the Manitowoc outer harbor as part of security measures enacted after the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company started building submarines for the U.S. Navy. A smaller craft, Speedboat No. 3650, patrolled the Manitowoc River in the vicinity of the shipyards. According to an article accompanying this picture, every vessel entering the harbor, “from row boats to freighters,” was to be boarded and inspected. Even the carferries would be boarded and checked for cargo and changes in crew each time they came in. The “Miss Joy” was docked at the city dock near the foot of North Seventh Street, shown here at the far left. During the course of World War II, several other Coast Guard vessels, including a fire boat, also were stationed in Manitowoc. Coast Guardsmen initially stayed at the Coast Guard station in adjacent Two Rivers and were bussed to Manitowoc, but in August, 1942 the Coast Guard leased quarters at 118A North 8th Street, above the Pere Marquette office, to provide dormitory and cafeteria accommodations for their men in Manitowoc. This picture, which was published in the August 4, 1941 issue of the Manitowoc Herald-Times, looks northwest across the Manitowoc River to the 600 and 700 blocks of Commercial Street. In 1941, according to a city directory, the light colored building on the far side of Commercial Street, on the left, was Timm’s Tire & Battery Service. The large dark building standing alone on the near side of Commercial was a barn for Sorge’s Dairy. Faintly visible to the left of the barn, at the river’s edge, is a metal tripod tower which was used to fly storm warning signal flags for boaters. The tall shape at the extreme left is the northeast corner of the Hotel Manitowoc at 204 North 8th Street.