During World War I, the Coast Guard served under the Navy and enforced rules and regulations that governed the anchorage and movements of vessels in American harbors.
The Espionage Act, passed in June 1917, gave the Coast Guard increased power to protect merchant shipping from sabotage.
This Act vested the Coast Guard with a wide range of responsibilities, including the safeguarding of waterfront property, supervision of vessel movements, establishment of anchorages and restricted areas, and the right to control and remove people aboard ships.
In order to be successful in all of these missions, the Coast Guard worked directly with local shipping companies and pilots' associations to ensure that American ports remained safe and secure, but also afforded appropriate avenues for commerce.
In the 20 years following the war, the Coast Guard's responsibilities concerning anchorage regulations and vessel movements in American harbors grew.
During World War II, the port-security mission grew through various laws and agreements to give the service broad wartime responsibilities.
Early in 1942, those responsible for port safety realized that the peacetime regulations that governed the movement of explosives would have to be amended to sufficiently handle wartime conditions.
To protect vessels and important installations within each port facility, the Coast Guard created security zones around the dock areas.
While pier and facility guards were important, harbor patrols were just as significant as those from shore and consumed much of the manpower of the COTP offices.
Balancing both harbor safety and port security, harbor-patrol craft watched for fires, detected unauthorized persons and pleasure craft with improper papers, reported accidents, removed menaces to navigation, rendered assistance, patrolled anchorages and restricted areas, and escorted ammunition and dangerous cargo ships out of the harbor.
The COTPs' valuable service to ensure the steady movement of supplies was of inestimable value, and was built upon the ability to address both safety and security requirements in the complex port environment.
After World War II, the Coast Guard continued to grow and improve its multi-mission capability, while striving to balance the safety and security of American ports.
To ensure global alignment against substandard vessels, detailed information on detentions is also reported to an international database shared by PSC regimes around the world.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the PSC program was immediately expanded to address emerging security concerns for United States ports.
[1] Per 33 CFR 1.01-20, final authority is vested in the Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection, for the performance, within the area of his jurisdiction, of the following functions: Per 33 CFR 153.103(n), the Federal On-Scene Coordinator or FOSC is the official predesignated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or Coast Guard to coordinate and direct Federal removal efforts at the scene of an oil or hazardous substance discharge as prescribed in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (National Contingency Plan) as published in 40 CFR Part 300.